3 ms·

I have close family with schizoaffective disorder. It sucks. A big part of it, is seeing “connections,” in everything. Every newspaper article, every radio ad

I have close family with schizoaffective disorder. It sucks. A big part of it, is seeing “connections,” in everything. Every newspaper article, every radio ad, every person glancing your way, is a “message.” Sometimes, it’s good, but usually, it’s bad. They’re “plotting to kill me,” or “spying on me.” People like that, are uniquely susceptible to suggestions from sycophantic LLMs, which can be disastrous. I used up my quota of acid, before I was 18. It’s basically “temporary schizophrenia.”

patcon 2mo ago
> A big part of it, is seeing “connections,” in everything. I've lately been wondering if schizophrenia causes this connection-seeing, or if connections cause indicators of schizophrenia/psychosis. I've lived in cities like New Orleans, where everything seems magically connected through something about the culture and relationship structure imho, which results in intense feelings of synchronicity. There seems to be a high proportion of schizophrenia and general mania in New Orleans. And now LLMs (which are always making and reinforcing connections, right or wrong) lead me to wonder about this direction of causality once more...
- Alex3917 2mo ago
  > I've lately been wondering if schizophrenia causes this connection-seeing, or if connections cause indicators of schizophrenia/psychosis. IANAD, but my reading of the literature is that the genes for schizophrenia cause connection seeing, which on its own is mostly net neutral (slightly negative on average, but positive for many people). But it’s not having the ability to think critically about those connections, along with trauma and lack of social support, that causes this ability to see connections to manifest as mental illness. The genes for schizophrenia on their own though are, on average, only slightly net negative in terms of their impact.
  - patcon 2mo ago
    Oooooo thank you for that context..! I read random paper abstracts when they come across my attention, but don't have a deep knowledge. I can def see LLMs changing the strength of one's ability to resist and critique this connection-seeing. We live in strange times
- kjellsbells 2mo ago
  I sometimes wonder if the weird vibe (and magic) of New Orleans has something to do with the absolutely swampy conditions. NOLA is fungus central just because of the heat and moisture. Growth on every building, every tree, wall, etc. Can mental illnesses be caused by fungal infections? I wonder.
cineticdaffodil 2mo ago
[dead]
wartywhoa23 2mo ago
Seeing connections in everything is unsurprisingly marked as illness in The Black Iron Prison (per Philip Dick), while not seeing connections in anything is its reinforcing virtue: the daily grind, the routine, the dittoheadness, the oblivion, you name it. "Normal people". Of course, it's best to be where these two counterbalance each other. Solve et coagula.

patcon 2mo ago

> A big part of it, is seeing “connections,” in everything. I've lately been wondering if schizophrenia causes this connection-seeing, or if connections cause indicators of schizophrenia/psychosis. I've lived in cities like New Orleans, where everything seems magically connected through something about the culture and relationship structure imho, which results in intense feelings of synchronicity. There seems to be a high proportion of schizophrenia and general mania in New Orleans. And now LLMs (which are always making and reinforcing connections, right or wrong) lead me to wonder about this direction of causality once more...

Alex3917 2mo ago
> I've lately been wondering if schizophrenia causes this connection-seeing, or if connections cause indicators of schizophrenia/psychosis. IANAD, but my reading of the literature is that the genes for schizophrenia cause connection seeing, which on its own is mostly net neutral (slightly negative on average, but positive for many people). But it’s not having the ability to think critically about those connections, along with trauma and lack of social support, that causes this ability to see connections to manifest as mental illness. The genes for schizophrenia on their own though are, on average, only slightly net negative in terms of their impact.
- patcon 2mo ago
  Oooooo thank you for that context..! I read random paper abstracts when they come across my attention, but don't have a deep knowledge. I can def see LLMs changing the strength of one's ability to resist and critique this connection-seeing. We live in strange times
kjellsbells 2mo ago
I sometimes wonder if the weird vibe (and magic) of New Orleans has something to do with the absolutely swampy conditions. NOLA is fungus central just because of the heat and moisture. Growth on every building, every tree, wall, etc. Can mental illnesses be caused by fungal infections? I wonder.

cineticdaffodil 2mo ago

[dead]

wartywhoa23 2mo ago

Seeing connections in everything is unsurprisingly marked as illness in The Black Iron Prison (per Philip Dick), while not seeing connections in anything is its reinforcing virtue: the daily grind, the routine, the dittoheadness, the oblivion, you name it. "Normal people". Of course, it's best to be where these two counterbalance each other. Solve et coagula.