Comments on: Circumstantial Thinking: Does Stuff Really ‘Just Happen’?

By: Mariana

Mariana — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 00:28:23 +0000

Thanks so much for your reply, Dr. Simon. I get a much clearer picture now. Sometimes it’s hard to know for sure what’s the case, because some people are pretty “smooth operators.”

Best wishes,

Mariana

By: Dr George Simon, PhD

Dr George Simon, PhD — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 20:14:33 +0000

Thanks for the comments and questions! Marianna, in my experience, MOST of the time, disturbed characters don’t really believe the stuff they try to peddle. For the most part, they simply hope you’ll buy into the notions they advance so that they can continue their game of impression management and responsibility -avoidance. But SOMETIMES, they really do believe the outrageous things they purport. This is often the case with the most egregiously disturbed characters and the criminally insane. The prognosis is much poorer for a variety of reasons with the minority of individuals who really hold their distorted beliefs.

By: Mariana

Mariana — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:06:27 +0000

…typo… don’t know HOW these people function

By: Mariana

Mariana — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 01:03:37 +0000

Another great article indeed!

As I was reading it, it reminded me of a discussion I had once during a course on emotional intelligence where someone suggested that “reality does not exist.” This person made a reference to Nietzsche’s “The truth does not exist” and started a brief lecture about reality only existing as a personal perception of man.

I pointed out, then, that in my opinion, there was a subjective reality that existed regardless of what people wanted to believe in, which led to an interesting debate.

I made a point on how we can “correct” (so to speak) erroneous thinking by confronting a person’s thoughts or beliefs against reality (per se)… but to my surprise, there was a significant group who claimed that “things sometimes happen for a reason” and they actually believed this.

So, I guess there might be a blurred line between those who blindly believe in something and hold on to that belief and those who are capable of understanding it’s just a “belief” and they could be missing something.

I agree that it must be a matter of proving themselves right. But it still shocks me to see how many people would rather choose to think that way (as per their perspective, the “universe” is wise and perfect, etc.)

Do you think they choose in fact to believe that or that they are nor aware, just blind, or honestly believe that kind of thing? I think of them just like people who belong to a sect or have been brainwashed, but the mind is so complex that I really don’t know who these people function.

By: So Much More Than A Mom

So Much More Than A Mom — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 17:21:38 +0000

Great article!