My Dearest Friends,

 

This topic is NOT about whether or not you might “Fear For” your sanity. Discussion of this would be a totally different topic from the one at hand, and maybe a topic fit for a professional working in the field of psychotherapy. Our present topic, again, is NOT about such a question.

 

RATHER, this topic is about the sanity of the average individual, and, perhaps, the sanity of anyone who might be reading these words.

 

What might it mean for us to hold out that we are sane? What is soundness of mind?

 

Is it really true that no one is sane, or completely sane?  And, if so, then can we think of sanity as sort of a spectrum extending from being relatively sane to, on the far right or left of this spectrum, being less than sane, or even insane?

 

For some strange reason, I have noticed, during the recent decade, the increasing general questioning of any formal guidelines normally used to categorize the average someone as being sane.

 

Here is a good quote which I believe is NOT, repeat NOT for use when considering our own relative sanity:

 

“Schizophrenic thoughts have a life of their own. They arise seemingly out of nowhere when a person knows the difference between sanity and insanity and emerge initially as small ideas. When I first began experiencing insane thoughts, they seemed normal and plausible, if only a bit more creative. During this initial stage, it would have been very difficult to detect anything out of the ordinary, for my close family and friends or even for myself. After all, very few suspect that they will develop schizophrenia, especially in my case with no family history. Furthermore, insane thoughts usually come into being after 20 years of sanity for men and a few years longer for women. Because the initial schizophrenic thoughts are benign, they are simply taken for granted as real. When these ideas and theories came about in my case, I looked for confirmation that they were true and was able to find subjective evidence. When I looked hard enough, with a little imagination, I was able to substantiate these somewhat skewed ideas. Eventually, my thoughts lost all bases in reality, and I scrambled to hold onto new insane thoughts as a way to find meaning and explanation once again.”

 

Here, again, I must emphasize that we are NOT considering any form of clinical lack of sanity, in THIS topic. Therefore, we are not considering any sort of schizophrenic pathology, here.  Our only concern is whether or not the average healthy person can never be considered completely sane.

 

Brain pathology and clinical insanity are not our concerns in this Topic.

 

In general terms, when we ponder on the quality of our own sanity, it is most helpful for us to recognize that…as the old saying goes…Perception is Reality.  And, by extrapolation, our own personal perception of Reality IS our Reality.  Therefore, our reality must obviously differ from the reality of others with whom we interact, even our closest friends and significant others.

 

And, IF, as is the case, our perception of reality is so personal to ourselves, then, in my opinion, no matter how we react to our perceived reality, then…we can be fairly sure that we are reacting to our own realities with almost complete sanity.  It is only our personal differing perceptions of reality that might cause others to judge us as being slightly less than sane, at times.

 

Here is a good quote from Alan Watts, although I am not an acolyte of Watts:

 

 "No one is more dangerously insane than one who is sane all the time: he is like a steel bridge without flexibility, and the order of his life is rigid and brittle." - Alan Watts

 

And, by the way, no doubt like some of you, anytime I hear the name “Watts”, I always recall one of my favorite tunes sung by the Kinks, about our good friend, David Watts.  You remember David Watts, surely?...

 

 

 

Finally, I must include this as some testament implying what seems to me to be my own sanity:  SEEMS TO ME — 

 

 

Nobody should be sane, in my opinion:

 

 

Regards, G....

(Good Luck)

Hmmm.  I posted this topic in the forum which was once the Farang Pub.

 

But...Strangely enough...this topic seems to have been suddenly allocated to the Lounge forum???

 

I would prefer to have this topic moved to the forum which was once named the "Farang Pub".

 

How can this be done?

(Any help would be appreciated.)

 

 

Or, I suppose, in the grand scheme of things, in the end, small matters such as this makes very little difference to the outcome of the real things we care about most.

 

Still, I would like to move it to some sort of Pub forum, whichever Pub forum might be most suitable.

 

Thank you.

On second thought:

 

If the Powers that Be prefer to allocate all of my Topic submissions to the Lounge forum, then so be it.

 

I was once banished to the Farang Pub, many years ago.

 

And now, it seems, I have been banished to the Lounge forum.

 

Well, this is perfectly acceptable to me.

 

It ups to you, in the end.

 

(I just hope that I will not feel too unwelcome here; I had much adjusting to do, years ago, when acclimating to the Farang Pub.)

 

So, thank you.

 

Better to be here, I suppose, rather than to be in some forum which is not REALLY  one or the other...but something in between.

 

At least we know where we stand, in the Lounge, obviously.

 

One more thing...

 

After further consideration of this well-considered Method To The Madness of such a sudden revamping the TV Site, I cannot help but agree and applaud the sanity of it.

 

I now see and appreciate the subtle strategy of it.

 

We will be moving some flavors of Topics from what was once known the Farang Pub...to the Lounge forum.

 

And the other flavors of pabulum-Topics to the ASEAN NOW Community Pub forum.

 

Very good and subtle maneuvering without needing to be to blatant about it. GOOD!

 

This way, we can bifurcate the two forks of writing styles into two separate forums, and everybody gets satisfaction.

Brilliant! (The use of this adjective I mean sincerely and in no way facetiously.)

 

It is always best to be where one feels more accepted and at home.

 

Everybody who can only tolerate one flavor should be given the choice to see just the one flavor, chocolate, vanilla, toasted almond, or even Tutti-Frutti.

 

We are ALL human beings.

Our common differences enrich our lives and our human culture, and we know that culture pretty much clearly divides us from other primates, except the few apes who prove their culture through fabrication of tools to catch termites, such as chimps.  This is not to say that other animals do not also fabricate tools. They do. Yet, compared to human culture, these lesser animals just cannot compare their cultures to ours.  I mean, we have yet to see, according to the Infinite Money Theorem, a monkey typing for a billion years to arrive at a grammatically correct Topic worthy of posting on TV, I guess.

 

Yes.

Great.

But I do not just enjoy one flavor in life.

Only those possessing an overly rigid personality would be accepting of just one flavor...

 

 

When I hear the tune from the Kinks about David Watts:

 

I never think of this slouch Craig David.

Always slouching around.

Maybe a good tune, though.

 

Better to enjoy hot fudge sauce, sometimes, rather than always vanilla.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 29, 20224 yr by GammaGlobulin

Most insane (mental illnesses or challenged) people I know think everyone else's is crazy, which is a view I'm happy to share with them ,,,????

An acquaintance once-removed was passed over in favour of another on the grounds of mental instability, having previously been sectioned to a psychiatric hospital. “But I’ve got a letter from a doctor stating that I’m sane. Does he have that?”

 

3 minutes ago, StreetCowboy said:

An acquaintance once-removed was passed over in favour of another on the grounds of mental instability, having previously been sectioned to a psychiatric hospital. “But I’ve got a letter from a doctor stating that I’m sane. Does he have that?”

 

My mad ex#2, who had been diagnosed by a competent doctor at Bangkok Hospital Phuket as 'stark raving mad' (those weren't his exact words, but you get the idea), used to carry a piece of paper in her handbag upon which was written "I am not mad".  She would produce it whenever anyone questioned her sanity....

 

She used to go 'mental' whenever I mentioned a trigger phrase "You're a nutter!". 

 

Ah, happy days (NOT!).

3 minutes ago, simon43 said:

My mad ex#2, who had been diagnosed by a competent doctor at Bangkok Hospital Phuket as 'stark raving mad' (those weren't his exact words, but you get the idea), used to carry a piece of paper in her handbag upon which was written "I am not mad".  She would produce it whenever anyone questioned her sanity....

 

She used to go 'mental' whenever I mentioned a trigger phrase "You're a nutter!". 

 

Ah, happy days (NOT!).

I had the UK prison psychologist write me a letter saying in his professional opinion I was completely sane. Whenever the police or courts questioned my sanity, I produced that letter, then asked to see theirs.

Edited July 30, 20224 yr by BritManToo

12 hours ago, GammaGlobulin said:

On second thought:

 

If the Powers that Be prefer to allocate all of my Topic submissions to the Lounge forum, then so be it.

 

I was once banished to the Farang Pub, many years ago.

 

And now, it seems, I have been banished to the Lounge forum.

 

Well, this is perfectly acceptable to me.

 

It ups to you, in the end.

 

(I just hope that I will not feel too unwelcome here; I had much adjusting to do, years ago, when acclimating to the Farang Pub.)

 

So, thank you.

 

Better to be here, I suppose, rather than to be in some forum which is not REALLY  one or the other...but something in between.

 

At least we know where we stand, in the Lounge, obviously.

 

The lounge has curtains and velour seats.....????

33 minutes ago, transam said:

The lounge has curtains and velour seats.....????

… and a stained glass front to the bar, with openings at the bar level, so that ladies can order drinks without their face being seen by the bar staff.

Its about time Gamma started questioning his is sanity !!..  ????

 

 

I often question my own after opening his threads by mistake !! 

31 minutes ago, richard_smith237 said:

Its about time Gamma started questioning his is sanity !!..  ????

 

 

I often question my own after opening his threads by mistake !! 

There is little point in questioning your own sanity.  If you find one way, you are probably in error due to your sanity, and if you find the other, who will accept the word of a lunatic?

Joseph Heller said it in the words of Gamma Globulin

1 hour ago, StreetCowboy said:

There is little point in questioning your own sanity.  If you find one way, you are probably in error due to your sanity, and if you find the other, who will accept the word of a lunatic?

Joseph Heller said it in the words of Gamma Globulin

Do you recall our friend, Milo? 

 

What was Milo's surname, anyway? 

 

And, what of Švejk? 

Do you recall his rank?

Have we heard from this righteous soldier, recently? 

 

What say you, Sir? 

Edited July 30, 20224 yr by GammaGlobulin

4 hours ago, transam said:

The lounge has curtains and velour seats.....????

I guess both you and I had frequented the same establishment in Kowloon, too many years ago. 

 

I would gladly trade the last 10 years of my life, just for the chance to spend another three years sitting on velour seats, shielded from the light of day by those thick curtains... Such ambiance the world has never known, nor shall it ever see the likes of such a happy-medium between pure decadence and wholesomeness. 

 

This was, indeed, a wholesome place which even your own mother would not have found objectionable. 

 

Which begs the question: Did you ever invite your mother to spend quality time, just you and she, together, enjoying the sights? 

 

 

Edited July 30, 20224 yr by GammaGlobulin

On 7/30/2022 at 6:45 PM, GammaGlobulin said:

I guess both you and I had frequented the same establishment in Kowloon, too many years ago. 

 

I would gladly trade the last 10 years of my life, just for the chance to spend another three years sitting on velour seats, shielded from the light of day by those thick curtains... Such ambiance the world has never known, nor shall it ever see the likes of such a happy-medium between pure decadence and wholesomeness. 

 

This was, indeed, a wholesome place which even your own mother would not have found objectionable. 

 

Which begs the question: Did you ever invite your mother to spend quality time, just you and she, together, enjoying the sights? 

 

 

Last time I was out drinking with my mother was ten years ago, back in The Old Country, back in The Old Town.  We’d stopped for a pint in The Waterside, by the water’s side, and we saw some people digging in a hole on the far side of the river.  We wandered across, and came across my old friend Rat, engaged in persuading children to volunteer and dig in a hole in the ground.  My mother was most impressed by him. Close acquaintance may be a more apt description than friend, but an affable chap and a man of many talents, though whether persuading children to dig in a hole ranks higher than rock star is a matter of some debate. Neither he nor my mother have ever seen him play live.

Edited August 4, 20223 yr by StreetCowboy