That’s definitely concerning. On the other hand, there’s lots of people who don’t have that sort of side effect (and several in this thread), so I think it’s kind of rare… but perhaps this sort of result gets swept under the rug? Though, I wouldn’t predict that in advance—I’d expect it to blow up everywhere.
I’m not really sure what to think. Part of me wants to brush this off as a fluke and say that I would never break down like that but this is a failure mode that I hadn’t even considered and that makes me nervous.
Do you know if there were any factors that would have contributed to that incident? Like them already being a little schizophrenic or something along those lines?
If you had not even considered the possibility of breaking your brain in the process of trying to develop a second person, you need to step back and think more before proceeding. This failure mode should be one of the first that pops into your head, without even trying to think of novel failure modes. Right alongside intense meditation, psychedelics, etc.
I was referring to your earlier comment, re: a schizophrenic break, etc. “Breaking your brain” sounds like permanent damage, and it is not obvious why (or how) mental activity could have effects like lead poisoning, or what differentiates mental activities that are supposedly “potentially destabilizing” from those that are not.
I agree it might have been too specific/shorten the causal chain unnecessarily:
(Potentially) Destabilizing Activity → Worse Mental Health, etc. → More likely to do crime, drugs, etc.
Sure. Seems extremely unlikely IMO. But if you’re deliberately trying to change how your brain thinks at a fundamental level rather than training an overlay like we do when learning math or something and letting that trickle down or however it usually works, you might succeed at changing but fail at direction. This is an obvious failure mode to at least consider before beginning. e.g. http://meditatinginsafety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Kuijpers_2007.pdf
Ironically, certain psychoactive substances like cannabis (high CBD and low THC) have been shown to be effective in the reduction of stress in schizophrenic people and doesn’t contribute to psychosis even within families who have members with it. Interestingly, some use THC for their schizophrenia symptoms.
However, environmental factors (set and setting) can greatly increase the likelihood of onset of schizophrenia too.
On tulpamancy, I’ve heard of some (myself included) who “hear voices” but they’re not the result of psychosis, but an internal dialogue and hyperphantasia. I was freaking out needlessly for years thinking I had schizophrenia.
There are some instances where the psychosis is benign, and in Western world psychosis seems to present itself much more negatively. This could indicate that upbringing and other environmental factors could contribute to positive negative experiences.
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That’s definitely concerning. On the other hand, there’s lots of people who don’t have that sort of side effect (and several in this thread), so I think it’s kind of rare… but perhaps this sort of result gets swept under the rug? Though, I wouldn’t predict that in advance—I’d expect it to blow up everywhere.
I’m not really sure what to think. Part of me wants to brush this off as a fluke and say that I would never break down like that but this is a failure mode that I hadn’t even considered and that makes me nervous.
Do you know if there were any factors that would have contributed to that incident? Like them already being a little schizophrenic or something along those lines?
If you had not even considered the possibility of breaking your brain in the process of trying to develop a second person, you need to step back and think more before proceeding. This failure mode should be one of the first that pops into your head, without even trying to think of novel failure modes. Right alongside intense meditation, psychedelics, etc.
You think if people meditate too much* they could end up committing murder**?
EDIT:
*Or if people have never done it before, if they do it the first time, it might destabilize their health (mental/emotional/etc.).
**This may be “too specific”, see my comment below.
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I was referring to your earlier comment, re: a schizophrenic break, etc. “Breaking your brain” sounds like permanent damage, and it is not obvious why (or how) mental activity could have effects like lead poisoning, or what differentiates mental activities that are supposedly “potentially destabilizing” from those that are not.
I agree it might have been too specific/shorten the causal chain unnecessarily:
(Potentially) Destabilizing Activity → Worse Mental Health, etc. → More likely to do crime, drugs, etc.
Sure. Seems extremely unlikely IMO. But if you’re deliberately trying to change how your brain thinks at a fundamental level rather than training an overlay like we do when learning math or something and letting that trickle down or however it usually works, you might succeed at changing but fail at direction. This is an obvious failure mode to at least consider before beginning. e.g. http://meditatinginsafety.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Kuijpers_2007.pdf
[comment deleted]
Ironically, certain psychoactive substances like cannabis (high CBD and low THC) have been shown to be effective in the reduction of stress in schizophrenic people and doesn’t contribute to psychosis even within families who have members with it. Interestingly, some use THC for their schizophrenia symptoms.
However, environmental factors (set and setting) can greatly increase the likelihood of onset of schizophrenia too.
On tulpamancy, I’ve heard of some (myself included) who “hear voices” but they’re not the result of psychosis, but an internal dialogue and hyperphantasia. I was freaking out needlessly for years thinking I had schizophrenia.
There are some instances where the psychosis is benign, and in Western world psychosis seems to present itself much more negatively. This could indicate that upbringing and other environmental factors could contribute to positive negative experiences.