Weird things are happening to me, what does it mean?

[cyberpi]

Control is never absolute, but neither is a loss of control ever absolute.

[Saltmeister]

Originally Posted by Dondi

I wonder why there has to be a distinction between the spiritual and the physical when it comes to a relationship or experience of God. I figure that God created our brains and bodies to function in a certain manner so that when we are drawing near to Him, the chemical reactions in our bodies will follow to created those feelings of bliss.

Now I recognize that there are disorders that effect this, we live in a fallen and diseased world. And for those suffering as such will experience this differently depending on the disorder.

Well this is rather interesting. You wouldn't be able tell if a person is suffering from mental delusions or if what they experience is really something supernatural. Scientists like to whack on terms like "mental disorder" or "mental delusions" as if to suggest that the phenomenon is merely internal, all in the mind.

But what if God, or some other spirit were to connect with us and we had a "serotonin cascade?" The serotonin cascade would be the visible and observable signs of the phenomenon, but nobody can trace the source of the phenomenon. The experience is merely manifesting itself (and/or its effects) as a serotonin cascade. Nobody knows if the phenomenon is the brain's own creation, or if there really is an external source, one from another plane of existence. Yet scientists can often be just as "militant" as the religious who are "anti-science" and there are also religious scientists who do the same and discount such "experiences of the spiritual." The classification of "mental disorder" or "mental delusions" is made as if they really have the "authority" to decide what is really happening to the person. People can be just as "superstitious" about science as religion. Take for example, hypochondria. Obsessive checking of the body.

The phenomenon is a mental disorder only if there is no external source. A mental disorder or mental delusion is a disorder/delusion if the mind/brain, has thoughts, attitudes and behaviours that show an incapacity for normal mental and cognitive functions but is not caused by external (particularly supernatural) influences. There is no proof that many such "experiences" are a result of an incapacity for normal mental and cognitive functions, an incapacity that has allowed the "experience" to develop and now influences their views on life.

No doubt, they feel strongly about the experience, but just because they feel strongly about it doesn't mean they have a mental disorder or mental delusion. It is tempting to say that they have a mental disorder or mental delusion, but what you want to label as disorder/delusion is based on your observation of the phenomenon. They choose to express themselves in the manner as to appear deluded, but what if they didn't express it and kept it to themselves? Such behaviour would obviously be a sign of cunning and intelligence (as well as common sense), as it shows that normal mental and cognitive functions exist. You are selective about when you decide to express your attachment to that experience, rather than going out of your way to express it openly. In that sense, what one sees as a disorder/delusion may be more of a consequence of how strongly a person feels about something and how eager they are to express it. So what one sees as a disorder/delusion is really just excitement.

That is not to say that I won't classify (I may be tempted to) someone's experiences as no more than a mental disorder. But perhaps I will be more careful not to judge and discredit. I'll watch myself more carefully (or try to).

[Francis king]

u grammar freaks!

personally, I love accents... the strange inflections, the regional variations, it's all good...

I have favourites, such as Hindi or Welsh- both so melodic, they remind me of bubbling water or playful streams, sing song accents, infectious, but I also find there are accents I find difficult to process- for instance- I often offend ppl from Northern Ireland by assuming they're Scottish, and I also find it difficult to understand the southern Irish-the dialect just does not work in my ears, and I cannot understand the majority of what they say, even though I'm from a Scots/Irish background myself...

Previously to have a regional accent in England was to accept the associations that came with it- namely; low status, a poor education and not a lot of travelling, and ppl spent a fortune on studying RP (recieved pronunciation) and talking like 1950's BBC correspondents (like the upper classes did), yet thankfully we have now swung the other way- an accent now is considered to be a sign of authenticity and belonging, a badge of honour as opposed to the previous badge of shame...

Where I live, in the Capital of Culture, we differentiate between north end, and south end scousers; north end scouse is more hard, and higher, and slightly "raspier" than the south end scouse, which is lower, and "fatter", and softer... they vary because- north end scouse has been more influenced by immigrant dialects- and the south end has been more influenced by lancashire... or so I have heard...

"Scousers" (ppl from Liverpool, England) are perceived to be: warm, happy-go-lucky types, and do well in call centres, yet it is rare you will find a call centre staffed by, say, Brummies (ppl from Birmingham), as they are perceived to be, well, stupid...

stereotypes, there must be more to life...

[17th Angel]

You would say you don't mind accents... Seeing you were pretty much at the back of the line when they were handing them out... Ugh scouser accents..... Northen monkeys...


I dislike the following accents ;

ManCHASTAR!!! (wiiiiiide boy)
Scouser (sound like criminals/hamsters on acid.)
Welsh (sound like complete slow, gay..... idiots. And they are welsh..... lol)
Newcastle (see scouser)
Yank (not enough room to list)
Essex (I just want to rip their heads off and poop down their throats :\)
French...... (Ugh..... no please)
Brummy (sound thick as f***) lol


I LIKE the following accents ;

Scotish (Strong! Rab C Nesbitt! Say nay mare!)
Irish (funny lol)
Spanish (sexy)
Italian (sexy)
Russian (sexy)
Canadian (sexy)
Columbian (funny as flock)
Cockney.... (who doesn't??? Apart from northern monkeys)
Cornish/Devon (home town represent!)
Chipmunk (KLOLZ!)
Eastern (death to zee infadeeeeeeeels) *does his tongue war cry!!!*

[Dondi]

No doubt, they feel strongly about the experience, but just because they feel strongly about it doesn't mean they have a mental disorder or mental delusion. It is tempting to say that they have a mental disorder or mental delusion, but what you want to label as disorder/delusion is based on your observation of the phenomenon. They choose to express themselves in the manner as to appear deluded, but what if they didn't express it and kept it to themselves? Such behaviour would obviously be a sign of cunning and intelligence (as well as common sense), as it shows that normal mental and cognitive functions exist. You are selective about when you decide to express your attachment to that experience, rather than going out of your way to express it openly. In that sense, what one sees as a disorder/delusion may be more of a consequence of how strongly a person feels about something and how eager they are to express it. So what one sees as a disorder/delusion is really just excitement.

That is not to say that I won't classify (I may be tempted to) someone's experiences as no more than a mental disorder. But perhaps I will be more careful not to judge and discredit. I'll watch myself more carefully (or try to).

They say those who have experienced NDEs often keep to themselves, largely because they fear ridicule, or maybe they just don't know what to make of the experience themselves. Yet the experience in many instances has greatly affected the individual's outlook on life (though I suppose that anyone who has faced death would appreciate life more after the experience). But I wonder in those cases where the individual has clammed up, if there is a stark difference noticable by those who are aquainted with him/her.

[Still thinking]

I'm amazed at how a small area such as Britain can have so many dialects\accents. I'm in the U.S., and I can't tell individual state accents unless it's very pronounced. You're saying that just by listening to somebody speak, you can tell if they grew up within ten miles or one hundred miles of you? I gotta say, that's pretty bizarre.

[17th Angel]

Originally Posted by Still thinking

I'm amazed at how a small area such as Britain can have so many dialects\accents. I'm in the U.S., and I can't tell individual state accents unless it's very pronounced. You're saying that just by listening to somebody speak, you can tell if they grew up within ten miles or one hundred miles of you? I gotta say, that's pretty bizarre.

Not really.... You have tons of accents

You have;

Redneck/simple/southerner
yo yo nigga what nigga what yo
I'm eeeeer like so super psyched to see you!!!! eeeeh ehehhehe
Ugh... Dude.... Like, awesome.....
WHY HOW DEE DOO DEE DOO THERE I'M AAAAAAAA MER E KAN...
You then have that really up and down accent that I cannot even begin to try and imitate lol... and no not the super psyched one... something else...

Screw it, I can't list them all, you have tons of accents... Perhaps we are better at dectecting accents than most?

Bottom line, the majority of your accents suck lol....

[Quahom1]

Originally Posted by Still thinking

I'm amazed at how a small area such as Britain can have so many dialects\accents. I'm in the U.S., and I can't tell individual state accents unless it's very pronounced. You're saying that just by listening to somebody speak, you can tell if they grew up within ten miles or one hundred miles of you? I gotta say, that's pretty bizarre.

I can tell a upper from the lower, the five bourroughs of New York, Northing VA from middle or southern VA, same with Maryland and WV, MI from MN, or WI. Each New England state is unique. Maybe it's a matter of listening for the sounds, instead of hearing words. Voice, is like song. Each one is different and unique.

v/r

Q

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by Francis king

"Scousers" (ppl from Liverpool, England) are perceived to be: warm, happy-go-lucky types

You avin’ a laff?!! This perception can only come from fellow scousers! Meanwhile back in the rest of the UK, for the benefit of our non-UK readers, scousers are perceived as having all the attributes of a criminal. But then, they are all…victims of stereotyping!

s.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by Still thinking

I'm amazed at how a small area such as Britain can have so many dialects\accents. I'm in the U.S., and I can't tell individual state accents unless it's very pronounced. You're saying that just by listening to somebody speak, you can tell if they grew up within ten miles or one hundred miles of you? I gotta say, that's pretty bizarre.

As Francis has pointed out, people within the same town can have differences that are noticeable to the locals themselves. So a “small area” like Britain is clearly going to be very varied!

Sometimes such differences have been used in investigations into serious crimes, such as the serial killer known as the Yorkshire Ripper. A tape was sent to the police, which linguistics expert Professor Stanley Ellis identified as having an accent peculiar to Castletown. The police concentrated their efforts in this area - and the real killer went on to kill three more victims before being caught. The Yorkshire Ripper (Sutcliffe) came from Bradford. The tape had been a hoax, sent by a man (Humble) who lived “walking distance” from the area that Ellis had identified.

“One of the country's leading dialect experts, Stanley Ellis of LeedsUniversity, was handed the task of identifying Humble's geographic roots. He pinpointed the pit village of Castletown, on the western outskirts of Sunderland. Northumbria Police, and West Yorkshire colleagues who were sent to assist the hunt, devoted half a million police hours to tracking down the voice on the tape. They visited every house in Castletown containing a man aged between 20 and 65, toured working men's clubs and checked 15 million letters, all in vain.
Humble was living only one mile from Castletown, but he was never questioned. The closest the police came was when they arrived at the house of his next-door neighbour.”

How Wearside Jack derailed the hunt for the Ripper - Times Online



s.

[Still thinking]

I meant small in comparison to the States. With a country this size, it's normal to have varied accents, but I guess I thought with so much less square mileage, Britain wouldn't be so divided.

[greymare]

strewth, crikey and stone the flamin crows. fair dinkum, that would be a beaudy of a skill to learn, telling where someone is from. should teach the billylids that one. (that was my best)

[17th Angel]

Originally Posted by Snoopy

Meanwhile back in the rest of the UK, for the benefit of our non-UK readers, scousers are perceived as having all the attributes of a criminal. But then, they are all…victims of stereotyping!

lmfao... Keep telling yourself that..... *goes to still check his car has it's wheels on.*

[Pontius]

You have so many replies’ I hope you will get to this one. Belief, any belief, is dangerous. If you believe in something you must disbelieve in something else. It is the nature of belief that creates internal violence. Most people are believers and have closed their minds to inquiry. As you become a believer you close your mind to other ideas and beliefs because you already have the answers (you believe).

It is possible to let go of your belief systems and open up your mind. All ideas and beliefs have some merit. Many are difficult to swallow but that doesn't mean that one should outright reject them. Take each belief with a grain of salt. It might be that those strange people worshiping a rock know something I don't but, maybe they are misguided followers of some charismatic leader using them to benefit him or her. Neither accept nor reject.

As you become less influenced by old ideas which you have let go you will begin to see how almost all people are manipulated and used by the belief systems which they are caught up in. There are many, not just religious beliefs. Belief means something I accept to be truth and usually sets me apart from non believers. An example would be; I am an American and I live in the greatest country in the world.
-Pontius

[flowperson]

Originally Posted by Pontius

An example would be; I am an American and I live in the greatest country in the world.
-Pontius

Hi Pontius and welcome to CR.

Yes I agree that inclusive belief always automatically leads to attitudes of exclusion. However, we are all entering an era where "either-or" attitudes must be set aside more often than not and be replaced with "both-and" modes of behavior in order for a viable future to be reached. Those who cannot or will not modify their behaviors and habits to do this one thing will not be able to participate in the unfolding future, IMHO.

While I admit that the last example in your post is "what is" and has been in the United States of America for about 250 year now; the past 40 years or so, and especially so the past seven years, adequately demonstrate the foolishness of such blanket statements.

flow....