Random Thought Thread

[Munkie]

21 hours ago, paxmiles said:

From my bicycling perspective, cars not using turn signals (or stopping at stop signs) is so very normal I don't think it would qualify as any sort of mental disorder.

That may be. But it is indisputably their way of advertising to the world that they don't care about anyone but themselves. 

It's their world, we're just living in it.

[InfestedKerrigan]

18 minutes ago, Munkie said:

That may be. But it is indisputably their way of advertising to the world that they don't care about anyone but themselves. 

It's their world, we're just living in it.

Get off my Stage!!

[Guest]

59 minutes ago, Munkie said:

That may be. But it is indisputably their way of advertising to the world that they don't care about anyone but themselves. 

It's their world, we're just living in it.

Says the person who only exists in my head. As if I'd need a car to be arrogant.

[Duckman]

23 hours ago, paxmiles said:

From my bicycling perspective, cars not using turn signals (or stopping at stop signs) is so very normal I don't think it would qualify as any sort of mental disorder.

On the contrary...  Sociopathic means antisocial or against the social interest.  Failure to use your turn signals is explicitly sociopathic as they exist solely to be useful to others (and possibly defensively so).

[Guest]

https://www.bing.com/search?q=sociopathic&FORM=EDGENA

You keep using that word. I'm not sure that it means what you think it means.

[pretre]

Ha. Bing. I wondered how that search engine stayed afloat.

[Guest]

5 hours ago, pretre said:

Ha. Bing. I wondered how that search engine stayed afloat.

Well, its the only choice for my windows phone and the default for windows 10 users.

[InfestedKerrigan]

4 minutes ago, paxmiles said:

Well, its the only choice for my windows phone and the default for windows 10 users.

What do you mean "yahoo.com and Google.com aren't available" on your phone?

 

Let's ask Jeeves, perhaps he'll know. 

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

What do you mean "yahoo.com and Google.com aren't available" on your phone?

 

Its an extra step.

[InfestedKerrigan]

What about changing your default search engine? Or your home page?

[pretre]

1 hour ago, paxmiles said:

Well, its the only choice for my windows phone and the default for windows 10 users.

Ahh, user inertia. Got it.

[Munkie]

8 hours ago, paxmiles said:

https://www.bing.com/search?q=sociopathic&FORM=EDGENA

You keep using that word. I'm not sure that it means what you think it means.

Is a well-researched thought still a random thought?

I'm not developing a psychological hypothesis, just expressing my annoyance with inconsiderate people.

[Guest]

7 hours ago, InfestedKerrigan said:

What about changing your default search engine? Or your home page?

Still an extra step. Anyway, wasn't complaining. Just responding to Pretre's question about bing.

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Munkie said:

Is a well-researched thought still a random thought?

I'm not developing a psychological hypothesis, just expressing my annoyance with inconsiderate people.

Sorry, from your response I'm clearly failing at a princess bride reference.

[Guest]

6 hours ago, pretre said:

Ahh, user inertia. Got it.

Exactly my point.

[Munkie]

2 hours ago, paxmiles said:

Sorry, from your response I'm clearly failing at a princess bride reference.

Nope, I got the reference. But Andre the Giant didn't post any hyperlinks with the definition to prove The Sicilian wrong. 

I just think you may be missing the point of a random thought if you're researching whether or not it would hold water as a hypothesis within the mental health community. 

 

[Guest]

4 hours ago, Munkie said:

I just think you may be missing the point of a random thought if you're researching whether or not it would hold water as a hypothesis within the mental health community. 

Nah, just kinda offends me when you use mental health terms as an insult, especially when used to describe mundane behavior. It reinforces the idea that discrimination against the mentally ill is okay. But I didn't think that was your point, so was commenting about word useage.

[Duckman]

3 hours ago, paxmiles said:

Nah, just kinda offends me when you use mental health terms as an insult, especially when used to describe mundane behavior. It reinforces the idea that discrimination against the mentally ill is okay. But I didn't think that was your point, so was commenting about word useage.

So what you're saying is that I didn't support my argument that threatening the life of other people through base negligence in the use of a ubiquitous tool explicitly designed to be helpful and informative to those other people does not qualify as "extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience."

Or should I just quit making jokes about the superficial "sound-bite" definitions of words being so far off base that the one-sentence definitions of a sociopath and autism are the same thing while they are, fundamentally, hugely different?  (And I say that as someone who is borderline on the spectrum.)

 

ED. For what it is worth, I didn't mean it as an insult at all aside from the implication that people who don't use turn signals are lazy to or beyond the point of negligence.

[Guest]

22 minutes ago, Duckman said:

So what you're saying is that I didn't support my argument that threatening the life of other people through base negligence in the use of a ubiquitous tool explicitly designed to be helpful and informative to those other people does not qualify as "extreme antisocial attitudes and behavior and a lack of conscience."

Or should I just quit making jokes about the superficial "sound-bite" definitions of words being so far off base that the one-sentence definitions of a sociopath and autism are the same thing while they are, fundamentally, hugely different?  (And I say that as someone who is borderline on the spectrum.)

I seem to have gotten you upset. Sorry.

Regarding what you said, you've not suggested that lives were being threatened until now.

You just said that cars weren't using turn signals. I said that, for me, this is normal car behavior. For me, not using turn signals poses no additional danger because I don't expect them to use them anyway. Although using them would be helpful for the community, I believe expecting others to be kind is creating false expectations for you. Expecting kindness and being met with only average behavior doesn't mean that the other driver is mentally ill or otherwise lacking in empathy.

And for the record, even if they are doing it just to screw with you, it's still not inherently them being a Sociopath or any other mental illness. The "why" is what makes it a mental health concern, not the actions. And it becomes a mental disability only when it impairs the individual's ability to "lead a normal life" (and they only qualify if certain other requirements are met).

What you describe is certainly a traffic violation.

[Duckman]

This is not meant as a critique of Pax, it's just a question that his last reply and comments like it often raises with me.

 

Why is it considered acceptable that kindness is not average behavior or the expected norm?  Life is generally easier and better for you if you communicate with and respect those around you.  It's why cars have headlights and turn signals.  It's why the golden rule has been "do unto others" in one form or another for four millenia.  So why does society tolerate base indifference or even negligence toward others as the norm?  (Hint, in Mexico it is *not* the norm.)

[InfestedKerrigan]

Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo.

[Purajh]

Someone is playing my favorite game! Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo SQUIG!!!

[InfestedKerrigan]

I just lost The Game.

[Guest]

9 hours ago, Duckman said:

Why is it considered acceptable that kindness is not average behavior or the expected norm?

Because if you EXPECT kindness, then it can't be kindness. They are just meeting your expectations, which isn't kind, rather, it's neutral. If society EXPECTS kindness, it's called "etiquette" and it ceases to be about kindness. It's just a rule that people follow. 

Kinda semantics, but there's truth in there too. Being kind (or cruel) requires behaving outside of the expected norm (as expected by either the observer or by society as a projected whole).

[Munkie]

Oh shoot, I didn't realize my random thought would be so proactive. 

May I point out, just to clarify, that I'm not saying that all people that refuse to use signals are sociopaths? I used the word "marker" specifically and intentionally to illustrate that people who don't use turn signals are not necessarily sociopaths. 

Rather, wondering if no sociopaths use their turn signal. I meant a marker as in a potential identifier, not as a diagnosable behavior. Not using your turn signal is objectively sociopathic behavior. It's a refusal to help society because moving your (not you your) finger is more trouble than being decent to people around you. 

It requires almost no effort and yet many, many people just can't be bothered. They're willing to do nothing to help society and nothing more than nothing, at least while they're in their cars. They aren't necessarily sociopaths, but there's clearly a societal disconnect they experience when behind wheel.