[ExI] A Small Request

[Stathis Papaioannou]

On 11/02/2008, samantha <sjatkins at mac.com> wrote:

> Are those with seriously life limiting and dangerous memetic infections
> effectively mentally ill?  Or is what is numerically average good
> enough, the "normal", that it should be accepted regardless of how in
> many respects un-sane it may be?   And what of those quite significantly
> outside the norm that are arguably better?

Mental illness is *not* the same as having strange ideas. Strange
ideas are just one symptom indicating that there may be underlying
brain pathology, in the same way as a severe headache might be. The
delusions of the mentally ill are actually sometimes less bizarre and
less dangerous than the beliefs of people who are perfectly healthy.
Only if the strange ideas are due to disease will they respond to
treatment.



-- 
Stathis Papaioannou