We want to see ourselves as curious and open-minded and smart and understanding things in terms of context and nuance, but when someone tries to do that in the midst of a shaming they're turned on.
It is slightly chilling to realize there are rational, functional people up there employed to spot, nurture, and exploit those down here among us who are irrational and can barely cope. If you want to know how stupid you’re perceived to be by the people up there, count the unsolicited junk mail you receive. If you get a lot, you’re perceived to be alluringly stupid.
Bedlam: an institution with a history so fearsome it gave its name to a synonym for chaos and pandemonium.
Capitalism, perhaps at its most remorseless, is a physical manifestation of psychopathy.
I have thought sometimes that the sanest people, the people who are just very balanced, very happy, are probably lower achieving than other people. My kind of irrationality happens to be fear or anxiety.
I'm not what you'd call a fearless type of person.
My paranoia never ends, but I haven't been paranoid about being spied on my shadowy forces for some time now.
