[FoRK] The Golden Compass: AWEsome!

[Jeff Bone]

On Dec 3, 2007, at 11:02 AM, Lion Kimbro wrote:

>   This, I guess, is how atheists kill Free Inquiry;

Nobody's attempting to kill anybody's "free inquiry."  (Note the self- 
pitying martyrdom...)  Note, also, that not all inquiries --- nor all  
methods of inquiry --- have the same epistemological value.  (That's  
sort of the point I'm making, and you might not not like it, but  
there it is.)  Finally, note too that proselytizing is not a synonym  
for inquiring.

>   They try to get anybody who goes against
>   their agenda, committed to the loony bin.
>
>   This is grossly unfair.

Settle down, Nancy.  Nobody's trying to get you committed.  Yet.

Go take a look at Goodwin and Jamison, "Manic-Depressive Illness,"  
chapter 11 ("Thought disorder, perception, and cognition" ---  
particularly the section on "Comparison of Speech Patterns in Mania  
and Depression") for more color on analysis of speech acts as a  
diagnostic tool for categorizing psychopathologies.  In particular,  
check out the graphic on pp. 261, comparing the discourse structure  
of normal persons, schizophrenics, and manics.  Chase the links:   
Kagan and Oltmanns, '81;  Harvey, '83;  Ragin and Oltmanns, '83 and  
'87;  Calev et. al. '89;  Hoffman et. al. '86;  Fraser et. al. '86;  
and so on.  It's really a fascinating subject, IMHO.

FWIW, though the repetitive motifs are rather concerning, in general  
your discourse structure is more indicative of garden-variety manic  
"overactivation" than any schizotypal disorder.  But then, I'm not a  
medical doctor, much less a shrink.

jb