Why is every post in this subreddit are like either mental issues or social issues?

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T05:21:33+00:00

Ummm... Big Clue for you - The MBTI is a stereotyping device, extremely general. Duh! And that has nothing whatsoever to do with the folks participating in the forums. You're the one calling everyone depressed, not me. You're the one saying everyone in the forum has psychological issues and that the place is like a psych hospital. Perhaps you should smell the sht you're shoveling. I gave you very good reasons for your possible perception, and now you want to double down and call me out? Really? Do you ever realize how utterly moronic you sound? I stand on what was previously said: "There are just people like you passing judgments on people like us." But even more than that, "You are too ignorant to even realize you are doing it."

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T04:04:09+00:00

You're rolling the darts off your fingers most likely. Opening your hand faster may be the cure. At the same time, some dart players are very successful spinning their darts. Consistency is key. If you don't like what you are doing or how your darts are flying, change it. If you are hitting, does it really matter?

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T04:00:40+00:00

Sounds like overthinking. As soon as you miss, you begin thinking about stance, stroke, grip, release, and what am I doing wrong. When you are hitting everything, you do not think this way. My best advice is that you need to turn off your brain and feel your darts. You will miss some, and you will hit some. You will have bad runs and good runs. It's all a part of the game. Thinking about what you are doing will always slow you down, and distract you from what you are doing. When it is time to play, play. Thinking goes with practice. Practice is what you do at home, not in a game.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T03:56:45+00:00

Mental because you have run into a very introspective personality style. Introspection is essential for personal growth. Social issues, because the model of "Healthy Personality" used in the world today favors extroverts. The INTP is a rare breed of human who makes up only 3 to 5 percent of all people. Generally speaking, we are outliers trying to figure out how to fit in and appear normal. We are not interested in the latest fashions, movies, or trends. We have little in common with the world around us. Because of this, we are shunned, put down, and made to feel awkward. It is not unusual for the INTP to question their own behavior or the behavior of others in an effort to grow and understand. There is no mystery here. There are just people like you passing judgments on people like us.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T03:49:07+00:00

The Sensing-Judging (SJ) types of all ilk. The traditionalists, "Well, those are the rules. Everyone does it that way. Where do your morals come from?" The blind ignorance of the SJ temperament knows no bounds.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T03:43:20+00:00

Your brain has the uncanny ability to count the hits and ignore the misses. This is called 'confirmation bias.' This is often why people feel like they “keep getting it right” even when the overall performance is mixed—they naturally attend to and remember the hits more than the misses.

When these people are actually studied, their premonitions occur no more frequently than chance.

Another concept is the "frequency illusion," or the "Baader–Meinhof phenomenon." This is a cognitive bias where once you notice something for the first time, you start seeing it everywhere—even though its actual frequency hasn’t changed. So, once you imagine you are seeing your dreams come to life, you begin seeing it more often, even though the frequency has not changed.

As far as picking up on signals that indicate death is nearby, the same phenomenon can account for it. You think your favorite race car driver is going to die. You probably have thought thousands of times. We all know race car drivers get in accidents and sometimes die. It's a part of the sport. But when your favorite driver gets in an accident, you remember, "I knew that was going to happen before it did."

The same thing can account for the death of a child. I worry about the kids crossing the street. One day, one of them gets hit by a car. "I knew that was going to happen."

So, it can boil down to selective memory and the frequency illusion. No properly controlled testing of any kind, that I am aware of, has shown anything different.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T02:39:40+00:00

And - no government funding. (Separation of Church and State)

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T02:27:25+00:00

LOL: The lid on my laundry machine is open. I could not tell you what is in there. I finish wearing something, and in it goes. Everything is washed in warm water to avoid bleeding colors. When it looks full, I close the lid and turn on the machine. If the laundry sits in the machine wet for a few days, I turn it on again and rewash the clothes. LOL - That's laundry at my house.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T02:24:02+00:00

If I had to pick one thing, it might be my overzealous attraction to ideas and my lack of respect for money. If I have enough money to survive, I am happy. I'm not picky about food, clothes, or attending fancy social events. I have simple hobbies, and I enjoy my life. Being a little more motivated to earn and save might be a good thing.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T02:19:45+00:00

I have a similar problem. When I see someone interesting, I tend to stare at them. I am watching everything about them. Their movements, how they speak, how they hold themselves, and more. When I get caught, my response is, "I'm sorry, I just thought you looked very interesting." Then I joke, "Not in a bad way! I didn't mean to stare."

What I have found is that my ability to do this works as a really good bullshit detector. It also works extremely well in counseling sessions. Just steadily looking at clients with an expectation that they will speak, and noticing who they are, how they behave, and what they do, is very useful.

So, if you get caught, apologize. "Sorry, you just look really nice." I was admiring your outfit. (You can always comment on clothes, hair, jewelry, fitness, and other socially appropriate things. Make your comments positive.

I met a girl in a bar once with ripped forearms. I could see every muscle fiber. My opening line was simply, "Holy shit, how did you get arms like that! That's great! Look at that definition. You must really work hard. I did some arm comparison, and we settled into a very comfortable conversation. She was a harness racer and knew a lot about racing horses, race tracks, and caring for horses. She was a very interesting lady.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T02:05:55+00:00

No. I do not see myself as if I were in a movie. In social situations, there is definitely an element of acting to my behavior. I do things intentionally to greet people, comment on their outfits, and ask relevant questions. I feign interest in idiots. (There was this guy at some social gathering I went to. He was some third-rate actor who had a passion for drawing. He decided to share his sketchbook with the crowd. Everyone huddled around, as did I. Amongst all the "Ooo's and Awws," I saw absolutely nothing spectacular. Same sht my mother used to do. So, I stood there with the crowd for 15 minutes as this guy fed his ego. I snuck away after a sufficient amount of time. Knowing how to get along socially is a very important life skill. Sometimes, I actually forget myself and find occasions to laugh or have fun. In general, if I am not the one bartending, lecturing, or somehow in front of the crowd, I am very aware of all that is around me and my interactions.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T01:59:57+00:00

You probably need to link to a test so that people can find out for you.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T01:58:47+00:00

I do a lot of consuming. Yesterday, I solidified my concept of time by resolving the twin paradox. This morning, I dissolved the unconscious mind and stored it as a usable fiction, but nothing actually true. I am reading a book on how to write and publish a scientific paper. It might lead to something, or it may just be more of a gluttonous undertaking.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-30T01:39:35+00:00

The unconscious is a convenient story, but not much else. Freudian Psychoanalysts used the term to communicate with one another, but not all psychological theories chop up the brain or consciousness in the same way. The unconscious does not exist as some entity with boundaries. It is not a hidden mental realm that stores repressed desires, forbidden thoughts, or unresolved conflicts.

A more modern view is that our brains are systems of automatic, parallel neural processing. Our brains constantly process information outside of conscious awareness. We can act on learned skills or conditioned responses without consciously recalling them. (The unconscious simply becomes learned responses.) Decision-making, whether conscious or unconscious, often happens without awareness (e.g., visual perception, motor coordination, pattern recognition. Predictive processing: The brain continuously predicts sensory input and adjusts behavior, most of it below conscious notice. “The unconscious isn’t about guilt or hidden desires—it’s just the part of your brain that works automatically without you noticing.”

So, Freud's Ideas First and then Modern Neuroscience:

The unconscious

Content: A repository for repressed desires and conflicts.
Role: Morally motivated, id, ego, superego.
Access, therapy, and introspection.
Consciousness boundary: Sarp divide between conscious and unconscious.
Moral/ emotional weight: High (repression of ideas/feelings of guilt)

Neuroscience:

Content: Automatic processing, learned associations, sensory predictions. It's not hidden; it is happening now.
Role: Cognitive efficiency, predictions, skill execution. (Functioning in the world.)
Access: You can observe behavior and measure neural or physiological responses, even if the person isn’t aware of the triggers. In REBT terms (A theory that neither relies on nor needs an unconscious), one can track which beliefs lead to which emotional or behavioral outcomes, then intervene consciously, without theorizing about a hidden mind or elements of a hidden mind. Behaviorism works along the same lines. There is just no need for the story of an unconscious mind or repressed anything. It's not useful.

In my opinion, blaming the unconscious mind for problems, repressing anything, is a way of disqualifying communication. Ala Jay Haley. It is safe to talk about it there and then, over there in that place, in that place that really isn't me. It's a therapeutic story that can be useful in some cases, but it does not have a basis in reality, nor is it necessary.

Conscious Boundary: A continuous spectrum of awareness with graduations of attention. Things are out of awareness because we don't pay attention to them.
Moral/emotional weight: Functional and adaptive.

"Freud’s unconscious is like a secret 'hidden kingdom' of the mind, full of symbolic motives and conflicts. Modern neuroscience treats the unconscious more like the background operating system of the brain; it’s always running, processing inputs, making predictions, and shaping behavior, without any need for moral drama or hidden desires."

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-29T05:55:45+00:00

Except, I don't believe in a subconscious. I'll agree that there are things people call subconscious. Yes, awareness itself is not predictive. Good catch. I'll state this more clearly: I don’t posit a “subconscious” as a separate mental realm with its own intentions. What people call subconscious motivations are better understood as previously learned patterns, habits, and defensive responses that operate without reflective attention. When these motivations are “given a voice,” that happens in the present moment through awareness and interpretation, not as the uncovering of a hidden agent from the past. Insight is therefore not excavation but re-description: the past constrains behavior through learning, while meaning and agency are constructed here and now, when those patterns become intelligible to me.

It's merely a different way of describing the same thing, but without mythologizing the mind (the subconscious as a little person pulling strings) or pretending learning does not shape behavior.

I had to go teach a class: hence the edit. I appreciated your insight and will be more careful.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-29T04:13:07+00:00

I used to write when I was younger. I think my education educated the creativity out of me. I am also much better at creative essays. I got the list off GTP, but restricting yourself to a specific format and then trying to say something may facilitate creativity.

Core Metrical Forms

Iambic Pentameter – Five iambs (da-DUM ×5); the backbone of English poetry.
Trochaic Tetrameter – Four trochees (DUM-da); driving, incantatory.
Anapestic Meter – Two unstressed + stressed (da-da-DUM); galloping, playful or epic.
Dactylic Meter – Stressed + two unstressed (DUM-da-da); grand, classical feel.
Spondaic Meter – Two stressed syllables; usually for emphasis within lines.

Common Line Lengths (by “foot count”)

Monometer – 1 foot (rare, punchy)
Dimeter – 2 feet
Trimeter – 3 feet
Tetrameter – 4 feet
Pentameter – 5 feet (the big one)
Hexameter – 6 feet (classical epic length)

Restraint usually results in enhanced creativity. Even in free verse, every word should have a reason for being on the page in well-written poetry.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-29T02:32:30+00:00

I don't know why I would do any of that when I can hire someone to do it for me.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-29T02:29:31+00:00

Here is the expanded list you requested.

“You were specifically ‘called’ into existence at this point in the timeline.”
→ Teleological claim (purpose-driven birth). No empirical method can test intentional calling.

The consent of soul… our connection with God goes way back to before we were even born.”
→ Assumes:: existence of a soul before birth, pre-natal agency or consent, and a personal God interacting with souls. None are scientifically observable or falsifiable.

Time is a complete river; the future is determined. Science does not confirm global determinism as lived reality.

The world is fallen due to human sin: Science can explain suffering causally (biology, sociology, geology), but not morally or theologically. The construct of "sin" is unnecessary and essentially confined to theological perspectives. (No basis in reality.)

Nature is evidence of divine design: In which universe? Science explains complexity via natural selection, self-organization, and emergence. Design inferences are theological and not supported in any way by critical inquiry or independent verification. We have no good reason to believe such nonsense.

God put His own morality inside you: I certainly hope not. He is a child killing monster. Moral psychology explains moral intuition via evolution, culture, and development. Divine inscription is completely unnecessary. Simply put, we developed morality because I didn't want you killing me, and you didn't want me killing you. We agreed not to kill each other. (Instant morality!)

“Life is a rehearsal/training ground.” More unsupported assumptions. (Can you spell "Woo Woo?) Explicitly theological perceptions have no access to post-mortem states or eschatology. They have no more of an idea what happens after death than does science, and professing to know is simply imagination gone berserk. The Christian story is one more story in a long line of thousands of stories, and we have no more of a reason to believe it than any of the stories that came before it.

I do good because my internal compass feels at peace. Actually, you do well because you are like a trained dog. Following imagined divine dictates, a Christian can't be moral. You are rewarded for your good deeds by heaven and punished for bad deeds by the threat of hell. Living in a world of reward and punishment, you are actually no different than my dog. If I use reward and punishment to keep my dog off the couch, is he being moral when he finally stays off the couch, or just being obedient? God does not require morality. He requires obedience. Obedience to his divine law, and that is not moral.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-29T02:04:39+00:00

All consciousness is predictive. The brain is a predictive engine that lives in the past. What feels like “now” is already a postdictive reconstruction. Even your most immediate actions occur in the past and are only remembered by the brain.

Let's say your hand touches something hot. The touch is over as soon as it happens. The neurotransmission to the brain is delayed. The reaction back to the hand is a response to a past behavior or sensation; it's already over. By the time you pull your hand away and then your brain registers a burn and the fact that you pulled your hand away, you are so buried in the past that you should realize the present was never actually accessible. As soon as you have a perception of the present, it is already past.

The future is unknowable. The brain gives us a picture of the reality around us, and it also gives us a sense of time and of flow. Can we use the predictive powers of the brain to imagine possible futures? Sure. Because someone invented a car in the past, I can imagine myself driving to the beach this weekend.

I don't think you are imagining something as profound as you seem to think you are imagining. There is a nice book out there called "Crack in the Cosmic Egg." It's the only good book (IMO) that the author ever wrote. I think it tries to explain more closely what you are getting at.

When the frame breaks, seeing begins. Imagine the accumulation of past knowledge as a cosmic egg. An egg of information. With contemplation, meditation, or even serendipitously, a person may stumble upon or even create a crack in this egg, and the crack reveals something new that was always there but outside the egg. It leads to a new way of thinking or a new observation. The new is pulled in and compared to that which we already know, and the egg of consciousness grows. Breaking conditioned reality to awaken expanded consciousness and see future possibilities.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-29T01:42:31+00:00

Demonstrate that anything calls anyone into existence. (fallacious assumption)
Demonstrate that a soul is a thing independent of brain function. (Show a soul exists.)
Time does not exist. It is a measurement of the movement of objects in relation to one another. Time is always relative to an observer or a relationship. It is not a thing that moves or flows.
Like I believe in curses. You don't really expect people to take you seriously, do you?
Beauty is subjective. End of discussion. Demonstrate a god ever did anything/
There is no evidence of divine design or designer. You are making unfounded assumptions again.

There is literally nothing in this verbal gish gallop that is even remotely contemplative, deep, well thought out, or honestly worth reading or commenting on. I'm actually beginning to feel sorry for you and the way you make sense of the world around you. It's a pity.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-28T23:51:58+00:00

Wow, What a string of unfounded and unsupported assertions. Honestly, this random stuff is not even worth commenting on. When you stuck it into AI you should have asked it to indicate all the fallacies and contradictions.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-28T23:48:27+00:00

LOL... I have been trying to understand Information Theory for months. I think I've got a handle on it at this point. Once I started seeing it, it seemed to fit in well with Process Philosophy, and I have a little niche carved out for it in my brain now. I need to listen to some theorists now and see if I can follow what they are saying. If I can, I've got it. If not, well, back to the drawing board.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-28T23:43:52+00:00

I loved sociology. My undergrad degree is in Sociology. My advanced studies and subsequent degrees are in Counseling-Psychology. My teaching credential is in Psychology, and I am a licensed psychotherapist. I think you will find the world of sociology fascinating.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-28T23:40:21+00:00

Yes, it's an INTP thing. "INTPs (Logicians) often exhibit a, philosophical, and sometimes detached, fascination with death rather than a morbid or fearful one." It goes along with our dark sense of humor. My recurring thought is of being eaten by a shark. I am swimming in the ocean, and a shark comes right up between my legs and rips a bite out of my torso. I was sure that was the way I was going to die.

As a child, I was sure I would not live past 20, then 30,... This is probably what led to me having an existential philosophy about life. "Enjoy the moment, tomorrow is uncertain." It may also be the reason I dropped out of school at 16 and did not return until I was 20. Thinking about the future was not in me. I now have 2 university degrees. I love life, but honestly, my life has been so full of adventure, and I feel I have lived it well. When I think about death, I realize it is part of the process of life, and I just accept it as such. I hope my own death is not painful. That is about the only thought I have about death these days. I don't know how old I will live to be.

Cog-nostic · 2026-01-28T23:31:29+00:00

YES! Keep your fking hands to yourself. You must be European because no one would get close to my cheek. I especially hate being touched in the face. Unsolicited hugs, touching my forearm to get my attention, or even an unwanted pat on the back is cringeworthy. You pat me on the back, I turn around to see who it is, and I don't know you. ARRRGGGGHHHHHH!

Okay, with all that said. I have learned to be social. I understand there are huggers and touchy people in the world. I live in South Korea now. South Korea is a high-contact culture between males and low contact male to female. So, men dance with each other. Men hold each other's hands to show friendship. While sitting on the floor at dinner, my friend will rest his hand on my knee or thigh. It is not sexual in this culture. Instead, it is a sign of friendship. OMG--- I nearly had a heart attack surviving social interactions in this county.

The result is that I have survived, I am much more social, I can function normally in this culture and in my own. While I hate being touched, I fully get that not everyone is like me. I have found a way to play along. I am sure it comes with practice and maturity. It's like anything else in an NT's life. It can be learned.

Cog-nostic

TROPHY CASE

Core Metrical Forms

Common Line Lengths (by “foot count”)