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Don Salmon's avatar

Very clearly stated

Yet, I still have the strangely unsettling feeling that we are really not in the area of philosophy but rather, dealing with an issue in the realm of mental health.

How is it not some kind of schizotypal disorder to deny that experience exists?

How is it not some kind of disorder on the rather extreme end of the autism spectrum to assume that reality consists of purely abstract numerical relationships? (Imagine how much easier it is for people who have great fears regarding close emotional relationships to imagine they are simply interacting with various equations?

I don't think there's a pill for such conditions, but perhaps some combination of psychotherapeutic interventions along with a consult from cult specialists could help!

Arthur Haswell's avatar

I think for some it acts as a kind of anesthetic against the pain they have. Telling themselves that reality is just dead matter is a way of undermining it.

Don Salmon's avatar

I think this is very true. For many of the "recovering Baptists" in greenville sc who were told all their childhood they were horrific sinners bound for hell if they didn't watch their every step, the idea of total oblivion at death is an enormous relief, and taking oneself to be a kind of robot not subject to emotions seems particularly to appeal to the far right "manosphere," which itself displays a remarkable variety of mental health disorders.

Don Salmon's avatar

Or some combination of MDMA, music therapy and ayahuasca.....