Taken from thirdunity

[conuly]

Whatever this is (and I assume it's psychosomatic, but hey, I've been wrong before), it is not good.

Oh, and an article about a rape, taken from feminist. Can we say Kitty Genovese, everyone?

Comments

[leora.livejournal.com]

Yeah, bystander apathy effect. I so want to teach every single high schooler about it.

I worry about the increase in "mystery diseases". This one, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitity, etc. My personal theory is it's an effect of pollution. We put countless toxins into the environment, then we start to see bunches of people getting ill in ways we're not used to. Maybe some of them we just weren't recognizing before, but I suspect some of them are either new or the frequency is drastically increased.

A note on psychosomatic disorders... what most people tend to forget is that something being psychosomatic doesn't mean it isn't completely and utterly real. You weren't forgetting that, but people tend to. A psychosomatic illness is a real illness with a psychological origin. But once it has manifested physically, you have a real illness on your hands. Plus, the borders of psych and non-psych are very blurry. I often think it's a distinction we will eventually discard. Afterall, typically psychological problems like depression can be caused by chemical imbalances without much psychological cause. And stress can increase your likelihood of getting fairly mundane physical ailments like colds and flues. People's mental states are part of their physical states, and I fear our culture horribly devalues psychological suffering, and then will often discount the physical manifestations born of the psychological suffering. Because gods know people think you should snap out of depression, but a broken leg, now that's something to worry about. Even though depression is certainly more dangerous than a broken leg.

We have a long way to go, in so many ways.

[conuly]

It's good that I read your whole last paragraph, because I was about to point out that I know how real psychosomatic diseases are. Honest-to-deity, I've had times where I couldn't move. And I know I *can* move, I even know the word "psychosomatic", but that doesn't mean I'm walking around. I mean, when that's happening, not right now, though (as it happens), I'm *not* walking around right now, but that's because I'm typing.

[wakasplat.livejournal.com]

That first thing sounded a lot like that really severe form of depression where people go almost catatonic. But if it is that, I wonder why they're treating it as if it's new.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

The 'sick' children reminded me immediately of Arthur Clarke's book Childhood's End.

[conuly]

I hated that book. I keep thinking about that poor dog.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Weird, I don't remember what happened to the dog.

[conuly]

His kid turned into a nonhuman who ignored him!

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

So rather than evolve, we should pet dogs?

[conuly]

*nods enthusiastically*

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Ok, as long as we're clear on your stance. I don't want any confusion.

This, however brings to mind some absurd and possibly comedic possibilities.

Evolution, in general, is a genetic drift caused by momentary favorability of a trait. What benefits are caused by petting dogs? Will we slowly breed happier dogs, smoother hands or fur? Perhaps humans will grow shorter because they won't have to bend so far to pet the canines, or maybe the dogs will get taller?

[leora.livejournal.com]

Yeah, bystander apathy effect. I so want to teach every single high schooler about it.

I worry about the increase in "mystery diseases". This one, chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, multiple chemical sensitity, etc. My personal theory is it's an effect of pollution. We put countless toxins into the environment, then we start to see bunches of people getting ill in ways we're not used to. Maybe some of them we just weren't recognizing before, but I suspect some of them are either new or the frequency is drastically increased.

A note on psychosomatic disorders... what most people tend to forget is that something being psychosomatic doesn't mean it isn't completely and utterly real. You weren't forgetting that, but people tend to. A psychosomatic illness is a real illness with a psychological origin. But once it has manifested physically, you have a real illness on your hands. Plus, the borders of psych and non-psych are very blurry. I often think it's a distinction we will eventually discard. Afterall, typically psychological problems like depression can be caused by chemical imbalances without much psychological cause. And stress can increase your likelihood of getting fairly mundane physical ailments like colds and flues. People's mental states are part of their physical states, and I fear our culture horribly devalues psychological suffering, and then will often discount the physical manifestations born of the psychological suffering. Because gods know people think you should snap out of depression, but a broken leg, now that's something to worry about. Even though depression is certainly more dangerous than a broken leg.

We have a long way to go, in so many ways.

[conuly]

It's good that I read your whole last paragraph, because I was about to point out that I know how real psychosomatic diseases are. Honest-to-deity, I've had times where I couldn't move. And I know I *can* move, I even know the word "psychosomatic", but that doesn't mean I'm walking around. I mean, when that's happening, not right now, though (as it happens), I'm *not* walking around right now, but that's because I'm typing.

[wakasplat.livejournal.com]

That first thing sounded a lot like that really severe form of depression where people go almost catatonic. But if it is that, I wonder why they're treating it as if it's new.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

The 'sick' children reminded me immediately of Arthur Clarke's book Childhood's End.

[conuly]

I hated that book. I keep thinking about that poor dog.

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Weird, I don't remember what happened to the dog.

[conuly]

His kid turned into a nonhuman who ignored him!

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

So rather than evolve, we should pet dogs?

[conuly]

*nods enthusiastically*

[jackshoegazer.livejournal.com]

Ok, as long as we're clear on your stance. I don't want any confusion.

This, however brings to mind some absurd and possibly comedic possibilities.

Evolution, in general, is a genetic drift caused by momentary favorability of a trait. What benefits are caused by petting dogs? Will we slowly breed happier dogs, smoother hands or fur? Perhaps humans will grow shorter because they won't have to bend so far to pet the canines, or maybe the dogs will get taller?