I Am An ‘Otrovert’

Now for something completely different….enjoy….

I always considered myself an introvert…..why?

I like solitude, do not like crowds, always curious and a non-conformist all those I thought made me a closet introvert.

I am a ‘Otrovert’….

The word literally means “to turn the other way.” While introverts turn inward and extroverts turn outward, otroverts turn… elsewhere. They’re the people who seem to lack the emotional Bluetooth that connects everyone else to the collective frequency.

You might be one as well….

• You’ve never understood why grown adults chant football songs like they’re sacred hymns

• Corporate “team-building” retreats make you fantasize about building an actual raft and rowing to another continent

• You’ve watched a thunderous standing ovation and genuinely wondered, “Was it really that good?”

• Group chats feel like being trapped in an elevator with the office enthusiasm committee

• You find yourself mystified by viral trends rather than swept up in them

Recently my granddaughter told me that I was an ‘otrovert’….at first I thought it was an insult or that meant I was a grumpy old fart….but she turn me on to a new ‘label’……

Emily Dickinson once wrote, “The soul selects her own society.” Yet for many souls, one’s position in society is not so much a choice as it is a function of where we live, what family, religion, or social class we were born into, and what ethnicity and/or race we are. Most people embrace — or at least accept — the social groups to which they have been assigned. Otroverts do not.

Otrovert is Kaminski’s classification for people who, despite being well-adjusted, struggle to belong in groups and even prefer standing separate from social collectives.

Otroverts place no trust in any group formed around an abstract idea or circumstance of birth, such as ideology, politics, race, economy, religion, and nationality, which exist only in the collective mind. For them, the idea of unquestionable devotion to a group of people linked by a set of tacit criteria agreed upon by the group’s members makes little sense, no matter how venerable that group is in the eyes of the majority.

Most humans adhere to these binding abstractions for various reasons — many of them completely valid. Membership in a group of people who share our ideology, background, or aspects of our experience creates a path for connection, which is especially appealing when other obvious routes, such as family or work, aren’t available. Such groups also provide a set of unwritten instructions about how to behave, which helps to ward off ambiguity and uncertainty, while also keeping everyone in line.

Read On….

https://bigthink.com/big-think-books/otrovert/

Just a bit more on Otroverts……

A Deeper Dive into Otrovert Traits

I Read, I Write, You KNow

Lego ergo scribo”

Cognitive Testing: Helluva Idea

The last year of Biden’s admin and the meme was that his cognitive reasoning was shot because of his declining age…..and now with a new old fart in charge the same meme is being leveled at him as well….and then there are some of the folks in Congress that do not impress me as having all their faculties about them…..so what can be done about this reoccurring situation?

Cognitive testing.

As I stated in the title….I think that this is a helluva idea……but does it go far enough?

There is a bill now that addresses this situation.

The United States is changing fast. Lawmakers are being forced to grapple not just with timeless questions of governance, but often with novel and rapidly-changing policy issues ranging from cryptocurrency regulation to tech monopolies to app-based labor.

That quickly shifting landscape has some doubting whether the country’s aging lawmakers are up for the increasingly complicated task. The issue is stark, with a larger percentage of Congress over the age of 70 than ever before, and a long string of incidents causing constituents to question whether their elected officials are suffering cognitive decline in office.

In response, one House democrat is proposing what Axios calls a “radical solution” to those concerns: mental fitness exams for lawmakers.

The proposal is being raised by Democratic representativeMarie Gluesenkamp Perez, who was elected in 2022 to represent the 3rd district of Washington State.

Last month, Perez tried to pass an amendment to require the Office of Congressional Conduct to produce a cognitive test to assess members’ “ability to perform the duties of office unimpeded by significant irreversible cognitive impairment.”

Go figure, the proposal was widely unpopular with the House Appropriations Committee that voted on it — but Perez is using the momentum to continue pushing the issue.

https://futurism.com/law-congress-cognitive-test

AS I stated I do not believe this goes far enough…..every elected official from president and his cabinet all through the government should be tested regardless of age….in the last twenty years there have been signs that a few elected are showing signs that they have the mental acuity of a garden slug….matters not the party…..all should be tested.

And the results should be made immediately public especially to those that elected these people.

As well as anyone running for office should be given a civics test to determine if they understand the role of government for the health of the nation.

This is a great idea just does not go far enough in my book.

Thoughts?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Is He A Psychopath Or A Sociopath?

This is for all those armchair brainiacs out there.

There has been many titles batted around about Donald Trump….like fascist or dictator but the ones I read most often are psychopath and/or sociopath….all well and good but what is it?

I mean it is like when Repubs call Dems Marxists or socialist or communist….those titles are not exclusively similar. And neither is psychopath or sociapath.

So which is it?

Articles about badly behaved people and how to spot them are common. You don’t have to Google or scroll too much to find headlines such as 7 signs your boss is a psychopath or How to avoid the sociopath next door.

You’ll often see the terms psychopath and sociopath used somewhat interchangeably. That applies to perhaps the most famous badly behaved fictional character of all – Hannibal Lecter, the cannibal serial killer from The Silence of the Lambs.

In the book on which the movie is based, Lecter is described as a “pure sociopath”. But in the movie, he’s described as a “pure psychopath”. Psychiatrists have diagnosed him with something else entirely.

So what’s the difference between a psychopath and a sociopath? As we’ll see, these terms have been used at different times in history,
and relate to some overlapping concepts.

Psychopathy has been mentioned in the psychiatric literature since the 1800s. But the latest edition of the Diagnostic Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (known colloquially as the DSM) doesn’t list it as a recognised clinical disorder.

Since the 1950s, labels have changed and terms such as “sociopathic personality disturbance” have been replaced with antisocial personality disorder, which is what we have today.

Someone with antisocial personality disorder has a persistent disregard for the rights of others. This includes breaking the law, repeated lying, impulsive behaviour, getting into fights, disregarding safety, irresponsible behaviours, and indifference to the consequences of their actions.

To add to the confusion, the section in the DSM on antisocial personality disorder mentions psychopathy (and sociopathy) traits. In other words, according to the DSM the traits are part of antisocial personality disorder but are not mental disorders themselves.

READ ON

https://www.psypost.org/whats-the-difference-between-a-psychopath-and-a-sociopath-less-than-you-might-think/

Alrighty then…..which is it, Brainiacs?

Now the questions is why do so many seemingly not give a sh*t over Trump’s authoritarian tendencies?

Let’s look at some of the reasons why that is the case.

First, there is no doubt about what is top of mind for most voters. To quote James Carville, “It’s the economy, stupid.”

The Pew Research Center reports that “As concerns around the state of the economy and inflation continue, about eight-in-ten registered voters (81%) say the economy will be very important to their vote in the 2024 presidential election.”

“Among Trump supporters,” Pew notes, “the economy (93%), immigration (82%) and violent crime (76%) are the leading issues…. For Harris supporters, issues such as health care (76%) and Supreme Court appointments (73%) are of top importance. Large majorities also cite the economy (68%) and abortion (67%) as very important to their vote in the election.”

Note the absence of any reference to the need to preserve democracy. And when voters express concerns about democracy they are divided about who they trust to protect it.

Some even support Trump because they think he will “restore American freedom.”

https://thefulcrum.us/election-2024/donald-trump-authoritarian-2389065

My question is what freedoms have they lost?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Sociopath or Psychopath?

Here is two terms batting around but liberally accuse this person or that on-line these days…..terms that few understand but liberally spread around as accusations of people they do not agree with…..

For instance….some have accused of Putin of being a psychopath while others have berated Trump as being a sociopath…..

Are the accusations accurate or just wishful thinking?

Now is the time to help readers understand the terms and their meanings…..

Many forensic psychologists, psychiatrists, and criminologists use the terms sociopathy and psychopathy interchangeably.

Leading experts disagree on whether there are meaningful differences between the two conditions.

I contend that there are clear and significant distinctions between sociopath vs. psychopath.

…

Sociopaths tend to be nervous and easily agitated. They are volatile and prone to emotional outbursts, including fits of rage. They are likely to be uneducated and live on the fringes of society, unable to hold down a steady job or stay in one place for very long.

…

Psychopaths, on the other hand, are unable to form emotional attachments or feel real empathy with others, although they often have disarming or even charming personalities. Psychopaths are very manipulative and can easily gain people’s trust. They learn to mimic emotions despite their inability to actually feel them and will appear normal to unsuspecting people.

Psychopaths are often well educated and hold steady jobs. Some are so good at manipulation and mimicry that they have families and other long-term relationships without those around them ever suspecting their true nature.

https://www.yourtango.com/self/how-tell-sociopath-from-psychopath-which-worse

Now that you know the difference you may write and use the terms with some authority…..

Be Smart…..Learn Stuff….

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

Mind Stuff

It is Sunday and now for something completely different…..

Conspiracies are everywhere and there are millions that buy into them…especially the more outlandish ones….from a secret pizza pedophile ring to giants once roamed the planet…..but who are these people that fall for some of the falsehoods?

New research published in Applied Cognitive Psychology provides evidence that critical thinking skills are negatively related to belief in conspiracy theories. In other words, the study suggests that people with greater critical thinking skills are less likely to believe that terrorist attacks are being covertly directed by a country’s own government or that mind-control technology is secretly being used to control the population.

“Regularly, different private and public actors provide homemade tools such as ‘critical thinking skills training programs’ that are supposed to be an effective way of reducing the spread of conspiracy theories,” said study author Anthony Lantian, an associate professor of social psychology at Paris Nanterre University.

New study indicates conspiracy theory believers have less developed critical thinking abilities

Are you good at bullshitting?

If so then you may be good at critical thinking……

Bullshitting can be an indication of cognitive ability, according to new research published in the scientific journal Evolutionary Psychology. The study found that people who are better at producing made-up explanations for various concepts tend to be more intelligent compared to those who struggle to produce convincing bullshit. But skilled bullshitters are not necessarily frequent bullshitters.

Researchers have found that receptivity to pseudo-profound bullshit is associated with several cognitive factors, such as lower levels of cognitive reflection and higher levels of ontological confusion. Pseudo-profound bullshit refers to computer-generated statements that seem profound but actually have no real meaning, such as the sentence “We are in the midst of a high-frequency blossoming of interconnectedness that will give us access to the quantum soup itself.”

But little attention has been paid to people’s ability to produce their own bullshit statements.

New psychology research indicates that bullshitting is sign of intelligence

Dumb And Dumber

I have written that I believe that this country is getting dumber by the year……it brings to mind that film about what happens to the nation when idiots takeover…..Idiocracy.

Now a study is points to the possibility that the movie was prophetic….

If you’ve spent any time at all on a website like Reddit with an active community of commenters then you’ve likely seen the Dunning-Kruger Effect (DKE) in action. For anyone out there who isn’t familiar with the Dunning-Kruger Effect, it comes from Social Psychology and is a cognitive bias that states “people with low ability at a task overestimate their ability.” Examples would include a manager who is actually horrendous at leading a team thinking they’re the world’s best boss or your friend who came back from studying abroad for a semester in Barcelona speaking Spanish like a toddler and believing they’re on the verge of being fluent.

The Dunning-Kruger Effect has been identified since 1999 but a new study has shown that stupid people are even dumber than previously thought because not only are they overestimating their performance on cognitive tests their confidence is significantly higher than people who actually perform well on the tests instead of failing them like big ol’ dumb-dumbs

Results of this latest study were published in the Educational Psychology journal frontiers in Psychology under the title ‘Dunning-Kruger Effect: Intuitive Errors Predict Overconfidence on the Cognitive Reflection Test’. What they were studying was intuitive vs. non-intuitive errors contributed to people overestimating how they performed on the cognitive test. And what they found was people who performed poorly on the test but scored high in ‘intuitive thinking disposition’ grossly overestimated their performance.

An interesting study that has wide ranging implications….

https://thedebrief.org/dunning-kruger-effect-ignorance-and-overconfidence-affect-intuitive-thinking-new-study-says/

Appears the Ignorati will eventually consume our society….it already has a solid foothold.

Ignorati?

Yep…this country is being overrun with “Idiotarians”…..of course I have had thoughts on this as well…..https://lobotero.com/2018/11/05/in-the-age-of-the-idiotarian/

I weep for my granddaughter for this stupidity will effect her more than me for I am old and my days are truly numbered.

Can we find a way out of this darkness?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

War–It Is Our Nature

I spend a lot of time researching war….I spend a lot of time writing about war….and a lot of time replying to comments by my visitors. There seems to be a common thread to comments about war…..many think and/or believe that as humans war is in our DNA.

It would seem that it is truly in our DNA because we as a group cannot end a disagreement without violence……for at least a hundred years war is all to frequent.

Whenever I write that I am antiwar or that I am watching some conflict here or there and try to help readers understand war someone will try to comment by saying that war is ingrained into our DNA….that we have little control over the fight.

Is it in our nature to go to war? Should we just accept the fact that humans have this innate tendency and are hardwired to kill members of other groups?

No, says R. Brian Ferguson, professor of anthropology at Rutgers University-Newark. There is no scientific proof that we have an inherent propensity to take up arms and collectively kill.

In a study published in Scientific American, Ferguson argues that war may not be in our nature at all. People might fight and sometimes kill for personal reasons, but homicide, he argues, is not war.

“There is definitely controversy in the field when it comes to this question,” says Ferguson, who studies human nature, war and peace. “But it is the overall circumstances that we live in that creates the impulse to go or not go to war.”

https://phys.org/news/2018-12-scientific-proof-war-ingrained-human.html

War is all too constant these days.

But why?

Personally, I believe it is the M-IC that makes it constant…..for to them it is more about profit that it is the source…..the answer is always intervention and the use of deadly ordinances and weapons….for this needs to be replenished and in doing so the cash register rings.

There is seldom an attempt to find a peaceful resolution….there are faux “summits” to talk peace but they seldom end in success.

The “Complex” is that never ending snake that eats its tail……

What President Dwight D. Eisenhower dubbed the “military-industrial complex” has been constantly evolving over the decades, adjusting to shifts in the economic and political system as well as international events. The result today is a “permanent-war complex,” which is now engaged in conflicts in at least eight countries across the globe, none of which are intended to be temporary.

This new complex has justified its enhanced power and control over the country’s resources primarily by citing threats to U.S. security posed by Islamic terrorists. But like the old military-industrial complex, it is really rooted in the evolving relationship between the national security institutions themselves and the private arms contractors allied with them.

America’s Permanent-War Complex

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

A Sunday Thought

There is one last thought on this Sunday……

I am not a fan of shrinks whether medical or PhD……I believe their usefulness is been greatly exaggerated…….it comes from TV shows like Criminals Minds and such all about the profiling of criminals……then there is the use of drugs on our kids by these “professionals” that diagnose all sorts of ailments that need treatment…..

So when I read a report about their “science” could be a waste of time……I thought ah ha!

The study, led by researchers from the University of Liverpool, involved a detailed analysis of five key chapters of the latest edition of the widely used Diagnostic and Statistical Manual (DSM), on ‘schizophrenia’, ‘bipolar disorder’, ‘depressive disorders’, ‘anxiety disorders’ and ‘trauma-related disorders’.

Diagnostic manuals such as the DSM were created to provide a common diagnostic language for mental health professionals and attempt to provide a definitive list of mental health problems, including their symptoms.

The main findings of the research were:

Psychiatric diagnoses all use different decision-making rules

There is a huge amount of overlap in symptoms between diagnoses

Almost all diagnoses mask the role of trauma and adverse events

Diagnoses tell us little about the individual patient and what treatment they need

The authors conclude that diagnostic labeling represents ‘a disingenuous categorical system’.

https://neurosciencenews.com/meaningless-psychiatric-diagnosis-14434/

All I can say at this point….”I told you so”!

“Lego Ergo Scribo”

That Fragile Masculinity

Ever noticed the white guys that shave their heads? Some do it because they are going bald…..think about that for a minute….then others rush to find the “magic” cure for baldness…..those “magic” treatments….like Propecia….

And that is where Trump comes in……

In a snicker-worthy disclosure by President Donald Trump’s longtime personal physician, readers of The New York Times learned Thursday that the leader of the free world takes a small daily dose of the drug finasteride ― otherwise known as Propecia ― which is used to treat male-pattern baldness.

The revelation by Dr. Harold N. Bornstein that the president uses a prostate-related drug to grow scalp hair was not previously known publicly, according to the Times story, and appears to explain why Trump has a very low level of prostate specific antigen, or PSA, a marker sometimes used to diagnose prostate cancer. The newspaper said it had four telephone conversations with Bornstein, whose office is in Manhattan, about Trump’s overall health.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-propecia-haiir-loss_n_58936376e4b06f344e4058a6

Vanity!

Onward to the meat of this post…..that male ego.

Back during WW2 a psychologist was asked to dissect Hitler’s personality……it was for an intel gathering report.

Fast forward to 2016 and the candidacy of D. Trump and a bunch of shrinks got together and dissected Trump’s personality…..of course his supporters went bat crap crazy…..saying you cannot make a long distance diagnosis (I agree with that assertion) but it has been done before and was used…..so why can’t these shrinks do it today?

In case you were interested in what the “shrinks” had to say……https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-time-cure/201709/the-dangerous-case-donald-trump

I have tried to understand why so many men support this person as president…..

Two psychologists at New York University have conducted a study showing how President Donald Trump appeals directly to men who suffer from what they call “fragile masculinity.”

Writing in the Washington Post, New York University psychology professor Eric Knowles and NYU psychology doctoral student Sarah DiMuccio claim that many male Trump supporters feel far more insecure in their own masculinity than they’d have you believe — and they are drawn to Trump’s authoritarian rhetoric because it makes them feel more powerful.

https://www.rawstory.com/2018/11/trump-appeals-men-suffer-fragile-masculinity-psychologists/

That explains so much……

Then there is that male masculinity……

There’s an ideology out there affecting boys and men, and the American Psychological Association says it’s “harmful.” The Los Angeles Timesreports on the APA’s first official warning on the toxicity of “traditional masculinity,” which “has been shown to limit males’ psychological development, constrain their behavior, result in gender role strain and gender role conflict and negatively influence mental health and physical health.” Featured this month in the APA’s Monitor on Psychology magazine, the “APA Guidelines for the Psychological Practice with Boys and Men”—a 13-year effort that involved scientists poring over more than four decades of research—notes the harmful effects tied to traditionally masculine traits, including being competitive, aggressive, and stoic. The APA offers some stats to back up its claim: Men in the US, for instance, commit 90% more homicides than women.

Also holding sway “over large segments of the population” are such traits as “anti-femininity, achievement, eschewal of the appearance of weakness, and adventure, risk, and violence.” The report notes that by males conforming to these traits, they may bury their feelings and pretend things are OK when they’re not, which could, down the line, lead to sexual harassment, homophobia, and violence. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution notes that, per the study, men show disproportionate rates of substance abuse, cardiovascular issues, early mortality, and quality-of-life problems, among others, yet tend to not seek needed help—and even when they do, many say their male-related issues aren’t addressed. Not that the APA thinks every single aspect of traditional masculinity is harmful: Leadership and courage, for example, are positive traits boys and men should strive toward, the group says.

This is interesting because the new crop of female Congresspeople are making a name for themselves and in doing do so seem to be threatening the fragile men’s masculinity……these men have been in “control” for so long that the threat of women stepping in to the power centers has them running scared….even attacking women in their party.

Why do they feel their masculinity is being attacked? Just because strong independent women are being elected or maybe they feel the “good old boy” system is coming to an end.

In Saner Thought

"It is the duty of every man, as far as his ability extends, to detect and expose delusion and error"..Thomas Paine

Tag: Psychological Research

Cognitive Testing: Helluva Idea

Is He A Psychopath Or A Sociopath?

Sociopath or Psychopath?

Mind Stuff

Dumb And Dumber

War–It Is Our Nature

A Sunday Thought

What is a kink?