Is Bias a Mental Illness??????

Originally posted by whaaa
What I see manifesting in this thread is the dreaded "Broad Generalization Syndrome" and the only known treatment is the painful but effective deny ignorance treatment.

Deny Ignorance has become quite the buzzword here like the word "Liberal" in the political arena.

If the subject matter doesnt fit the social dominant specific mold...just throw the "Deny Ignorance or Liberal flag" on the ones out of line.

Bias HAS to be a mental illness...How can anyone defend non-stop someone or something even when they know its wrong ? It's either a mental desease or purely criminal.

Originally posted by magnito_student

Originally posted by whaaa
What I see manifesting in this thread is the dreaded "Broad Generalization Syndrome" and the only known treatment is the painful but effective deny ignorance treatment.

Deny Ignorance has become quite the buzzword here like the word "Liberal" in the political arena.

If the subject matter doesnt fit the social dominant specific mold...just throw the "Deny Ignorance or Liberal flag" on the ones out of line.

Deny Ignorance isn't a buzz word here; it's a damn mantra!

Originally posted by BaastetNoir
Bias HAS to be a mental illness...How can anyone defend non-stop someone or something even when they know its wrong ? It's either a mental desease or purely criminal.

So, no one is ever wrong without being crazy? No one can have a genuine difference of opinion unless they are also sick?

And who decides what is right?

I'm waiting for the person who is always right forever.

Bias is the natural state of the human mind. It is impossible to form an opinion about something without some kind of bias developing, unless they manage to turn us into non-thinking robots. Of course, it seems like the educational system in the US has been designed to do exactly that...

At some point it will go from being called mental illness to what it really is in the eyes of the "Powers That Be", faulty programming.

This is a chilling thing, if not a particularly surprising one. It's something that could've been predicted by anyone who had considered the possibility.

Part of its roots lie in the self-interested tendency among psychologists to define as many people as possible as mentally ill, simply in order to expand their customer base, and likewise part of it springs from the self-interested tendency among researchers to define new mental illnesses for much the same reasons that archeologists seek new ruins or such-- to further their own reputations.

Part of it has its roots in the essentially well-meaning, if therefore doubly dangerous tendency among some people to attempt to bring peace to the world by empowering politicians-- the real threat to the well-being of all of us-- to punish "hate," whether in actions or only in speech.

Part of it has its roots in the existing treatment, at least among some in society, of disagreement as being automatically rooted in bias, and that bias being a mental illness. Specifically-- when "homophobe" stopped being only applied to anyone who demonstrated a pathological dread of homosexuals and homosexuality and instead became an acceptable term to apply to anyone who, for any reason, disagreed with any policy advocated by any homosexual.

And, underneath it all, it springs from the unceasing and diabolical machinations of those who seek to gain and wield power over others. Whether they've manipulated affairs to bring us to this point or are only sensitive to, and ready to take advantage of, any opportunity that any among us might present them is irrelevant. Regardless of the reasons and regardless of the source, this will be used to further the aims of the powers-that-be.

If they can extend this to include a bias against power-drunk scum, then I guess maybe I can look forward to a life in a sanitarium instead of a life in a gulag. For whatever that's worth......

Originally posted by BaastetNoir
Bias HAS to be a mental illness...How can anyone defend non-stop someone or something even when they know its wrong ? It's either a mental desease or purely criminal.

That's frightening.

Given the power that you so gleefully advocate, who's going to decide what's right and wrong, and therefore what's legitimate and what's bias? Hmm?

Those who seek and successfully win the power to do so.

Who will that be?

Those who most want that power.

Who will that be?

It will be the would-be tyrants of the world. The desperate and power-hungry and mendacious and cruel. The selfish and sociopathic and tyrannical and, flatly, evil.


I assume your intentions are good, but your assertion here is truly dangerous. When people can be taken from their homes and institutionalized simply for holding an opinion that runs counter to that which the government mandates, it will be, at least to some degree, because well-meaning if short-sighted people thought that this was okay.

Please, for the benefit of all of us, stop and think about this for a bit. Don't let your visceral opinions sway you-- actually think about it. Do you want to live in a world where powerful and self-interested people can decree that a particular opinion is, officially, biased, and can use that as grounds to treat or institutionalize the person holding that opinion? Do you have opinions that are contrary to those held by the current administration, or the previous one? Do you believe, for even a second, that, had they the power, they would NOT take action against you and all who believe as you do?



[edit on 10-12-2005 by Bob LaoTse]

Originally posted by dr_strangecraft

Originally posted by BaastetNoir
Bias HAS to be a mental illness...How can anyone defend non-stop someone or something even when they know its wrong ? It's either a mental desease or purely criminal.

So, no one is ever wrong without being crazy? No one can have a genuine difference of opinion unless they are also sick?

And who decides what is right?

I'm waiting for the person who is always right forever.

thats not what i said... i simply said that if someone knowingly defendes soemthing they know its wrong...thats Bias...and i dont think that's normal...its eitehr a desease or simply criminal

Originally posted by BaastetNoir
thats not what i said... i simply said that if someone knowingly defendes soemthing they know its wrong...thats Bias...and i dont think that's normal...its eitehr a desease or simply criminal

O.K. sorry. didn't mean to put words in your mouth.

You mention someone defending "something they know is wrong.

That reminds of something that Socrates thought was the paradox of sin:

"No one sins knowingly."

I think what Socrates meant (without putting words in his mouth), was, that if a person knew a thing was wrong, if they fully understood it in their bones, that they'd change their ways.

For instance, to use a modern example, a cigarette smoker reads the warning label on the pack of smokes. They may even know the statistics of lung cancer. But until they start getting sick, or caring for a loved one who is dying from smoking, they can still live in denial: "It won't happen to me. I'm different."

Is that a form of insanity?

Maybe.

But if it is, then it seems like the whole world must be crazy, at which point the concept of mental illness becomes meaningless---categories that are universally applicable aren't good for much in the real world. If everyone is insane, then no one is, because the human condition is the new benchmark for sanity, regardless of how self-destructive.


.

In my opinion, there is no need for a new diagnostic catagory. Paranoid delusions and Obssessive-Compulsive Disorder manifest in various ways.

This guy, for example, would fit Paranoid Personality Disorder very well:

Paranoid Personality Disorder

American Description
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diagnostic Criteria

A pervasive distrust and suspiciousness of others such that their motives are interpreted as malevolent, beginning by early adulthood and present in a variety of contexts, as indicated by four (or more) of the following:

suspects, without sufficient basis, that others are exploiting, harming, or deceiving him or her

is preoccupied with unjustified doubts about the loyalty or trustworthiness of friends or associates

is reluctant to confide in others because of unwarranted fear that the information will be used maliciously against him or her

reads hidden demeaning or threatening meanings into benign remarks or events

persistently bears grudges, i.e., is unforgiving of insults, injuries, or slights

perceives attacks on his or her character or reputation that are not apparent to others and is quick to react angrily or to counterattack

has recurrent suspicions, without justification, regarding fidelity of spouse or sexual partner

Does not occur exclusively during the course of Schizophrenia, a Mood Disorder With Psychotic Features, or another Psychotic Disorder and is not due to the direct physiological effects of a general medical condition.

Note: If criteria are met prior to the onset of Schizophrenia, add "Premorbid," e.g., "Paranoid Personality Disorder (Premorbid)."


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Differential Diagnosis

Delusional Disorder, Persecutory Type; Schizophrenia, Paranoid Type; Mood Disorder With Psychotic Features; Personality Change Due to a General Medical Condition; symptoms that may develop in association with chronic substance use; paranoid traits associated with the development of physical handicaps; Schizotypal Personality Disorder; Schizoid Personality Disorder; Borderline and Histrionic Personality Disorders; Avoidant Personality Disorder; Antisocial Personality Disorder; Narcissistic Personality Disorder.



www.mentalhealth.com...

[edit on 2005/12/10 by GradyPhilpott]

Of course there's no need for a new diagnostic category. Need doesn't even enter into it. It would serve the immediate self-interest of various power-mongers, both in psychiatric fields and, more importantly, in government, and it could probably be successfully accomplished with the assistance of the same well-meaning and short-sighted people who support "hate speech" legislation. It doesn't matter whether it's needed, or even whether it will benefit the public in any way-- all that's necessary is that it would benefit the power-mongers who are in a position to enact it, and that it could successfully be enacted.

Sadly enough...

I realize that, Bob, but I would hope that cooler heads will prevail. I'd hate to see the day that a garden variety bigot gets SSI

Sorry-- I tend to get pedantic. I hope that last post didn't come across that way.

Sadly, I sincerely doubt that cooler heads will prevail. Yeats said it best: "The best lack all conviction while the worst are filled with a passionate intensity."

The worst will always go to greater lengths than anyone else will. Long after everyone else has thrown up their hands and walked away in disgust and/or despair, they'll still be plugging away, seeking to fulfill their own petty self-interest.

But at least cooler heads do know the simple pleasure of sitting in the back yard and listening to the birds sing, or, this time of year, watching the snow fall. That's our reward.

You didn't sound pedantic. You described very well the political process that unfortunately pervades the process of compiling the DSM. There are large numbers of clinicians who are unhappy with that process.

Of course, I failed to point out the possibility that a person could be committed for his personal preferences. Of course, minorities have been absolved of any pathological tendencies because of their biases. Even the Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder was removed from DSM-IV because of political pressure from groups for whom passive aggression is a way of life.


[edit on 2005/12/10 by GradyPhilpott]

Originally posted by BaastetNoir
Bias HAS to be a mental illness...How can anyone defend non-stop someone or something even when they know its wrong ? It's either a mental desease or purely criminal.

I and many others on this thread have tried to point out the bigger picture you are missing with statements such as this. In a perfect world, of course what you said would be true. But you and everyone else knows this world isn't even close to perfect.

Back to reality, who would you be ready to assign the role of "thought police" to, giving them the power over who has a mental illness and who doesn't? Keep in mind that they might also be looking at you.

There is a level of bias that can be called 'mental illness': paranoia.

But it is inherently dangerous to say that any bias is a mental illness. We are all biased, not because we are ill, but because we do not have sufficient information to formulate a proof, and therefore we fill the missing gaps with our own information from our brain's database. The result may be truthful, but not the truth.

The current trend to attribute social behaviours to genetics in a very dangerous course for humanity: it may be a stepping stone for governments that want more control to rely on genetics to pass laws that opress people.

For example, a person could say that "America is evil". Is that person biased? Most probably. Is it a mental illness? most probably it is not. It is just that that person has not lived a single day in United States to know how things are, and it is also that that person lives under stress and fear imposed by its own government/society.

Originally posted by GradyPhilpott
Passive-Aggressive Personality Disorder was removed from DSM-IV

I have seen more than my fair share of passive-aggressives on chat
sites than anywheres else. Those who removed it need to spend
more time online ... which is quickly becomeing 'the real world'.
I say 'real world' because when people can hide behind a cute name
and a funny avatar picture ... they let their real selves out ... and
sometimes it's rather frightening ..

MANY Passive-aggressives in chat rooms. MANY.
It should be reinstated.

Originally posted by masterp
a person could say that "America is evil". Is that person
biased? Most probably. Is it a mental illness?

Only if those who say it are French! Just kidding.
Giving an example of bias ... which isn't mental illness.
It's just making an evolutionary survival judgement.

If you want to see some really strange stuff then read
up on Evolutionary Psychology. YIKES! According to
Evolutionary Psychology thinking ... bias is many times
a survival mechanism from our cave-man days that is
triggered by a current event in our lives.