ATS - A forum with a Mental Condition?

Feelings of superiority from past events? No. I would have so much rather just cut the grass, do the dishes, clean the house, go to work, go to bed. And do it all over again till dead. Did I want to see a two football field freakoid ufo go over my backyard and feel scanned? No. Did I want to see some bloody awful black as ink shadow critter at my backdoor one morning? NO! Did I ask for me and my apprentice to be filled with a sense of sheer terror out of nowhere on a run to a job. NO.
I don't cheat, rob, drive inebriated and respect people and treat everyone like I would like to be treated. Why have I experienced these things when so many others WISH they could see a ufo. You got me, I have no clue. I try to mind my own dang business yet these things were thrust in my face. So I've had to deal with them as best as I can. That's why I come here, because I know I'm not that special that other extraordinary events have happened to others.

[edit on 29-3-2008 by jpm1602]

reply to post by AceWombat04


Thanks, AceWombat

A concentration of anything can seem 'mental' to outsiders, as those who've attended seminars will attest. Writers, for example, electrical-retailers, ten-pin bowlers, stamp-collectors, fox and hounders. When you're standing on the outside, members of a particular group can seem obsessed by their particular and common interest.

Let's pick one out of the blue: those who sell antique jewellery on Ebay, for instance. Are you aware they have a forum dedicated exclusively to antique jewellery? Spend half an hour reading the threads and posts in that forum and you emerge feeling you've visited another world. There are dozens of categories within antique jewellery ... 'fine' jewellery, for example, and 'reproduction' and 'costume'. And each category splits into several areas of specialisation. You'll hear people discussing, in total seriousness, how to remove 'green gunk' from objects discovered at garage sales. They use vinegar, apparently. And there are in-depth and often heated discussions about any number of things. Those who post questions are sometimes accused of sneakily promoting their items in the guise of innocent enquiry, for example. Others argue intensely about hallmarks and various grades of silver. Private messages fly back and forth. It can get quite heated.

In real-life however, the same people look, sound and behave entirely normally. They're teachers and accountants .. dentists' receptionists, doctors, psychiatrists, security-personnel, politicians, etc., who just happen to have an interest (passionate or fleeting) about antique jewellery. Speak to them when they're indulging their specific interest, and sure .. you could be forgiven for believing they're one-dimensional and obsessed by old jewellery.

They're not, of course, any more than Freemasons are 'mental' or fly-fishermen, or genealogists or Rubik's Cube afficionados.

Blunder into a Freemasonic hall when they're in the middle of conducting initiations and you might ask: ' Do Freemasons have a mental condition ?'. Because the sight of a gang of men wearing aprons and standing on one leg wearing blindfolds, or being lowered into a basement coffin might appear to qualify Freemasons as 'mental'.

But meet those same Freemasons during the course of their day and you'd discover them to be normal as pie.

There are those who pay hundreds of dollars for a bit of wire and feathers. And there are those who spend their days, painstakingly constructing those hundred-dollar lures. They may appear 'mental' to those with no interest in or knowledge of fly-fishing, but isn't it more correct to described the person who lacks such knowledge as 'ignorant' ?

Posters on ATS attend jury-duty. They work in law-enforcement and the law. They are teachers and some are students. Some are young. Many are senior citizens. And there are all those in-between.

ATS members are believed when asked to provide witness statements to police, following an accident or crime. ATS members raise children and teach children. They raise money for charity. They paint and sculpt and write. They're members of society.

And don't you think it's strange that the police will dutifully write down Mr. Jones' account of, for example, a vehicle accident and will accord Mr.Jones every respect and will call Mr.Jones as witness should the matter proceed to court. When Mr.Jones takes the stand and swears on the Bible that what he says is the truth, his acount of the incident is solemnly noted. Mr.Jones in fact may play a role in the accused conviction or aquittal. And at the end of the day, the attending police officers may thank Mr.Jones for providing to the court his lucid recounting of events .. his assertion that the accident took place at x time of day, at the corner of A and B streets and in his estimation, the vehicle was travelling at approximately 60 miles per hour. Mr. Jones is thanked for his concise observations and clarity of mind.

NO one accuses Mr.Jones of being 'mental'. Everyone is impressed by Mr.Jones clear recollection of what transpired on the day of the accident. Mr. Jones is accorded respect. He has been what police describe as 'a good witness'.

Yet Mr.Jones may also post in ATS. Mr.Jones may, in his posts, recount an incident during which he saw a ghost or other entity, or a UFO or extraterrestrial being .. an 'alien'.

Mr. Jone may bring the same keen observational powers to his ATS posts as he did whilst a witness in court.

It's the same Mr.Jones. But in court, he's a 'good witness'.

On ATS, he's described as 'mental', as a fabricator, as delusional.

But it's the same Mr.Jones.

this is the thread that got me motivated to finally write a post on this line of thought.....i know there are two distict camps on this thread.....i don't believe we can label all Alien related posters as delusional, but there is evidence of a shared group delusions here on ATS......i would really appreciate it if you guys could read this and let me know what you think.www.abovetopsecret.com...

Originally posted by atlasastro
This thread is here to discuss this very issue. To suggest that I have made a generalisation supporting the belief that ATS is a delusional forum is an unfair evaluation that has missed the focus of my thread. I suggest you re-examine my thread. I believe that you are infering that I am labelling ATS delusional, i believe this borders on the uncivil. Here is a link to the Page again......read the first line of my thread, read the last line of my thread.www.abovetopsecret.com...&flagit=344414

I was not responding so much to anything but the clip from "official" sources that might be used to suggest this community is one merely of delusion. I just wanted to show that we do not qualify.

I appreciate where you are coming from.

They just did a video report on FOX news at about 15:05 EST That said something about internet addiction is becoming a problem also leading to psychological disorders or quite possibly the opposite that people with disorders are attracted to the internet I found that interesting... regarding that we just started talking about it.