Essay talk:Psychosocial Issues of Conservapedia and its Contributors

Thank you for the invitation...this may take me a while. --PalMD^{-yada yada} 19:42, 3 June 2007 (CDT)

You're welcome! I would value your opinion and comments, +ve or -ve. Ther are some further psychosocial things I'd like to add to the essay, but I'm going to have to speak to a pychotherapist colleague to clarify the terminology and get some references. Spica 19:44, 3 June 2007 (CDT)

Wow, I'm impressed, it's good to see some real content being added here, as opposed to my largely fictional outbursts! human^{be in} 01:12, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

Consider:"The introduction of conservative political views (which are generally right-wing in nature) into a religious ideology that is, essentially, fundamentalist creates a clinical picture that is more difficult to interpret." How about changing to "introduction of religious ideology into conservative political views"?--PalMD^{-yada yada} 08:26, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

Challenging a fixed, immovable belief system can be difficult, time consuming and stressful for the person making the challenge; that person may well experience the anger/defiance authoritarian response from the person being challenged repeatedly, and this may also include personal insults of an unsavoury nature. Perhaps commenting on the reaction of those challenged? I think, since they are the "patient" it may be a better analysis, e.g. "When someone who holds a fixed, false belief is challenged, they will usually do whatever it takes to maintain their belief, even if it strains logic and reality. The belief has become so important for their identity that they will, consciously or unconsciously, try to reinterpret reality itself rather than their delusion". Or something like that.--PalMD^{-yada yada} 08:30, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

The contributors to Conservapedia self-report to be Christians, of a more-or-less fundamentalist doctrine. The values of usually ascribed to Christianity (selflessness, care of the poor, forgiveness of the sins of others, abeyance to the "rules of life" as described in the Bible) appear to be missing from the approaches taken by contributors to Conservapedia. This, in itself, is a contextual problem: "The inherent contradiction in holding delusional beliefs leads to behavior that contradicts stated beliefs."--PalMD^{-yada yada} 08:33, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

Still working, Spica. Thanks for the opportunity. More later.--PalMD^{-yada yada} 08:38, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

You're welcome! Yeah some of the essay is a bit wordy, mainly because I just slapped down my thoughts as they arose; the whole essay needs tightening up as I'm sure there are bits of it that repeats other parts. Just a quick thought on delusions though: the Royal College of Psychiatrists' definition precludes religious ideas that fall in line with a particular doctrine (hence my notes about identifying delusions in CP). Spica 08:48, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

Those crazy British bastards!! I'm not sure if the APA has a position on that per se, especially given the multitude of cults and cult-like entities in the U.S.--PalMD^{-yada yada} 12:48, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

If any of my ideas above are useful, feel free to either include them or ask me to squeeze them in. THanks.--PalMD^{-yada yada} 12:50, 4 June 2007 (CDT)

typos

I fixed a couple of minor typos, I hope you don't mind. Also, this sentence at the end of "Types of Responses to being Challenged" needs some, er, work:

"From a clinical perspective, many of the above indicators have similarities with a diagnosis of on the of the personality disorders, rather than a psychotic disorder."

Not being sure what you were trying to say, I left it alone, although I suspect that what I bolded just needs to be deleted. human^{be in} 16:45, 1 July 2007 (CDT)

Group delusion

Does the reinforcing effect of group behaviour apply. Anything on which all members of a group agree becoming exaggerated and things not agreed being, by mutual, though non-overt, consent, diminished. One can see the rise of many cults - even the Nazi party rising in this manner. This can result in self indoctrination into beliefs (delusions) which formerly would be anathema. Keep ^{me out of it!} 20:49, 22 August 2007 (CDT) ps - where's 'spica'?

I'm sure Groupthink applies here, but I'd guess Aschlafly & co's determination to block anyone who disagrees with him is a bigger factor in reinforcing their collective follies. --Gulik 13:03, 23 August 2007 (CDT)

Psychopathy

I think sub-clinical psychopathy might also be evident here; it's certainly one explanation for why some of these people can seem so charming and yet be involved in such a clusterfuck. Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)^{Approach the Presence} 14:46, 2 June 2008 (EDT)

I'm still forming an overall clinical picture, but I'm tending to think along the lines of schizotypal/schizoaffective disorder with an underlying personailty disorder, possibly paranoid type for Teh Assfly himself, at least. As for the rest of the group - yeah, a personailty disorder type might cover that base. Spica the Hiver ^{If you tolerate this, then your children will be next...} 15:06, 2 June 2008 (EDT)

Oh, schizotypy is more or less standard for the true uncompromising believer - high correlation with magical thinking, too. Wazza (Not Wazzock, Wazza)^{Approach the Presence} 15:11, 2 June 2008 (EDT)