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We often see in this forum people who criticize the status quo labeled as Tin Hats. I know I have been labeled so more than once, so it amused me to find this quote from a well respected Mental Health professional…
.” The really hopeless victims of mental illness are to be found among those who appear to be most normal. “Many of them are normal because they are so well adjusted to our mode of existence, because their human voice has been silenced so early in their lives, that they do not even struggle or suffer or develop symptoms as the neurotic does.” They are normal not in what may be called the absolute sense of the word; they are normal only in relation to a profoundly abnormal society. Their perfect adjustment to that abnormal society is a measure of their mental sickness. These millions of abnormally normal people, living without fuss in a society to which, if they were fully human beings, they ought not to be adjusted, still cherish “the illusion of individuality,” but in fact they have been to a great extent deindividualized. Their conformity is developing into something like uniformity. But “uniformity and freedom are incompatible. Uniformity and mental health are incompatible too. . . . Man is not made to be an automaton, and if he becomes one, the basis for mental health is destroyed.”
The Wheel was invented by a guy wearing a Tinfoil Hat. And, he wasn't just Nuts, he was also the laziest worker on the jobsite, looking for an easier way to get the job done. The Wheel---dreaded bane of the Workaholic, the most psychotic of all insane humans.
Workaholic: A person who would carry a wheelbarrow on his back from A to B, and then back again.
This definition for 'tinfoil hat' can be found in the Urban Dictionary:
Derisive attempt on behalf of blind conformists to discredit and stigmatise those who dare to question authority.
I always thought that Tin Hats described positions at the more outrageous end of the spectrum, not just your everyday, rational criticism of authority (or the status quo).
The Wheel was invented by a guy wearing a Tinfoil Hat. And, he wasn't just Nuts, he was also the laziest worker on the jobsite, looking for an easier way to get the job done. The Wheel---dreaded bane of the Workaholic, the most psychotic of all insane humans.
Workaholic: A person who would carry a wheelbarrow on his back from A to B, and then back again.
This definition for 'tinfoil hat' can be found in the Urban Dictionary:
Derisive attempt on behalf of blind conformists to discredit and stigmatise those who dare to question authority.
I like this. Great points.
I've always assumed the term 'tinfoil hat' to be used largely by a conformist to discount a non-conformist. Guess I've been correct in my assumption. I've seen the term thrown around for matters ranging from benign to outlandish--the term seems to not have correlation to rational thought at all. It can go either way. It's a blanket term used in place of 'you don't agree with me, therefore you should be labelled as daft.' I think it boils down to closed-mindedness on the accuser's part and an unwillingness to think about the matter at hand further.
We often see in this forum people who criticize the status quo labeled as Tin Hats. I know I have been labeled so more than once, so it amused me to find this quote from a well respected Mental Health professional…
.” The really hopeless victims of mental illness are to be found among those who appear to be most normal. “Many of them are normal because they are so well adjusted to our mode of existence, because their human voice has been silenced so early in their lives, that they do not even struggle or suffer or develop symptoms as the neurotic does.” They are normal not in what may be called the absolute sense of the word; they are normal only in relation to a profoundly abnormal society. Their perfect adjustment to that abnormal society is a measure of their mental sickness. These millions of abnormally normal people, living without fuss in a society to which, if they were fully human beings, they ought not to be adjusted, still cherish “the illusion of individuality,” but in fact they have been to a great extent deindividualized. Their conformity is developing into something like uniformity. But “uniformity and freedom are incompatible. Uniformity and mental health are incompatible too. . . . Man is not made to be an automaton, and if he becomes one, the basis for mental health is destroyed.”
Psychiatrist, Dr. Erich Fromm
Excellent piece - thanks for posting it.
Lots of truth there, sadly, about what we as a society have become. I have long felt this way about people who seem to go lock-step with the flow, regardless of issue.
Things of that nature, you know, things that are so unbelievable that 99% of Americans know better.
Is that the same 99% of Americans who know that every Muslim's life is dedicated to killing every Infidel? The same 99% of Americans who believe that Christopher Columbus ever set foot on what is now the United States of America? The same 99% of Americans who believe that that the total popular vote count for George Washington in his re-election was more than 2% of the population of the United States?
Is that the same 99% of Americans who know that every Muslim's life is dedicated to killing every Infidel? The same 99% of Americans who believe that Christopher Columbus ever set foot on what is now the United States of America? The same 99% of Americans who believe that that the total popular vote count for George Washington in his re-election was more than 2% of the population of the United States?
I'd argue that most people don't believe every Muslim is trying to kill us, or that 99% of the people in this country believe that Columbus set foot on the continent of North America.
I'd argue that most people don't believe every Muslim is trying to kill us, or that 99% of the people in this country believe that Columbus set foot on the continent of North America.
Fine. I'd argue that more than 1% believe the conspiracy theory about 9/11, too. And that there's an alien at Area 57, and the astronauts never went to the moon, and Lee Harvey Oswald got help. And maybe eve that Elvis is in the witness protection program. You said 99% know better, I'd argue with that.
Just curious. Did you know that Columbus never set foot on America? Quick---who was the first European who did? Never wondered, did you, because you thought it was Columbus.
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