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It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

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Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#551

Post by ketzo »

OJFord wrote: post #536
boyanlevchev wrote: post #476

A freaky thing that this paper doesn’t mention is that in some cases these tics have gotten so extreme, that one patient began having almost constant seizures and became wheelchair-bound. Imagine being “infected” by watching a video on TikTok! It sounds like a horror movie. From The Guardian: “Over the next few weeks, Wacek noticed that she was having tics. “They were just little noises,” she says. “Nothing to write…

They write 'people with FND have a condition that cannot be medically explained' as though it's just insufficient research, not understood yet. 'FND' is just polite for 'all in your head'. This article reads like 'they're being treated with a drug called Placebo'.

Nobody’s being polite - just cognizant that “all in your head” doesn’t mean “fake.”

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#552

Post by dQw4w9WgXcQ »

fleddr wrote: post #535

The times we live in, utterly bizarre. Pre-internet, one would rarely be exposed to ideas that are extreme, unhinged, insane or downright weird. It would still happen but in moderation, for which I'll use the stereotype "village idiot". A village idiot is isolated for having off-base ideas and behavior, hence bad ideas don't take root. Now it's as if all the village idiots of the world had a meeting and started to ru…

Not only that, but if you tell the village idiot they're being an idiot you become a villageidiotiophobe.

People are afraid to set boundaries for fear of getting cancel cultured or harassed by a woke tolerance mob. All disagreement is now "toxic behavior" on social media channels. Arguing over perspectives is now sometimes branded with the extreme label of gaslighting. Day by day our Overton window continues to shift, and yet we were all told the slippery slope was supposedly a fallacy.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#553

Post by Super_Jambo »

pdntspa wrote: post #521
ravenstine wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no need for convoluted explanations. I don't see how it's at all convoluted. If anything, it's too reductive. Taboos, traditions, etc., don't need to exist because of a reason that's explicit. Sometimes, they do, but that doesn't explain the taboos that don't make obvious sense. A taboo can be more or less a form of "cultural neuron" that doesn't have an explicit purpose but incidentally changes the balance…

How exactly does sexism (or lack thereof) signal confidence? And on the word shit, there is a long tradition in various world cultures of curse words being named on bodily functions. But you are missing the obvious in that "curse" words are such because they were originally thought to bring a curse on the speaker or recipients from whatever god-entity they believe in. I suspect this is a manifestation of (ancient?) s…

>How exactly does sexism (or lack thereof) signal confidence?

I think the argument they're making is that in a sexist culture all men will present with more confidence due to the belief that women are lesser. So the average woman will find the average guy more attractive...

I can't say I'm convinced.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#555

Post by sergiomattei »

fleddr wrote: post #535

The times we live in, utterly bizarre. Pre-internet, one would rarely be exposed to ideas that are extreme, unhinged, insane or downright weird. It would still happen but in moderation, for which I'll use the stereotype "village idiot". A village idiot is isolated for having off-base ideas and behavior, hence bad ideas don't take root. Now it's as if all the village idiots of the world had a meeting and started to ru…

> Imagine being a youngster right now.

Okay.

> You do as your peers do, you live online. Where insanity is your mainstream cultural input.

Reductionist, but I follow. What is insanity, and who defines it? Prior to the modern day, homosexuality was insanity or illness.

> Where mental illness, a very serious issue, is seemingly rewarded for oppression points.

Outside of some very extreme circles, nobody is actually doing this seriously. Where are you even seeing this?

> Where you might question your gender, where before this very idea didn't even occur to you.

No, they just kept quiet about it. That’s the difference, and it seems many are not ready to face the complex nature of psyche.

> Where you're confused between body types, from anorexic to celebrating obesity.

Most people are reasonable enough to understand celebrating obesity and “health at every size” is a fringe, unscientific and extremist idea.

> The normalization of the hating of the other sex.

Once again, extreme communities. Not sure if you refer to incels, would love some clarification.

> Or the other political half. Or an entire race. Or an entire class. Or anybody that doesn't agree with you.

Hate and extremism was invented by the internet?

> The normalization of doxxing, snitching, gossiping and cancel culture as "conversation" tools. The sheer volume of it. The pointless status games.

I see nothing new here. It’s more accesible, yes, but public shame and gossip (!!!) has happened for millennia.

People can organize better and agendas can be pushed easily via the internet. But these voices are fringe and minority. Outside, in the real world — most people are reasonable and understanding.

Oh, and monocultures aren’t great.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#556

Post by RajT88 »

dQw4w9WgXcQ wrote: post #552
fleddr wrote: post #535

The times we live in, utterly bizarre. Pre-internet, one would rarely be exposed to ideas that are extreme, unhinged, insane or downright weird. It would still happen but in moderation, for which I'll use the stereotype "village idiot". A village idiot is isolated for having off-base ideas and behavior, hence bad ideas don't take root. Now it's as if all the village idiots of the world had a meeting and started to ru…

Not only that, but if you tell the village idiot they're being an idiot you become a villageidiotiophobe. People are afraid to set boundaries for fear of getting cancel cultured or harassed by a woke tolerance mob. All disagreement is now "toxic behavior" on social media channels. Arguing over perspectives is now sometimes branded with the extreme label of gaslighting. Day by day our Overton window continues to shift…

What demographics do you consider the "Village Idiots" here?

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#557

Post by karaterobot »

Animats wrote: post #554

Feb. 2022. Seen this paper before. See also: speaking in tongues, swooning. This is not new.

Yes it is. The other examples you list have different etiologies and present differently. The people doing them are different, and so is the medium. The cause may be different, and so may the outcome. Anyway, we don't just stop thinking about new things because they can be analogized to existing things.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#558

Post by reb »

fleddr wrote: post #535

The times we live in, utterly bizarre. Pre-internet, one would rarely be exposed to ideas that are extreme, unhinged, insane or downright weird. It would still happen but in moderation, for which I'll use the stereotype "village idiot". A village idiot is isolated for having off-base ideas and behavior, hence bad ideas don't take root. Now it's as if all the village idiots of the world had a meeting and started to ru…

The times we live in are absolutely brutal for people who struggle with diversity of belief (wherever they are on the sociopolitical spectrum). Never before has an individual had so many perspectives to contend with at once. It breaks a lot of people in different ways, although I think people who can navigate the noise without losing their sense of self are better for the experience.

Still, it's impossible to deny the negative impact it has on people who can't handle the vastness of opinion, and many of them turn to the comforting simplicity of reactionary extremism to cope.

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#559

Post by pclmulqdq »

Jerrrry wrote: post #543
ravenstine wrote: post #511

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> There's no need for convoluted explanations. I don't see how it's at all convoluted. If anything, it's too reductive. Taboos, traditions, etc., don't need to exist because of a reason that's explicit. Sometimes, they do, but that doesn't explain the taboos that don't make obvious sense. A taboo can be more or less a form of "cultural neuron" that doesn't have an explicit purpose but incidentally changes the balance…

>don't need to exist because of a reason that's explicit Why do men have nipples? Because there is no reason not to. Evolution need not a reason, but unless things do have a purpose, all things have a cost, whether it is raw unnecessary complexity, inefficient energy expenditure, or a novel external selective pressure. Taboos and traditions may not _seem_ to have purpose - but that ignorance is basically the inverse…

To some degree Chesterton's fence applies here: if you don't know why a fence was put up, don't demolish it until you find out.

Many taboos and instincts have their roots in completely outdated utility - racism and sexism both used to serve evolutionary purposes, but stuck around LONG after they became useless.

Other taboos and traditions are still useful for society today, but are somewhat under attack - like the taboo on divorce/single parenthood. Studies show that children of divorced parents have much worse outcomes than children of parents who are still together, controlling for most variables.

I think there is a large chunk of society that is afraid we are throwing the baby out with the bathwater, so they think it's better to keep the bathwater...

Re: It’s not Tourette’s but a new type of mass sociogenic illness

#560

Post by RajT88 »

screye wrote: post #395

I wonder how similar this is to (sexy baby) valley girl upspeak & vocal fry. Many young women picked this up from the Kardashians/Paris Hilton and now cannot "turn it off". We know this is not their 'natural' voice because if you ask them to make weird sounds and then a normal voice, then their normal voice sounds completely different than the sexy baby voice. The weird thing is that the women themselves are surprise…

My sister is like this.

I was in California for business a few years back, and she was visiting her best friend from high school in SFO.

So we all met up. My sister was all of a sudden talking in a sort-of valley girl accent. She said she just talked that way in California and had no idea why. At that time she was 34, but was visiting CA once or twice a year for the prior 10 years or so.

Just bizarre.

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