I just watched the movie Fight Club. For those that have not seen it...if you saw Beautiful Mind with Russell Crowe you have basically seen Fight Club (except that Beautiful Mind is a bit more cerebral)...it is definitely not what it seems. Many people think it's about the fighting, but I got something completely different out of it. My take is that the power of the mind is so incredible. What is really scary is not what can harm me physically...but what harm can come to me if my mind decides to go whacked. Like Morpheus from The Matrix pointed out, "One cannot live without the mind".
How can we know when the mind is playing tricks on us...is it only when the mind wants us to find out? How long can one be deceived by the mind? I would guess in those instances of extreme disorders it could be lifelong and, left undiagnosed, a constant state of deception.
The other question I have is how common are disorders of the mind? I know my mind plays tricks on me (especially when driving late at night or when I am tired) and I have just come to expect to see things where my mind is jumping to conclusions or seeing things. The funny thing is, however, when I just accept (and start looking for) the tricks of the mind...they seem to stop. I would consider myself a fairly ordinary person as far as my mental capacity is concerned so what worries me is not the major schizophrenic episode, rather, the little ways I might make assumptions or over generalize states of affairs. With that in mind, I'd say overall there is way too much deception in the world. Can't we just all be more honest...oh never mind.
