Mad scientist

[The mighty Boosh]

Hey guys

Sorry for using you again but need some opinions. One of my mates is starting to annoy me (sometimes) don't want to anger him as we get along most of the time.

To cut to the chase he has schizophrenia with a messiah complex and believes he's a genius.

I got used to not arguing with him but lately he's turning a little nasty, forcing debates, trying to undermine me infront of people.

What anoying is he talks about theoretical physics and runs into areas that are difficult to prove or dissprove (things that no bugger knows) if you try to argue he will just say you're jealous of his mind.

I can't this will just turn into a wall of text.

What would you do

Would you talk to him about this ?

Call him out for pseudoscience ?

The best way I can think is starting a small weekly challenge to build\make something. show him he's hiding in theory without practice ? Tho it might be a very bad idea.

I don't know how to handle this.

 

[FreeDiver]

Sounds to me like he's some guy that's high on his ego.

 

[Judge]

Avoidance is usually the most effective and logical way to combat most any hazardous exposure.

 

[tree]

@The mighty Boosh

Is your friend taking prescription medication?

Why do you need to prove him wrong?

How likely is he to be capable of acknowledging that your
reality is "more real" than his?
---
The last time I was dealing with a person with this profile,
(*messiah*/physics/*genius*) I kept the conversation to
observable events. Food, weather, animals, gardening etc.

I was dealing with him for months.
To a degree, he seemed to enjoy that I didn't follow him
into his fantasies. I was a person he didn't have to argue with/
convince.....

 

[Nervous Rex]

One of these approaches. I'm sure you'll have to repeat them several times.

A) Ghost him.

B) Don't address the theoretical physics, but whenever he brings it up, ask if he's taking his medication.

C) Just tell him that you're not interested in hearing about it. Don't try to prove him wrong.

D) Say something like "Wow, you put a lot of thought into that" and then encourage him to get a degree and publish his ideas.

A more confrontational version of B is to ask, "Do you have a degree in this? You know that there are very smart people that have degrees in this. If you want them to listen to you, you're going to have to get a degree, too."

 

[Pats]

He probably has very few friends. I think I would try to avoid talking about the issues by using one of the tactics @Nervous Rex suggests. And accept that it's a possibility he will not want to hang out with you anymore because you'll no longer be giving him an outlet for his theories.
Or you can try to be more selective about or limit the time you spend with this person that doesn't give him much opportunity to express his opinions, especially the ones that demean you. Some people love hearing themselves talk and think they sound smart and they probably don't really hear anything the other person is saying anyway, so it doesn't matter what you say.
If nothing else, just bring up some of your own theories and make them as ridiculous as possible just to shut him up or change the subject? Like if he starts trying to debate about something political, go off on a subject like "I think peanut butter was probably invented to stop mother in laws from giving so much advice".

 

[Nervous Rex]

Some people love hearing themselves talk and think they sound smart and they probably don't really hear anything the other person is saying anyway, so it doesn't matter what you say.

This. The guy isn't talking because it interests or impresses you. He's talking because doing so makes him feel smart/important/whatever.

Any behavior on your part that takes away his reward should change his behavior. That could be proving him wrong, hinting that he's a crackpot (the "got a degree in that?" remarks) or just expressing that you aren't interested in hearing about it (or "Sorry, once you mentioned string theory, I tuned everything out. Is there something else interesting you would like to talk about.").

It doesn't have to be confrontational or adversarial. You can pop a balloon or just slowly deflate it.

 

[Pats]

"Sorry, once you mentioned string theory, I tuned everything out. Is there something else interesting you would like to talk about.")

I really like this one.

 

[The mighty Boosh]

Can't really avoid him as he's our drummer and he did try helping me when I was struggling.

@tree
He's been on meds since a very young age 7-ish. Not trying to tear him down It's just getting abit out of hand sometimes. Thought building something would be a good way to ground the conversation more into a shared reality ? otherwise he just overloads me into a half shutdown state.

"How likely is he to be capable of acknowledging that your reality is "more real" than his?"

Bloody good question and I can't awnser it. Don't known many people with schizophrenia so kinda new to me. known him for 3 years but people hide thoughts.

@Nervous Rex
@Pats

Have been trying option C and D for awhile now.
So you guys think this is about him sounding smart more then actually wanting to discuss the subject ?
See I'm never sure if he's being mean or having a bad turn when he gets like that.


Side note do I try and awnser as many people as possible or just take awnsers on bord and type out a response ? It just feels rude not awnsering people.

 

[Pats]

Side note do I try and awnser as many people as possible or just take awnser on bord and type out a response ? It just feels rude not awnsering people.

LOL I know what you mean. I try to at least acknowledge if it's a response to what I've said by clicking one of the icons. I may not have an actual reply for everyone. But then when a couple people go into a separate conversation on the thread I'm wondering if I need to stay out of their conversation. Such dilemmas.

 

[Pats]

Can't really avoid him as he's our drummer and he did try helping me when I was struggling.

@tree
He's been on meds since a very young age 7-ish. Not trying to tear him down It's just getting abit out of hand sometimes. Thought building something would be a good way to ground the conversation more into a shared reality ? otherwise he just overloads me into a half shutdown state.

"How likely is he to be capable of acknowledging that your reality is "more real" than his?"

Bloody good question and I can't awnser it. Don't known many people with schizophrenia so kinda new to me. known him for 3 years but people hide thoughts.

@Nervous Rex
@Pats

Have been trying option C and D for awhile now.
So you guys think this is about him sounding smart more then actually wanting to discuss the subject ?
See I'm never sure if he's being mean or having a bad turn when he gets like that.


Side note do I try and awnser as many people as possible or just take awnsers on bord and type out a response ? It just feels rude not awnsering people.

can you kind hum to yourself when he's on his tangent so you don't have to listen?

 

[Judge]

Makes me wonder how John, Paul, George and Stu got along socially with Pete.

Though as far as I know, Brian sacked Pete purely based on his drumming. And Stu left to pursue his own career. And before Yoko there was Astrid.

I guess such decisions- and group/band social dynamics "don't come easy". Life can be complicated. Especially if "big money" enters the equation.

 

[The mighty Boosh]

@tree
Sorry think my awnser was abit half truth. Yes I am annoyed with him and sometime wish to prove him wrong. We've all dug ourselfs deep into subjects and thought we where experts but at somepoint you need to face facts to grow.

@Pats
As you and Rex have pointed out I'm going to have to stop letting him go off on some tangents. Like walking out the room to making a brew, or is that over the top and mean ?

@Judge
Can you elaborate a little ? the band was over a decade before my time (Sorry )

 

[Judge]

Can you elaborate a little ? the band was over a decade before my time (Sorry )

The Beatles. Before they were truly a phenomenon. Lots of social issues within the band, though not related to autism. Where future manager Brian Epstein could see their potential. However it didn't involve drummer Pete Best who Epstein wanted replaced by drummer Richard Starkey. And that Stuart Sutcliffe wanted to paint and not play the bass. So did his influential girlfriend Astrid.

But ultimately what made the Beatles so great was also their downfall. That while they were all so gifted, they also wanted to go their own way musically. And being on the road constantly wore them out, much as did to the pop group ABBA. Success changed them, then ruined them as a group. Where they all went on to find more success separately. And yet none of them might not have gone anywhere without the public relations strategies of Brian Epstein and music producer George Martin.

It's just weird how life can treat people- for better or worse. That said, I've always been a huge Beatles fan. Always will be.

 

[Pats]

@tree
Sorry think my awnser was abit half truth. Yes I am annoyed with him and sometime wish to prove him wrong. We've all dug ourselfs deep into subjects and thought we where experts but at somepoint you need to face facts to grow.

@Pats
As you and Rex have pointed out I'm going to have to stop letting him go off on some tangents. Like walking out the room to making a brew, or is that over the top and mean ?

@Judge
Can you elaborate a little ? the band was over a decade before my time (Sorry )

No, going to get a brew would be a perfectly good excuse to leave the room.
@Judge - Make ya feel old? LOL (Even my grandkids would know who you're talking about).

 

[Judge]

@Judge - Make ya feel old? LOL (Even my grandkids would know who you're talking about).

Reminds me of a song of the Lovin' Spoonful:

Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll

 

[Pats]

Reminds me of a song of the Lovin' Spoonful:

Do you believe in magic in a young girl's heart
How the music can free her, whenever it starts
And it's magic, if the music is groovy
It makes you feel happy like an old-time movie
I'll tell you about the magic, and it'll free your soul
But it's like trying to tell a stranger 'bout rock and roll

I still love all the old stuff -back when music was good. (what generation hasn't heard that? lol) But you know, even my 5 year old grandson says Beatles are his favorite and my grown grandsons and all my kids have been trained to be a Beatle's fan. I did a good job!!! LOL

 

[Judge]

I still love all the old stuff -back when music was good. (what generation hasn't heard that? lol) But you know, even my 5 year old grandson says Beatles are his favorite and my grown grandsons and all my kids have been trained to be a Beatle's fan. I did a good job!!! LOL

Actually it never fails to amaze me how many people on a broad spectrum of ages tend to agree that music went over a cliff in the late 80s and never really came back.

I still bust up laughing each time XM Sirius sends me an urgent request to sign up for their service when I have ten gigs of my entire 50s to 80s audio collection to listen to in my car.

Though if the world were to abruptly end while I'm driving I suppose it will come as a bit of a surprise. At least I'll go out with some good tunes.

 

[The mighty Boosh]

@Judge
Thank you for explaining. thought you might have been saying Pete had schizophrenia and was causing problems in the band. Honestly don't know alot about the band members.

Talking about the Beatles and decline of music. I'd blame it on how fast we can buy and skip music. Records, Tapes, cd, mp3

and also old but funny when you realise. Not sure if some songs have been stratched to fit

 

[Judge]

@Judge
Thank you for explaining. thought you might have been saying Pete had schizophrenia and was causing problems in the band. Honestly don't know alot about the band members.

Nope, never heard about anything like schizophrenia. Though I know there was some bad blood between John and Paul towards Pete, apart from a general band consensus that Pete just wasn't up to snuff...or capable of improvement as the band got better.

But who knows? Maybe being cut loose may have saved Pete in some strange way as well. After all, fame and fortune don't always translate into a favorable outcome.