Psychiatrically Challenged Challenge

Ignoring the unwell AND those who attempt to weaponize them.

When I got deeply involved in blogging back in 2007 I was a brand new Lyme victim, dealing with confusion, depression, and paranoia. The high point was a two week course of Mefloquine in 2010, during which I abandoned my bed, instead sleeping in a nest of blankets in an interior closet. I found it impossible to sleep in a room with windows, even with the curtains closed tight.

That was peak Tea Party time and they were all raging about Saul Alinsky’s Rules For Radicals. Although not one of his thirteen rules, having read the book, I knew that identifying crazy people, winding them up, and pointing them at targets was a favorite tactic. After a very effective 2010 midterm campaign season I experienced this several times in quick succession in 2011. Despite having read Alinsky’s book, I was slow to comprehend the depths of the depravity of right wing extremists.

This practice evolved for them, becoming systematic with Gamergate circa 2014, then the Trump train stuff beginning the next year, and I first heard the term “Qanon” in mid 2017. The Republican party has ripped right up the middle in an irreparable fashion over failing to note Alinsky’s 12th rule:

"The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative."

One of the reasons I survived Lyme was my mindfulness meditation practice, which I acquired when I converted to Buddhism twenty years ago. Being observant still serves me well, but my definition of kind has evolved a great deal. Fifteen years ago patience and tolerance for those with various life struggles was my norm. Today the kindest thing I can do for someone who is unwell is to utterly ignore them.

Attention Conservation Notice:

This used to be my worst personal attack surface. If you’re already intolerant of instability, good for you. Otherwise, you might want to follow along here.

Diagnosis:

As I mentioned in Paranoia: Pathological or Professional?, you’re going to get used to looking over your shoulder. You’ll have your moments, that’s unavoidable. But what you can not have, nor should people in your circles have, is a diagnosis. This is … it’s hard, because a lot of the people involved in online politics are … not well. They’re effective, but like I was circa 2009 - 2012, they’ve got issues. And if noticed, that’s an attack surface. Protecting them can quickly become a full time job.

If you haven’t read What Hunts You? I would strongly suggest that you do, paying close attention to the Personalities & Disorders section. You should recognize the three flavors of character disorders.

• Cluster A - the eccentric.

• Cluster B - the emotional & erratic.

• Cluster C - the anxious & fearful.

This is the top of the first page of a little guide that’s in my Kindle, a twenty four page summary of the DSM-5. There are a lot of them around, find one and get familiar.

Delusions In Particular:

There are a variety of delusions but there are a couple of very common flavors in online conflict.

• Persecutory delusions - the belief that one is hunted, without any coherent explanation of why this would be. The all time champions in this area are “targeted individuals”, those who engage in no activity that would earn them attention, but who can not stop believing they’re hunted. James Tilly Matthews was the first documented victim of this.

• Delusions of reference - the classic extreme example is the person sitting at home alone yelling at the people in the TV who are talking to them. Less obviously but potentially much more problematic are the nobodies of the world who believe that they are personally involved in world events. There are several examples of this in the hacker/troll realm, deeply unwell people who have worn out their family and real world friends, so they assuage their loneliness by inserting themselves into various situations.

• Delusions of grandeur - while being similar to delusions of reference, the difference here is that the victims believe they have influence on world events, without being able to offer a coherent explanation of precisely how they do. This turns up in those with substance abuse issues, or narcissists who are receiving a lot of public attention.

DerpOps:

A week ago I published Deflecting DerpOps after I became aware that a weirdo who approached me via my 706-47-TROLL Signal number has been making the rounds. This person, who seems to be an unskilled manbaby from “chan culture”, has reportedly engaged a variety of people in a similar fashion to the laughable approach he tried with me. Those who are unwell are, by their very nature, vulnerable to such things.

Illuminating “Furious George” was a useful exercise. Those who are taken in by him? Not even acknowledging them at all is really the best approach.

There are two individuals and two organizations that I’ve mentioned on this Substack that have received substantive attention from me.

• All Enemies, Foreign and Domestic, Especially Roger Stone does precisely what it says on the tin.

• Disconcerting Inauthenticity is the first in what I think will be a series on the YouTube channels that are spoofing geopolitical strategist Peter Zeihan.

• Sovereign Challenge Unmet is about SOCOM’s puzzling inability to maintain, or even recover their digital assets.

• StatusLabs Remains Vulnerable is about a reputation management company who are failing to protect themselves from an obvious scam.

I suppose one could argue that by publishing Deflecting DerpOps, I’ve given “George” attention, but mocking him for his “nice shoes, wanna fuck?” approach doesn’t count as substantive in my book. I didn’t even bother to chase the Signal number he uses.

Conclusion:

People who have capabilities and contacts may be using these things to influence world events in some fashion. I spend some time every day trying to leave the world in better condition than the way I found it. Those who are in poor mental condition may be victimized by those with poor character in an effort to make things worse.

If you can land a mission kill by outing a creature such as “George”, or a mobility kill by ensuring future victims know about previous victims, that might have some utility. The downside is that repeat engagements, or worse, appearing to take an ankle biter seriously, can elevate them. If anyone was dumb enough to actually pay that guy for such an effort, I hope I’ve triggered some buyer’s remorse.

And that’s about all that needs to be said about such things. Avoid those who are unwell, do no more than mock & deride those who try to weaponize them, and keep your eye on the ball.