Friday, July 16, 2004
just because you're paranoid
doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.
Bobby Fischer-- found
Will Baude at 12:04 PM
Chess champ and nutcase Bobby Fischer is now in custody-- it is still unclear whether he will be extradited to the U.S. to face the federal charges pending against him.Fischer certainly seems to be a rather strange guy, possibly in need of serious help, but I'd just like to remind readers that the federal charges Fischer faces are for playing an illegal chess game! Sadly, the freedom of chess is not yet protected by the Constitution.
the everyday use of paranoid suggests one perceives farfetched, implausible, imaginary threats.
for example, of course everyone knows there is no vast jewish conspiracy to silence and oppress mr. fischer. i once had a conversation with a doctor from india who has a different perspective.
he says what these people have is a heightened sensitivity to threats. sometimes the threats are real. one of the things that makes a good chess player is being able to spot threats coming many moves ahead, where they wouldn't be obvious to mundanes. my game is pretty good, but only in an amateur way, i suspect baude will beat me if we ever happen to meet. (randomly, at noon, on the shore of lake michican behind the art museum, say, on the night of january 16th.)
They are, of course, anglo saxon.
Intellegence and madness often go hand in hand, and maybe that has something to do with it.
the very smart see threats others miss, and their anxiety sets them apart - as evolved monkeys sensistive to threat signals, we aren't comfortable being around monkeys who panic when there is no tiger.
The dog on the moor that didn't bark at midnight, the sumatran tiger that wasn't there because it was extinct, these are nuanced threats some of the monkeys don't grasp.
I'm one of those monkeys that make the other monkeys uncomfortable, so I'm being driven out of the tribe. National merit scholar, post-doctorate, policy wonk, ecologist, political philosopher, i see threats others don't, and that makes me a threat, and i'm aware of the irony. poor cassandra. poor chickens. John Nash, Bobby Fischer, Isaac Newton, me, most of my girlfirends, handicapped by superior intelligence. Not in the intel sense, just abstract useless book smarts.
I've been having a depressive episode today. Went to the shrink's office. couldn't call, no phone. Office was closed. Get back, there's a notice the phone guy was here but left cuz i wasn't home.
Remember the guy who woke up one day and had turned into a giant cockroach? I think maybe my next door neighbor woke up ome day and had turned into a million little cockroaches.
Or there may be some more scientific explanation.
doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.
Bobby Fischer-- found
Will Baude at 12:04 PM
Chess champ and nutcase Bobby Fischer is now in custody-- it is still unclear whether he will be extradited to the U.S. to face the federal charges pending against him.Fischer certainly seems to be a rather strange guy, possibly in need of serious help, but I'd just like to remind readers that the federal charges Fischer faces are for playing an illegal chess game! Sadly, the freedom of chess is not yet protected by the Constitution.
the everyday use of paranoid suggests one perceives farfetched, implausible, imaginary threats.
for example, of course everyone knows there is no vast jewish conspiracy to silence and oppress mr. fischer. i once had a conversation with a doctor from india who has a different perspective.
he says what these people have is a heightened sensitivity to threats. sometimes the threats are real. one of the things that makes a good chess player is being able to spot threats coming many moves ahead, where they wouldn't be obvious to mundanes. my game is pretty good, but only in an amateur way, i suspect baude will beat me if we ever happen to meet. (randomly, at noon, on the shore of lake michican behind the art museum, say, on the night of january 16th.)
They are, of course, anglo saxon.
Intellegence and madness often go hand in hand, and maybe that has something to do with it.
the very smart see threats others miss, and their anxiety sets them apart - as evolved monkeys sensistive to threat signals, we aren't comfortable being around monkeys who panic when there is no tiger.
The dog on the moor that didn't bark at midnight, the sumatran tiger that wasn't there because it was extinct, these are nuanced threats some of the monkeys don't grasp.
I'm one of those monkeys that make the other monkeys uncomfortable, so I'm being driven out of the tribe. National merit scholar, post-doctorate, policy wonk, ecologist, political philosopher, i see threats others don't, and that makes me a threat, and i'm aware of the irony. poor cassandra. poor chickens. John Nash, Bobby Fischer, Isaac Newton, me, most of my girlfirends, handicapped by superior intelligence. Not in the intel sense, just abstract useless book smarts.
I've been having a depressive episode today. Went to the shrink's office. couldn't call, no phone. Office was closed. Get back, there's a notice the phone guy was here but left cuz i wasn't home.
Remember the guy who woke up one day and had turned into a giant cockroach? I think maybe my next door neighbor woke up ome day and had turned into a million little cockroaches.
Or there may be some more scientific explanation.
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