In describing Maria's symptoms, Hartmann writes that "she hears voices that command her to do things" (2007, p. 175). The three variations on the check question that came up were:
1. Does Maria think she hears voices?
2. Does Maria hear voices?
3. Does Maria really hear voices?
- Are these the same or different questions?
- If they are different, what is the important difference?
- If they are all the same question, what is the one idea that they all mean?
As we saw, common words like see and hear can be very difficult to define exactly when we suddenly need a solid definition in order to answer a question, and the answers to the three questions about Maria depend on the exact meaning of the verb hear, just as a decision as to whether someone is abnormal or not depends very much the agreed definition of abnormal, which is why Hartmann spends three full paragraphs discussing that on page 173 (2007), as we saw this morning. We use these words all the time with little problem, but today, when it was necessary to actually specify a good definition, it was not at all easy to just give one.
Please feel welcome to continue any part of the discussion from class here.
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References
And I am always very happy for you to blog for further discussion anything else that comes up in class or in our reading about which you have a question or which you would like to discuss further.
ReplyDeleteMy short, simple answer, the one I gave in class, is that all three questions are the same. However, I think that question 3. can be interpreted as meaning something very different because of an ambiguity about what the word "really" means in there, in which case I think it is better to ask that question differently to remove the ambiguity.
ReplyDeleteBut as Waye pointed out, these sorts of discussions quickly enter into philosophy. They are the sort of seemingly simple question that leads people like Russell, Frege and Wittgenstein to write books in their attempts to come up with a satisfactory (not necessarily final) answer.
Let's talk with delusions hallucinations and perceptual disorders first.
ReplyDeleteFirst, I thought delusions and hallucinations are kinda similar, hallucinations might come after delusions. However, when I search on the internet and ask my sister who is a psychiatrist, I've realized that I was wrong. Delusions, hallucinations and perceptual disorders are different, delusions are false beliefs held with absolute conviction despite superior evidence. Hallucinations are perceptions in the absence of stimulus, they're often come with delusions, that's why people usually confuse the difference between them. and perceptual disorders characterized by impaired abilities to perceive the nature of objects or concepts through use of the sense organs, require external stimulations.
So, in case of Maria, if there are real voices exist, it must be perceptual disorder. However, if not, it's auditory hallucination.
Job,
ReplyDeleteThank you for the clear explanation of the difference between delusions and perceptual disorders or hallucinations. I like the way you also explain why they are commonly confused - that's very helpful.
The professional opinion from your sister is also useful on the distinction between hallucinations and perceptual disorders. Asking a competent authority was a good idea.
Job,
ReplyDeleteI used to watch "A Beautiful Mind". It is a 2001 American drama film based on the life of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics.
Nash believes that he have three friends who only exist in Nash's imagination. His invisible friends result from delusion. Watching this movie may be provide us with a good example; However, ask your sister to check it again.
A common delusion people have is that they are not influenced by advertising. The evidence is that they are.
ReplyDeleteAnother common delusion people have is that they are nice, compassionate and caring. But the reality is that most would torture and kill others simply because a government official told them to commit such an evil act.
These are false beliefs that we often have about ourselves with no supporting evidence, and contrary to the evidence that is available.
I think Nash's friends were hallucinations. His belief that government agencies were manipulating him was a delusion in which the unreal friends he saw and spoke with played a role.
Plan,
ReplyDeleteThanks for reminding us of A Beautiful Mind. It's a great movie, well worth watching for its portrayal of a brilliant mind suffering serious psychological abnormality.
Peter,
ReplyDeleteThanks for checking my comment.
According to "A Beautiful Mind" on Wikipedia website, it explained that "The story begins in the early years of a young prodigy named John Nash. Early in the film, Nash begins developing paranoid schizophrenia and endures delusional episodes while painfully watching the loss and burden his condition brings on his wife and friends".
This supports Job's explanation that "Hallucinations are perceptions in the absence of stimulus, they're often come with delusions, that's why people usually confuse the difference between them".
Peter- I can't writing Italic front in a comment. How to type it, thanks again.
Plan,
ReplyDeleteTo italicize in comments, and do other useful things like insert links, see the notes in "Comments - italics, bold, links and ¶", which is one of teh AEP Class Blog - information pages listed on the right.
Can I get A beautiful mind in Bangkok? or amazon? or I can borrow from you?
ReplyDeletePeter,
ReplyDeleteHow about tinnitus that you mentioned?
Mur,
ReplyDeleteI don't have a copy of A Beautiful Mind. I've seen it around, but am not sure where - probably at the Mangpong store at Siam Paragon, which is where I often go to check out DVDs after browsing the books at Kinokuniya and en route to the excellent supermarket in the basement.
It's a great film. I wouldn't mind seeing it again, so might pop by and have a look after my class tomorrow. I want some soups from the soup bar (excellent value) in the supermarket, and going to look for a serious film is a good excuse to visit Paragon.
I just had a look at the Wikipedia entry for "tinnitus". I like the distinction made there between objective and subjective types of tinnitus. I think that is the sort of idea that was worrying Job in class.