Mad Mac

It always seems to be interrupted by death. Is it possible to become old and wise in your 20's?

I know colds are virus infections but does getting cold make you become more susceptible to infection? Any science studies on this?

What is trolling and why is it so bad?

I have lived a lifetime with a diagnosis of schizophrenia paranoia and I don't have any symptoms anymore. I was recently told by medical personnel that I probably was misdiagnosed over 40 years ago and had schizo-affecrive disorder instead, which is curable. I am happy that I am well but pi**ed that my life has been ruined by the stigma of schizophrenia and the belief that I had no future but hallucinations. I have taken anti-psychotics all my life and still take risperdal. They never did stop the hallucinations until recently. I would like to come off anti-psychotic med's. but they advise against it. I would like to know whether the med's are the cause of my cure.

I have a grandson who will be 33 this month and behaves like a 16yr. old. He is a 3 time loser for drug use and possession and is on parole. He lives with his parents, has no ambition and spends his time "hanging out" with losers and won't do any thing to improve himself. He has been this way since he graduated (he worked for 2 yrs but was busted for drug use) and his parents do not know what to do with him. He has a so called mental condition and is on Social Security disability.

What does "Auld Lang Syne." mean?

What does "Auld Lang Syne." mean?

You posted a question which asked, "Is there a real connection between schizophrenia and lateral thinking?" which you withdrew while I was typing out an answer. The question interests me. My answer was:

I doubt it but then I do not understand what you mean by "lateral thinking." Look up "schizophrenia" in a Yahoo! web search for a definitive description of the disorders of schizophrenia and the phenomena of hallucinations.

I looked up "lateral thinking" in wikipedia and found it was thinking that was not obvious or logical as defined by Edward de Bono, a Maltese psychologist, in 1967. The description of it there sounded like (surprise) what he called "lateral thinking." It is not a commonly used term.

A schizophrenic can think as logically as anyone else it is just that his/her experiences (mental hallucinations), which are as real to him/her as yours, are so different. He/she has to explain them to him/her self and others in some way based on their knowledge and thus arise "delusions." They are obvious and rational to the hallucinator. Some schizophrenics are as young as 18 so it is not surprising their explanations may sound weird.

The crux of the problem is that hallucinations are in no way understood by science. Any theory of human consciousness has to take into account the real phenomena of sensual hallucinations and dreams. No one who has not experienced a schizophrenic like hallucination can call him/her self an authority on them.

Do me the favor of explaining your concept of lateral thinking. I hope this helps.I am a paranoid schizophrenic.

What characteristics are necessary for a thing to be alive? And can a non-material soul be alive by your charcteristics?

What characteristics are necessary for a thing to be alive? Can a non material soul be alive by your characteristics?

And finally, what happens to the billions of people in the world who aren't saved?

If God is "omniscient, Omnipresent, and Omnipotent" who does he need to have people fall on thir knees in adulation to reinforce his ego. Is it not sufficient just to acknowledge "There is a being in the Universe that is greater than I am or ever will be" and let it go at that. Why all this "Psalm Singing" grovelling?

According to the biblical definition of faith, Hebrews 11:1, faith can prove just about anything. Could it be that faith is just talking and thinking yourself into a state of mind wherein you refuse to consider and fail to see any alternatives? Is there another definition of faith?

If it is just disobeying an edict of God how can it be inherited? If it is inherited it must be caused by something which can be passed on physically like our DNA. If it is like that then God must have created it in us in the first place and he is damning us for being like he made us. If Adam's fall caused our sinful nature's then how were we changed physically, in the Garden, so that sinful nature is passed on? All these questions lead me to believe sin is not something real. It's just an opinion about human free willed behavior.

I want to believe in a good, kind, loving God and did until I read the Bible through. How can one equate God being loving with all his violence and bloodthirstiness? We are all supposed to be naturally, willfully evil (original sin, but it doesn't seem that way when you observe a child) and doomed to fry in hell unless we conform to his will. This does not seem very loving. How can I find the true nature of God without contradictions?

I am not Roman Catholic but know that transsubstantiation is supposed to occur during mass. I have often wondered whether the elements do actually taste like the literal flesh and blood of Christ.

When I was in grade school in the 1940's they taught us that during the middle ages there was an almost universal belief that rats, mice, flies, cock-roaches and other "vermin" were spontaneously generated from garbage and other trash. They convinced us that science through the scientific method had succesfully shown that this wasn't true. This made me into a scientist. Then in later years science, amazingly, started teaching that life and even the universe arose spontaneously out of mostly nothing. There is no way I know of to prove this one way or the other. But it is a disconcerting discrepancy in their ACT. Why can't they just teach, honestly, "I don't know how it originated."?

From Genesis through Revelations, in the context of the Bible as a whole, he acts as a jealous, selfish, tyrant with violence more often than not. The only times he seems to be good are in those parts taken out of context mostly in the New Testament. He seems to be conceived in violence, propagated through violence, and our future under his no dissent rule predicted by the Bible is violence again (Armageddon and eternal hell for his enemies). I am still looking for a god of peace and love not violence. The three faiths based on the Bible, in part, in whole, and with additional volumes (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) are in the so called holy land engaged in a dominate or be dominated, no holds barred, war today. No hope there. Where do I seek???

Psychologists either refuse to or can't define what a "normal person" is when asked so as to have a standard for a behavioral goal. Do you think a 4-5 year old infant, before he/she knew anything about God, politics, government or the vicissitudes of human interactions would be such a standard for NORMAL?

I would like to know parents and teens opinions on the pro's and con's for a tattoo. Should she get one? She's 16, nearly 17.