• edge [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    But his brother, returning from Sicily, handed him over to a doctor to be cured, and in this way he recovered from the illness.

    he had never been so happy as when he rejoiced at the sight of ships which did not belong to him returning safely.

    yea

    Can’t have this guy be happy about his hobby and that people made it home safe. That’s weird.

    • ComradePlatypus [fae/faer]@hexbear.net
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      2 months ago

      It might not have been neurodivergence Autism (or it alone). If he had OCD, the prospects of ships not returning might have caused significant distress (obsession) and going to check gives relief (compulsion).

      I’m more interested how he was “cured”.

        • crime [she/her, any]@hexbear.net
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          2 months ago

          It is — “neurodivergent” just means having a mind that functions in ways which diverge significantly from the dominant societal standards of “normal.” It can be largely or entirely genetic and innate, or it can be largely or entirely produced by brain-altering experience, or some combination of the two, e.g. autism, brain injury, or heavy psychadelic use. (paraphrased from Dr. Nick Walker’s Neurodiversity: some basic terms & definitions)

        • ComradePlatypus [fae/faer]@hexbear.net
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          2 months ago

          Yeah you’re right, I could have phrased that better. OCD can be both mental illness and/or neurodivergence. What I’m saying is what if it was the former, causing significant psychological distress from the obsession and compulsions.

          • GalaxyBrain [they/them]@hexbear.net
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            2 months ago

            It’s been a thing near the front of my brain after reading the comments on a ds9 episode review of all things. It was for the episode where Bashir meets the other genetically altered people and the reviewer calls them ‘autism coded’, and the comments rightfully point out that not all neurodivergence is autism and when the term neurodivergent is used people tend to immediately associate with autism and that can be shitty for neurodiverse people who aren’t autistic. They also point out the characters in the episode all kinda have their own thing but their behavior is closer to people who have been abused and shut away from society because of their mental differences cause well, early 90s writers experience with neurodiverse people probably tended to have some of that going on since they’re all ivy league grads from the 70s and 80s.

            • ComradePlatypus [fae/faer]@hexbear.net
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              2 months ago

              That’s certainly fair. I was trying to use it more broadly, as people with ADHD or dyslexia can still hyperfocus on trains, boats and plains too.

              But I did just outright forget that OCD can be considered neurodivergence instead of mental illness, in part because I’ve seen many people with OCD in my work who are on the mental illness end, the “I can’t sleep because I need to flip switches in a certain pattern or else my family will die” situations.

              Edit: Of course how much of mental illness is neurodivergence and how much is a separate thing I understand is also a contentious debate. Is it all? none? Specific things like bipolar or schizophrenia? Personality disorders? Etc

  • Egon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    To the last bit about rejoicing when ships return home safely, I ma reminded of a poem by some old English dude:

    No man is an island,
    Entire of itself;
    Every man is a piece of the continent,
    A part of the main.

    If a clod be washed away by the sea,
    Europe is the less,
    As well as if a promontory were:
    As well as if a manor of thy friend’s
    Or of thine own were.

    Any man’s death diminishes me,
    Because I am involved in mankind.
    And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls;
    It tolls for thee.

    • The_Jewish_Cuban [he/him]@hexbear.net
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      2 months ago

      I didn’t realize that the whole sentiment of the poem was that humanist. I’ve only ever heard the last two lines in different contexts and transformed. It’s a beautiful piece of art and much more positive (neutral?) than I understood it to be.

        • The_Jewish_Cuban [he/him]@hexbear.net
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          2 months ago

          I wanted to discuss this a bit more so I’m replying lol

          It’s a really really strong inversion of the contemporary element of church bells. Perhaps because we’ve grown somewhat disconnected from the actual usage of church bells for a funeral; the frequent usage of the bells as foreshadowing or to symbolize imminent death of the perspective the audience is supposed to take on is completely incongruent to its usage here.

          Perhaps in the most famous modern example Metallica’s song “for whom the bell tolls” has the perspective people hearing the bell roll for themselves as they die foolishly for a piece of ground. However, this to me, seems only possible because of that disconnect from their purpose. The bell tolls are a carrier of news rather than a harbringer of your impending doom.

          I hadn’t read this poem before, or at least I don’t remember reading it, so this seems a very novel usage of the concept.

          I love how the poem takes on this fresh existence entirely because life has morphed and moved on around it.

          Sincerely, thank you for sharing.

          • Egon [they/them]@hexbear.net
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            2 months ago

            Hey you’re very welcome and thank you so much for sharing your thoughts on this.

            I imagine Metallica aren’t referencing the poem, but the Hemingway novel of the same name. The novel starts out with referencing this poem though, which is a kind of fun 1-2. Maybe that novel is what changed the idea of “for whom the bell tolls”?

  • glans [it/its]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    Thrasyllus was shipping polymorous. The doctor cured him of his compersion and now he is only happy when a ship he OWNS comes to the harbour safely.

  • NapoleonBlownApart [he/him]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    I grew up on the Great lakes watching freighters. Do I have some sort of mania? I will drive to a city where they dock just to get close to them at times.

    Brb gonna call my teledoc that was provided by work instead of real insurance and tell them all about it

  • tombruzzo [none/use name]@hexbear.net
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    2 months ago

    Franz Ferdinand and Kaiser Whilhelm were both also obsessed with ships.

    Whilhelm always wanted to race his uncle in their yachts and was given an honourary British Navy uniform which he loved so much he’d wear whenever grandma Vicky came to visit