I was just thinking that since delusions are actually based on certain aspects of reality isn’t reality based on certain delusional like beliefs as well. So my point is, is that there maybe a perfect balance of both (supposed realities) in some respects in where neither are too one sided or the other but compromising a bit the two stubbornly held beliefs into one super reality. (That is what we have now anyway), but I really think that we are all a bit delusional even the normal folks in like we all have a dream that we believe in or a reality that we hope will be more absolutely stable in having certain instabilities about it all the time. This is what keeps us on our toes so to speak. This keeps life interesting in having some unsolved mysteries. It’s more gripping like a good movie.
Not really looking for discussion just had a thought I wanted to throw out here.
That hinges on what it means for something to be a delusion. The condition in the DSM that says that delusions need to be unusual and not shared by a community prevents some beliefs that are unfounded, incorrigible and held with the utmost certainty to be called delusions. But there are such ‘delusion-like’ ideas in the general population - and I’m not talking about religion.
Such beliefs are typically constitutative of what we take reality to be like. And they serve us very well in doing so. These are typically theses that are debated in philosophy for centuries and to which no definite proof seems possible. Theses like that there is an external world independent of our minds. While such seems perfectly reasonable to think, if someone were to deny it, it is hard to think of something that would proof him wrong. Any empirical evidence will be questioned by such a person. It is more likely that we will just call him mad. Conceptual evidence and argument will rely on logic - but what if the person does not accept the rules or axioms of the logic you are using? These, after all, are by definition unfounded.
Such skepticism is hard to deal with - but it also goes to show that not everything we ordinarily rely on is based on evidence. Some beliefs we rely on in making sense of reality are unfounded themselves - and there is nothing wrong with that. It is in fact necessary: for if all beliefs have to be proven then you end up either with an infinite regress or with a circular argument.
Certainly if you look at what happens to a lot of vets. If you have a vulnerability to mental health issues, I don’t think the army is a good place to be. You’re likely to get severe PTSD or maybe complex conditions and end up living on the streets, not healthy.