Someone wrote to Bertrand Russell claiming that in one book or article, he clearly espoused atheist beliefs, while in another, his beliefs appeared to be agnostic. Russell replied, "Dear Madam, Some days I am an agnostic. Other days, I am an atheist."
Not just witty, but a good lesson that we are allowed to change our beliefs. In fact, it is sometimes very important that we do.
Anyway, you reminded me that our personalities - like our beliefs - are not fixed. "Some days I am schizophrenic. Other days, I am perfectly normal."
(But what's the name for someone who is schizophrenic some of the time and perfectly normal the rest of the time? Schizophrenic? It's certainly not perfectly normal to be schizophrenic part of the time. Is it a case of "Sometimes a schizophrenic, always a schizophrenic"? A variant on Russell's Paradox?)
I assumed your story was about the unreliability of the MMPI, rather than the stability of your personality.
But as long as we're setting the record straight, I have never been adjudged to be "perfectly normal" - not even "borderline perfectly normal." My parents desperately wanted me to be, but it turned out to be yet another instance where I actually did know better than them. They were lovely people, but they were not Jungians.
"To be normal is the ultimate aim of the unsuccessful." – Carl Jung
Someone wrote to Bertrand Russell claiming that in one book or article, he clearly espoused atheist beliefs, while in another, his beliefs appeared to be agnostic. Russell replied, "Dear Madam, Some days I am an agnostic. Other days, I am an atheist."
Not just witty, but a good lesson that we are allowed to change our beliefs. In fact, it is sometimes very important that we do.
Anyway, you reminded me that our personalities - like our beliefs - are not fixed. "Some days I am schizophrenic. Other days, I am perfectly normal."
(But what's the name for someone who is schizophrenic some of the time and perfectly normal the rest of the time? Schizophrenic? It's certainly not perfectly normal to be schizophrenic part of the time. Is it a case of "Sometimes a schizophrenic, always a schizophrenic"? A variant on Russell's Paradox?)
Nice. Just to be clear, I have never actually been schizophrenic or even borderline schizophrenic.
I assumed your story was about the unreliability of the MMPI, rather than the stability of your personality.
But as long as we're setting the record straight, I have never been adjudged to be "perfectly normal" - not even "borderline perfectly normal." My parents desperately wanted me to be, but it turned out to be yet another instance where I actually did know better than them. They were lovely people, but they were not Jungians.
"To be normal is the ultimate aim of the unsuccessful." – Carl Jung