(December 4, 2021 at 4:56 pm)SlowCalculations Wrote: Or should i be treating some of these conversations as actually dulisional? (Of course in a nicer manner)
It varies greatly by the individual, the topic, and the phase of the moon.
- A very few may actually be mentally ill and literally delusional. These are rare but don't argue with one if you spot it. They literally need professional help. Happily, they're few and far between.
- Many arguments are so spammy, trolly, or simply ill-conceived as to be indistinguishable from gibberish. These are the product of laziness and stupidity rather than a psychiatric condition. You should ignore these as being too dumb to waste your time with. A title like "Atheism and the existence of peanut butter" is a red flag that debating the topic is going to kill brain cells.
- Many of the remainder are simply coming from such a different world view that it can be very difficult to understand them if you have trouble seeing the other person's point of view. That's a two-way street, and we get to see how badly theists misunderstand atheists every time they start telling us what we think or believe. It's usually utter bollox. If your autism lends itself to a high degree of analytical thinking or narrow but intense focus then you may have a hard time shoe-horning your brain into these very different head spaces. On the plus side, you'll drive evangelicals mad because they'll have an easier time converting a brick wall than getting through to you if that's the case.
