Thought crime

[Losty]

Listen Losty, it's not normal to think mean shit about random people you know nothing about.
You see a guy in a funny sweater and think, damn what a loser, well he is the CEO of a company Facebook is trying to buy, his mother died last year same day, the sweater was made by his mother as a gift for him. She died from cancer and he was holding her hand as she slowly drifted to a never ending sleep.

How do you feel now?

Judging people based on some preconceived notion is what shallow people do, and I know for a fact that you aren't shallow. To act nice with others and think mean shit about them is what hypocrites do. Don't be like them. Be true to yourself and others.

See here is where I am stuck.

But what would you have me change? I can't help the thoughts that pop into my mind. I don't want to have them or think they're funny but I don't know how I'm supposed to have control over that.

Would I have me be cruel in order to avoid hypocrisy? I don't think I can do that either. Being mean to someone is definitely not staying true to who I am. It would hurt them and that would hurt me.

So I don't know...

[robvalue]

Yeah. It's not going to work. Thinking like that will just make things worse. And even in that convoluted scenario, you still didn't hurt anyone.

Reflexive thoughts are not your judgements. They are your brain reacting, and there's nothing you can do to stop it (short of some really drastic measures!)

Pool would be the first person I ever heard of who either doesn't have bizarre thoughts, or can somehow control them. Or perhaps he's just really good at convincing himself he doesn't have them at all. Who knows.

[The Grand Nudger]

You're a sick, sick person, who clearly needs someone to apply corrective conditioning.  

It's normal (and useful!), imo.  Rehearsing for death, cathartic release by proxy, simulation (rather than actualization) of aggressive or deleterious tendencies.  Perhaps being "mean" in this way -is- a part of who you are...and I'm jut spitballing here, but it might be a part of who you are that helps you to be "nice" otherwise.  By the time you're done beating the conceptual test dummy Joe, you don't have much left in the tank to hit the real Joe with.  One thing is clear, however, whatever else these little fantasies do for you (or where they come from) they are a point of introspection. Assessing your interactions (both real and imagined), and exploring mechanisms for change.

Working as intended?

[robvalue]

Sometimes when I see a child, I think about doing something really mean to it, like kicking it or stealing its stuff. For no reason.

Sometimes I think about how I would kill everyone around me in the quickest way possible. For no reason. It just pops into my head.

They are just fleeting thoughts. They don't mean anything. I can find them amusing, because they are so ridiculous. Who knows what's going on in my brain. My wife has shared many bizarre thoughts she has had with me too. I believe (almost) everyone has messed up thoughts, ones which would be embarrassing if you actually came to them as a conclusion rather than a reaction. It's just a matter of how honest they are about it.

As long as you are able to pick out the messed up thoughts and not give them any credibility, there's no harm done. And I'm sure most people can do that just fine. They may even get to the point where they just blank out the bizarre thoughts, as if they never had them at all.

PS: Good point Rhythm. It could be the brain "blowing off steam".

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

Listen Losty, it's not normal to think mean shit about random people you know nothing about.
You see a guy in a funny sweater and think, damn what a loser, well he is the CEO of a company Facebook is trying to buy, his mother died last year same day, the sweater was made by his mother as a gift for him. She died from cancer and he was holding her hand as she slowly drifted to a never ending sleep.

How do you feel now?

Judging people based on some preconceived notion is what shallow people do, and I know for a fact that you aren't shallow. To act nice with others and think mean shit about them is what hypocrites do. Don't be like them. Be true to yourself and others.

See here is where I am stuck.

But what would you have me change? I can't help the thoughts that pop into my mind. I don't want to have them or think they're funny but I don't know how I'm supposed to have control over that.

Would I have me be cruel in order to avoid hypocrisy? I don't think I can do that either. Being mean to someone is definitely not staying true to who I am. It would hurt them and that would hurt me.

So I don't know...

Lol!! It's almost as if you have a pathological need to think stuff like that. I still don't understand how people actually think it's normal. Either way as long as you don't actually act on those thought I guess you're a nicer person that 40% of the population. But I would still put in effort to atleast try and avoid those thoughts. Not only will it give you peace of mind it'll make you a better human being than what you are right now. Then EVERYBODY will like you and you will be president. Then you can give free cheetos to EVERYONE! But I'll love you regardless.

[ignoramus]

Isn't it day dreaming?

[Edwardo Piet]

Pool is completely wrong.

Lostykins, if you haven't already, read that article I posted -- not only is it normal but far worse thoughts are completely normal too.

Pool, when everyone else is trying to explain to Lostykins that it's perfectly normal to have thoughts like this, to joke about how it's not normal isn't funny.

[Edwardo Piet]

Lol!!  It's almost as if you have a pathological need to think stuff like that.

Ahem. All the scientific evidence says you're wrong.

Either you're the abnormal one for not having random weird/scary thoughts like everyone else... or much more likely you won't admit it.

The human brain naturally generates nonsensical and often bizarre thoughts, even for those without OCD. A study conducted by Rachman and de Silva (1978) found that healthy college students reported having thoughts with common OCD themes, such as violence, forbidden sexual acts, and urges to do inappropriate things in public. The difference is that when individuals without OCD experience ego-dystonic thoughts, meaning they are the opposite of an individual’s true nature, desires, values, and self-image, the brain responds differently.

(My bolding)

More evidence:

http://www.anapsys.co.uk/cbt_ocd.htm

Many studies have found that 80% to 90% of the population has had intrusive thoughts on occasion. Some have had an impulse to run someone over while peacefully driving down the street, to jump off a bridge or to cry out an obscenity. It has occurred to others to do something inappropriate to someone and there are many other thoughts that go through people’s heads for no reason at all.

[Edwardo Piet]

This one is even more important to read, Lostykins. The article is called:

"Intrusive Thoughts: Normal or Not?
Am I a terrible person for thinking that?"

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/am-...mal-or-not

It specifically addresses your question.

And it's only short this one.

[...]I'll begin with a topic near and dear to my heart: intrusive thoughts. I am a new mother. I adore my son. He is beautiful and sweet and playful. And, when he was younger, I couldn't stand at the top of my stairs without imagining myself dropping him down the stairs and seeing his tiny, helpless body writhing in pain. Scary image? Yes! Normal? Yes!
[...]

[ErGingerbreadMandude]

Look Evie, I know for a fact that I don't think mean shit about random people I know nothing about. I believe it's morally wrong and a huge injustice to make up some preconceived notion about someone and judge them based on that.
Would you be okay if I saw you tomorrow in the streets and thought some mean shit about you?
I know you won't. That's why I don't think shit like that. It's about mutual respect.