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.
Can’t have this guy be happy about his hobby and that people made it home safe. That’s weird.
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".
Is OCD not neurodivergent?
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)
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.
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.
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
Triremespotting (300BCE)
Me in Workers and Resources watching my trucks drive around: "I'm just so happy they're safe"
This makes me happier than I expected. Like, way happier.
i fucking love autistic people
nerd shit
poring, like looking at small pores
Primordial traingang
RIP Thrasyllus, you would have loved Eve Online
Anybody have the actual source for this book? Would love to read it, little anecdotes about Ancient Greeks sound like a wonderful vibe
Athenaeus, Deipnosophists, Book XII, Chapter 80: https://www.loebclassics.com/view/atheneus_grammarian-learned_banqueters/2007/pb_LCL327.219.xml?readMode=recto (A non-paywalled source with an older translation: (http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A2013.01.0003%3Abook%3D12%3Achapter%3D80) )
For more anecdote collections - Plutarch's Moralia, Volume III ; for the Romans, Valerius Maximus's Memorable Doings and Sayings
Aulus Gellius's Attic Nights is good, too, but it's more on the philological anecdote side
You may also enjoy Theophrastus's Characters
(Final edit - spelling)
Oh wow, this is amazing. How have I never even heard of The Learned Banqueters?? This is an insane work, exactly what I'm looking for! I really ought to learn Ancient Greek one of these days.
Almost nobody reads it straight through, but as a source it's amazing. I'm pretending to work on a novel about [redacted] and whenever I need background details Athenaeus is there to help. Here's an intro that makes the case for him: https://chs.harvard.edu/book/jacob-christian-the-web-of-athenaeus/
Oh shit, well colour me intrigued on your novel!! I'm starting a press (https://ephesus.press) with some folks over at /r/TrueLit to publish stuff, I you ever find yourself finishing it and want it to see the light of day consider sending it over. I will absolutely read this info as well, this work sounds totally fascinating.
I don't know this book, but read The Histories by Herodotus. It's a bunch of mostly made up stories that have this flavor
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.
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.
Yeah its one of my favorite poems, so kind
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.
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"?
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.
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
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
Banned? DM Wmill to appeal.
No anti-nautilism posts. See: Eco-fascism Primer
Gossip posts go in c/gossip. Don't post low-hanging fruit here after it gets removed from c/gossip
