Pynchon world-paranoia (?)

[Bled Welder]

Yes, metaphysical were pleasant idle afternoon musings, indeed.
Increase wattage for an evening.  It's physical.
What does this mean?  No difference between metaphysical and physical?

> Subject: Re: Pynchon world-paranoia (?)
> From: brook7 at sover.net
> Date: Tue, 13 Mar 2012 00:33:09 -0400
> To: pynchon-l at waste.org
> 
>  P. J. McKenna, "As a noun, paranoia denotes a disorder which has been argued in and out of existence, and whose clinical features, course, boundaries, and virtually every other aspect of which is controversial.
> 
> It would help if there was a way to gather all the uses of the word in GR. Because my general feeling is that P uses it  in a non clinical way derived from drug culture . Within that group one is correct to presume the existence of a THEY that wants to arrest drug users and who sometimes pose as fellow heads, but such fears can run to extremes approaching insanity and leading to violence. But the term is often  applied by heads to any fear of an organized them who are out to control other's behavior. The confusing part is that there are  people who are secretively organized to control, deceive and dominate others.  What do you call the apprehensive mindset of someone who, for example, suspects correctly based on inconclusive evidence that  the new worker is a management spy. In other words what is the state of fearful apprehension of a conspiracy when that fear is  correct, and isn't this part of what Pynchon is describing? 
> 
> On Mar 12, 2012, at 9:02 PM, Michael Bailey wrote:
> 
> > the history of the word "paranoia" probably is worth tracing...
> > 
> > there's probably a lot more to be said than this -
> > \http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paranoia#History
> > 
> > (of which the primary feature noted in paranoia is "systematic
> > delusion" - and here's what surprises me: "even at the present time, a
> > delusion need not be suspicious or fearful to be classified as
> > paranoid")
> > 
> > in V. we have, "Cavities in the teeth occur for good reason,
> > Eigenvalue reflected.  But even if there are several per tooth,
> > there's no conscious organization there against the life of the pulp,
> > no conspiracy.  Yet we have men like Stencil, who must go about
> > grouping the world's random caries into cabals." (162, Harper
> > Perennial Modern Classics paperback edition 2005)
> > 
> > so from a clinical view, the main thing is delusion not discomfort,
> > but the feeling that used to creep over me when in a group of
> > weed-puffers so that I was noticeably more wary, nervous, on-edge, was
> > chiefly NOT clinically paranoid, but that is how I referred to it -
> > and to that feeling when I noticed it in others...and "paranoid" came
> > to mean-- and I'm pretty sure this is what it meant in common parlance
> > to a lot of people -- excessive caution acted out in ways that were
> > often humorous
> > 
> > Like Doc and Sauncho in the grocery store buying all that stuff to
> > cover up any suspicion that one thing they were buying to use on their
> > weed might be incriminating...
> > 
> > so their delusion that they were being watched is paranoid?
> > 
> > but their worried feeling and their actions were not - they were something else?
> 
 		 	   		  
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