TLO Dictionary

bendk

bendk

Grimscribe
A compilation of words and terms that may be of interest to TLOers.

Vastation

n. 1. A laying waste; depopulation; devastation.


Cotard's Syndrome


The Cotard delusion, also known as Cotard's syndrome or Walking Corpse Syndrome, is a rare mental disorder in which people hold a delusional belief that they are dead (either figuratively or literally), yet this is not essential to the syndrome. Historical statistical analysis shows that the denial of self-existence is present in only 69% of the cases, while, paradoxically, 55% of the patients may show delusions of immortality. Other delusions include the thought that the person does not exist, are putrefying, or have lost their blood or internal organs.


Uncanny Valley

The uncanny valley is a hypothesis in the field of human aesthetics which holds that when human features look and move almost, but not exactly, like natural human beings, it causes a response of revulsion among some human observers. Examples can be found in the fields of robotics, 3D computer animation, and in medical fields such as burn reconstruction, infectious diseases, neurological conditions, and plastic surgery. The "valley" refers to the dip in a graph of the comfort level of humans as subjects move toward a healthy, natural human likeness described in a function of a subject's aesthetic acceptability.
 
Last edited:
Depersonalization disorder

Depersonalization disorder occurs when you persistently or repeatedly have a sense that things around you aren't real, or when you have the feeling that you're observing yourself from outside your body. Feelings of depersonalization can be very disturbing and may feel like you're losing your grip on reality or living in a dream.

Many people have a passing experience of depersonalization at some point. But when feelings of depersonalization keep occurring, or never completely go away, it's considered depersonalization disorder. Depersonalization disorder is more common in people who've had traumatic experiences. (from CNN.)


Mark Hogancamp

On April 8, 2000, Mark Hogancamp was attacked outside of a bar by five men who beat him nearly to death. After nine days in a coma and forty days in the hospital, Mark was discharged with brain damage that left him little memory of his previous life. Unable to afford therapy, Mark creates his own by building a 1/6-scale World War II-era Belgian town in his yard and populating it with dolls representing himself, his friends, and even his attackers. He calls that town "Marwencol," a portmanteau of the names "Mark," "Wendy" and "Colleen." He rehabilitates his physical wounds by manipulating the small dolls and props — and his mental ones by having the figures act out various battles and stories. (from Wikipedia.) He is the subject of the documentary Marwencol.


Blackness

n. 1. The quality or state of being black.
 
dukkha (ˈdukə)
n
1. (Buddhism) (in Theravada Buddhism) the belief that all things are suffering, due to the desire to seek permanence or recognize the self when neither exist: one of the three basic characteristics of existence.
​
entropy
n
4. The tendency for all matter and energy in the universe to evolve toward a state of inert uniformity.
5. Inevitable and steady deterioration of a system or society.
​
 
Last edited:
anhedonia
n. Psychology .
lack of pleasure or of the capacity to experience it.


Trivia: Woody Allen wrote a screenplay for a film with the title Anhedonia in the 1970s. But either financing or distribution was going to fall through unless he changed the name. He did, to Annie Hall. (There is an interview on Youtube about this that I saw years ago, but I can't find it.)


numinous
adj.
1. Of or relating to the spiritual or supernatural
2. Filled with or characterized by a sense of a supernatural or divine presence
3. mysterious or awe-inspiring

oneiric
adj.
of or relating to dreams
 
psychotomimetic
adj
: of, relating to, involving, or inducing psychotic alteration of behavior and personality I] drugs>

​
hypnophobia
n.
The morbid fear of sleep.​
 
Nightmare disorder

Nightmare disorder, also known as 'dream anxiety disorder', is a sleep disorder characterized by frequent nightmares. The nightmares, which often portray the individual in a situation that jeopardizes their life or personal safety, usually occur during the second half of the sleeping process, called the REM stage. Though such nightmares occur within many people, those with nightmare disorder experience them with a greater frequency. The disorder's DSM-IV number is 307.47.
 
Kuleshov effect

The Kuleshov effect is a film editing (montage) effect demonstrated by Soviet film-maker Lev Kuleshov in the 1910s and 1920s. It is a mental phenomenon by which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation.

Kuleshov effect - Wikipedia
 
bendk said:
Kuleshov effect

The Kuleshov effect is a film editing (montage) effect demonstrated by Soviet film-maker Lev Kuleshov in the 1910s and 1920s. It is a mental phenomenon by which viewers derive more meaning from the interaction of two sequential shots than from a single shot in isolation.

Kuleshov effect - Wikipedia
Click to expand...

That reminds me of what Scott McCloud said in Understanding Comics, that in sequential art (i.e. comic books), it is the gaps between panels which animate the story, because they require you to mentally fill in the details.
 
Metaphysical Mutant said:
That reminds me of what Scott McCloud said in Understanding Comics, that in sequential art (i.e. comic books), it is the gaps between panels which animate the story, because they require you to mentally fill in the details.
Click to expand...

I read that book when it first came out. I learned a lot, and it was very entertaining. It was universally praised, if I remember correctly. I lost that book when I lost my storage unit. I'll probably buy another copy. Scott Adams has said similar things: 'look for the empty space', 'look for what isn't there'. And that goes for more than comics.
 
bendk said:
Metaphysical Mutant said:
That reminds me of what Scott McCloud said in Understanding Comics, that in sequential art (i.e. comic books), it is the gaps between panels which animate the story, because they require you to mentally fill in the details.
Click to expand...

I read that book when it first came out. I learned a lot, and it was very entertaining. It was universally praised, if I remember correctly. I lost that book when I lost my storage unit. I'll probably buy another copy. Scott Adams has said similar things: 'look for the empty space', 'look for what isn't there'. And that goes for more than comics.
Click to expand...
This is so true, as I have found it to be one of the most elusive yet effective approaches to musical composition. It is entirely against the compulsion to create and express, yet at times the most emotionally collaborative with respect to the listener.
 
Smile mask syndrome:

A psychological disorder proposed by professor Makoto Natsume of Osaka Shoin Women's University, in which subjects develop depression and physical illness as a result of prolonged, unnatural smiling.


Smile mask syndrome - Wikipedia.
 
bendk said:
Smile mask syndrome:

A psychological disorder proposed by professor Makoto Natsume of Osaka Shoin Women's University, in which subjects develop depression and physical illness as a result of prolonged, unnatural smiling.


Smile mask syndrome - Wikipedia.
Click to expand...

I don't know how some people can smile as much as they do. Physiologically I can't do it--muscles in my face will start twitching involuntarily, which ruins any friendly impression and probably looks kinda psycho. The first time this happened I was a child posing for pictures, and adults laughed it off since I was just a kid in what they recognized was a forced-smile situation. But then I had a horrible dinner in high school with a friend and his parents. His mother (a genuinely friendly and interesting person whom I liked) spent the dinner telling funny stories and looking directly at me since I was the guest she was trying to entertain. The occasion called not only for ordinary smiling but for nearly continuous, high-spirited smiling. I felt that I had to keep matching her exuberant facial expressions with my own. My face was aching and repeatedly going into out-of-control muscle spasms. Every time my face started spasming, I would break off eye contact out of embarrassment, so I never saw her reaction to my twitchiness. No one said anything to me at the time, but afterwards my friend said something about my face twitching, and I don't remember how I responded. I was embarrassed, so I probably didn't have much of a response. Since then, even in manic social situations, I have learned to smile intermittently and to deliberately go straight-faced as much as I need to in order to stay below the spasm threshold. This smile-throttling sometimes has odd effects on the interaction, but I can't help that. A few times I've even told some high-spirited interlocutor that I can't smile too much or I'll have facial spasms, and luckily they've always found that amusing.
 
I found a few things of interest on this affliction. There are a few great stand-alone lines.

(I remember in an old interview, TL mentioned that someone contacted him about adapting one of his stories for a Japanese Noh Play.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohclk3NOluA
 
bendk said:
Smile mask syndrome:

A psychological disorder proposed by professor Makoto Natsume of Osaka Shoin Women's University, in which subjects develop depression and physical illness as a result of prolonged, unnatural smiling.


Smile mask syndrome - Wikipedia.
Click to expand...
This pandemic and enforced mask wearing is the best thing to have happened for the afflicted then. Of course, you might still have to pretend to smile with your eyes...:o
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3FUiwqJGl4



A few others:

Alice in Wonderland Syndrome (AIWS)

A disorder marked by changes in how you see the world, especially your own body.
It can happen when you have a migraine or another health condition. The world doesn’t look right. Colors change. Straight lines turn wavy. Objects move. Time may even seem to shift.
https://www.webmd.com/migraines-headaches/alice-wonderland-syndrome


Capgras syndrome or Capgras delusion. (Also called Imposter syndrome )

A rare condition in which someone believes that their loved ones or others they know have been replaced with doubles or imposters.
https://www.webmd.com/mental-health/impostor-syndrome-capgras#1
 
Last edited:
@bendk: I recall a Ligotti's story featuring a character with Alice in Wonderland Syndrome.
Not exactly a disease, but here's from "Anomalies and Curiosities of Medicine":
By means of singing and dancing the Aissaoui, in the Algerian town of Constantine, throw themselves into an ecstatic state in which their bodies seem to be insensible even to severe wounds. Hellwald says they run sharp-pointed irons into their heads, eyes, necks, and breasts without apparent pain or injury to themselves. Some observers claim they are rendered insensible to pain by self-induced hypnotism.
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top