Comic Discussion > QUESTIONABLE CONTENT

The Improbability factor

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Usopp:

--- Quote ---The fact that he has treated them does not make him an expert on their disorder. He has treated something unrelated to their disorder, not the disorder itself, and has only made unresearched observations, from what you've said.

Being a doctor doesn't mean a person knows everything about everything. CASE IN POINT: Dr. Phil. 
--- End quote ---

Well Jesus H. Christ doing loop-de-loops on a freakin' biplane, I'm sorry if you think I ought know more than a doctor does about MEDICINE and HEALTH. Apparently I can no longer take the word of someone I trust in a field he is, if not involved in, at least within walking distance of.

melliechick:

--- Quote from: Usopp on 04 Dec 2008, 17:03 ---I feel that a true poet in society is pretty much a dead thing, relegated to the 16th and 17th centuries, which is why I voted for Wil. And I'm excluding Hannelore, but I feel she's the most improbable, mostly because she was born in SPACE, and secondly because persons afflicted with OCD usually have only one obsession, whereas Hanners has at least two that I can think of off the top of my head, mysophobia(germs) and a counting compulsion. I'm fairly certain there's more, however.

--- End quote ---

Of the two you listed, one's an obsession and one's a compulsion -- though people with OCD can certainly have more than one of each.  In fact, in the write-up on OCD in my DSM (yay psych majors!), it never mentions obsession or compulsion in the singular, except for when it is describing each, or a situation.

I found some helpful quotes in there (page 456 of the DSM-IV-TR if you're really curious :-P):

"The essential features of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder are recurrent obsessions or compulsions that are severe enough to be time consuming (i.e., they take more than one hour a day) or cause marked distress or significant impairment.  At some point during the disorder, the person has recognized that the obsessions or compulsions are excessive or unreasonable....The most common obsessions are repeated thoughts about contamination, repeated doubts, a need to have things in a particular order, aggressive or horrific impulses, and sexual imagery....Compulsions are repetitive behaviors (e.g., hand washing, ordering, checking) or mental acts (e.g., praying, counting, repeating words silently) the goal of which is to prevent or reduce anxiety or distress, not to provide pleasure or gratification.  In most cases, the person feels driven to perform the compulsion to reduce the distress that accompanies an obsession or to prevent some dreaded event or situation.  For example, individuals with obsessions about being contaminated may reduce their mental distress by washing their hands until their skin is raw....The most common compulsions involve washing and cleaning, counting, checking, requesting or demanding assurances, repeating actions, and ordering."

raoullefere:
Hmm. I think that describes Hanners fairly well. If one dismisses the space station claim as a fantasy, and buy into the DMS, her improbability does seem to decrease. Although Is it cold in here? has something interesting to say about that in another thread http://forums.questionablecontent.net/index.php/topic,19486.msg741576.html#msg741576.

As for Wil, having thought about it, I have to admit when I say improbable I really mean something more similar to inconsistent. That doesn't mean anyone else has to agree with that, of course, but that's what I think I meant (words tyin' me up again. de Do Do Do, de Da Da Da). Sure, being a poet nowadays is improbable, but within that Wil's pretty probable, especially if he's less a poet than a poet wannabe. Affectation seems to go hand in hand with that sort of thing, and that's more or less how I see Wil. Really, the problem, as I said before, is he hasn't been around long enough to give a us a good read on him. Then again, if Wil's like most people I've know who are very efficacious*, it may be next to impossible to do so short of torture, (or, as some have suggested, turning him into a vampire). But in a way it's a poet's task to consider the improbable, so if Wil turns out to be seen as the most improbable character, that may be a feather in his cap.

*I may mean affectatious.

Paiman:

--- Quote from: Rocketman on 05 Dec 2008, 14:18 ---A private space station in the 1980s.

Answer: Hanners.

--- End quote ---
Not exactly a valid argument, what with the AnthroPCs and other killer robots running amok. Remember kiddies, QC World =/= our world!


I voted for Marten because frankly I don't see how a guy like him can exist: "I'm terrible with ladies I love this girl oh she's crazy now I'll go out with this girl and now I love her and am suave and everything, hey now I make a decent living working in a library and I'm not even the main character anymore."

LittleKey:
that brings up an interesting point. who do you think the main character is nowadays? I'm thinking maybe penelope or will at this point, cause they're the only ones that are... well, doing something. marten is chilling with dora, hanners is doing her awesome crazy thing, faye and sven aren't exactly worked out but they aren't showing up way too much right now, pintsize is doing whatever... i say penelope is acting most like a main character right now, cause she and will are kinda central to the story at this point, and we see her more than him.

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