Depression in Command-In times of crisis, mentally ill leaders can see what others don't.

[Anti Federalist]

Hmm...will have to ponder this a little more.



Depression in Command

In times of crisis, mentally ill leaders can see what others don't.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904800304576474451102761640.html?m od=googlenews_wsj

[flightlesskiwi]

When traditional approaches begin to fail, however, great crisis leaders see new opportunities. When the past no longer guides the future, they invent a new future. When old questions are unanswerable and new questions unrecognized, they create new solutions. They are realistic enough to see painful truths, and when calamity occurs, they can lift up the rest of us.

considering his most "poignant" examples were mass murdering war-mongerers (all in the name of "freedom", of course)... i call bullshit on his analysis.

but it does go to show that psychopaths make for good politicians.

[Tarzan]

I guess the article needs to include other leaders in times of crisis... like:
Pol Pot
Thomas Kwoyelo
Idi Amen
Slobodan Milosevic
Adolf Hitler

What a stupid article... and similar writer.

[Philhelm]

I actually believe that this article is intuitively true, athough psycho-babble analysis isn't needed to explain it. I think some people are missing the point by focusing on who was used as an example. Being a miserable prick myself, perhaps I could give some insight. There are different levels of depression, but it's not like those stupid commercials in which a woman stares out of a window with tears falling down her cheeks.

Think about it. A person whose natural state is perpetual negativity will be more prepared when reality matches that negativity. A depressed person constantly, obsessively thinks of what can go wrong, rather than what can go right, and will be less likely to get blind-sided by adversity. Being weighed down by fears and uncertainty can eventually numb a person to such things. If you were beaten every day of your life, and one day someone comes and slaps you across the face, you most likely wouldn't be fazed.

I have observed that most people often have an overestimation of their abilities. I don't see it as confidence, but delusion. Even if it were confidence, I think that confidence misplaced can be more disastrous than none at all, especially when it is from people in positions of power. If I could print a dollar for each time I've tried to warn someone about one matter or another, only to be ignored but proven correct, I'd be Chairman of the Federal Reserve. This is where the realism comes in. Obsessing about every little thing that goes wrong does much to forge a calculating mind. You're pretty much forced to take an objective appraisal of a situation before proceeding, so that your chances of success are essentially guaranteed.

I take issue with the way in which the term "mental illness" is used so cavalierly. Such people used to be referred to as grim, or stout of heart. There is use for such people, and we need them now more than ever. I turn on the televison and have happy-go-lucky, teenage pop stars showing America what people are supposed to be like, yet all I see is vapidity. Now is the time for grim men to clench their jaws, stand firm, and save our Republic and countrymen. I watch as our culture, morals, and economy degrade, our nation being turned into a police state, and being beset on all sides by idiots; you can bet your ass I'm depressed, and rightly so.

[Seraphim]

I actually believe that this article is intuitively true, athough psycho-babble analysis isn't needed to explain it. I think some people are missing the point by focusing on who was used as an example. Being a miserable prick myself, perhaps I could give some insight. There are different levels of depression, but it's not like those stupid commercials in which a woman stares out of a window with tears falling down her cheeks.

Think about it. A person whose natural state is perpetual negativity will be more prepared when reality matches that negativity. A depressed person constantly, obsessively thinks of what can go wrong, rather than what can go right, and will be less likely to get blind-sided by adversity. Being weighed down by fears and uncertainty can eventually numb a person to such things. If you were beaten every day of your life, and one day someone comes and slaps you across the face, you most likely wouldn't be phased.

I have observed that most people often have an overestimation of their abilities. I don't see it as confidence, but delusion. Even if it were confidence, I think that confidence misplaced can be more disastrous than none at all, especially when it is from people in positions of power. If I could print a dollar for each time I've tried to warn someone about one matter or another, only to be ignored but proven correct, I'd be Chairman of the Federal Reserve. This is where the realism comes in. Obsessing about every little thing that goes wrong does much to forge a calculating mind. You're pretty much forced to take an objective appraisal of a situation before proceeding, so that your chances of success are essentially guaranteed.

I take issue with the way in which the term "mental illness" is used so cavalierly. Such people used to be referred to as grim, or stout of heart. There is use for such people, and we need them now more than ever. I turn on the televison and have happy-go-lucky, teenage pop stars showing America what people are supposed to be like, yet all I see is vapidity. Now is the time for grim men to clench their jaws, stand firm, and save our Republic and countrymen. I watch as our culture, morals, and economy degrade, our nation being turned into a police state, and being beset on all sides by idiots; you can bet your ass I'm depressed, and rightly so.

YUP on all accounts.

[flightlesskiwi]

Philelm, i do agree with you. i consider myself to be a realist and find myself depressed over the reality which is. watching people go about their daily lives as if nothing will or ever could change-- the willfully ignorant-- is the most depressing of all.


I have observed that most people often have an overestimation of their abilities. I don't see it as confidence, but delusion.

excellent point.

[Brian4Liberty]

Optimism vs. Pessimism. Ant vs. grasshopper. Pretty simple. The rest is psychobabble.

[Pericles]

"The majority of people are timid by nature, and that is why they constantly exaggerate danger. All influences on the military leader, therefore, combine to give him a false impression of his opponent's strength, and from this arises a new source of indecision."
- Karl von Clausewitz

The successful leader is one who can overcome this indecision in order to be effective.

[acptulsa]

I take issue with the way in which the term "mental illness" is used so cavalierly. Such people used to be referred to as grim, or stout of heart. There is use for such people, and we need them now more than ever. I turn on the televison and have happy-go-lucky, teenage pop stars showing America what people are supposed to be like, yet all I see is vapidity. Now is the time for grim men to clench their jaws, stand firm, and save our Republic and countrymen. I watch as our culture, morals, and economy degrade, our nation being turned into a police state, and being beset on all sides by idiots; you can bet your ass I'm depressed, and rightly so.

I may just +rep this post for a week. I'm glad you saw this thread before I did, because I'd've struggled over a response for an extended period and stil not put it so well.

Introspectiveness is mental illness now. My my. Depression. Newly expanded autism, even. Put 'em on medication before they sit around and figure out what the hell we're going to the public. They're ill! Ostrasize them!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QWr80meNvSQ

Is it just Big Pharma trying to sell antidepressants to make us all psycho like the Virginia Tech shooter? Or is it a genuine war on introspection? Only The Shadow knows...

[moderate libertarian]

Obama can see what others don't.