Here, it's different from your case it seems, because mods always post as mods (it's always visible they're mods).
And I don't think Loss Leader said that he just wrote himself the number. What he said (roughly) was that the mental image of the number was so clear and vivid that it was as if he had just written the number himself, in front of his eyes.
No, Fromdownunder is exactly correct. The joke was that I was looking at the 4 I'd just written. I would also point out that this occurred very, very early in your thread, long before I realized that jokes, sarcasm and derision were not appropriate ways to deal with you. If I'd know how deeply ill you were, I never would have said anything that might have fed into your sad mental condition.
Interesting parallel here- fundie theists are fond of saying "everyone knows there is a god, some people just won't admit it"; Michel says "everyone knows I'm telepathic, some people just won't admit it." At least the theists aren't making themselves the center of the belief.
Well, you're not wrong. Both have a persistent, fixed delusion. The difference is the cause of the delusion. Michel's is caused by a degradation in brain function. However, a healthy brain can be "programmed" by parents, teachers, friends, and social signals to believe all sorts of nonsense. The key question is whether the delusion disrupts normal life skills.
In the case of fundamentalist christians, they can pretty much dress, feed and support themselves. They can form friendships. They retain some plasticity: they can be convinced of new things.
In the case of the mentally ill, their delusions pull them away from relationships, make it difficult for them to interact in social settings, and eventually may cause them to neglect their own care or harm themselves or others. The mere existence of a delusion isn't on the differential.
