[Off-topic] Requests author discusses MentalHealthError exception

[Rustom Mody]

On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 7:59:13 AM UTC+5:30, Steven D'Aprano wrote:
> On Thu, 3 Mar 2016 04:02 am, Rustom Mody wrote:
> 
> > And how is [1]'s starting different from Kenneth's finding his weight
> > to be the weight of the universe?
> 
> Is that a trick question? 
> 
> "How is a raven like a writing desk?"
> 
> "Neither of them are made of cheese cake."
> 
> We can be absolutely certain that Kenneth weighs less than the entire
> universe. We don't even need a set of scales.

No trick

William Blake starts Auguries of Innocence with:

To see a world in a grain of sand,
And a heaven in a wild flower,
Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,
And eternity in an hour.

Reading the whole at http://www.artofeurope.com/blake/bla3.htm
would make this discussion less academic

Kenneth (at some point) felt he had the mass of the universe.

So you can choose (one/some of)

1. Kenneth is like Blake
2. Blake is a lunatic
3. Standards of lunacy differ from 17th century to now


Likewise...

On Thursday, March 3, 2016 at 8:05:27 AM UTC+5:30, Chris Angelico wrote:
> On Thu, Mar 3, 2016 at 1:27 PM, Steven D'Aprano  wrote:
> > We can be absolutely certain that Kenneth weighs less than the entire
> > universe. We don't even need a set of scales.
> 
> Formal proof:
> 
> 1) No physical object can have negative mass.
> 2) I am a part of the universe and have positive mass.
> 3) I am not Kenneth.
> 4) The sum of my mass and Kenneth's mass must exceed Kenneth's mass alone.

What do physical objects have to do with Kenneth's experience?
For you (Chris) you may (choose to) see Kenneth that way
Kenneth (at least for a while) got out of that notion
Forcing him back into that is what Larry calls 
"Forcing people into the status quo"

Speaking for myself:
I am certainly closer to the 'status quo" (most of the time at least) than
Kenneth
However I would not like to die
How does one not die and still hold onto the belief that this 60 kg body is me?

It may be instructive to take any religion of your choice (not necessarily 'new age')
Focus on their starting/ending points
You would, if you neglect the doctrinal/mythological/cultural gook inbetween,
find something like this there invariably.
You can reject this if you choose but then whats the talk of consensus 
when you reject the outlook of billions of people over millenia?