So, I've been watching the American Idol auditions. And I was ok when I thought that there were just a few crazy people running around out there. But, now, there are getting to be too many. Too many people come on that show, confident of an incredible gift invisible to everyone else but them, and horribly dissapointed when the judges don't see it. You can see their mind just freeze when they learn that their talents aren't universally admired. And they leave thinking they must just have picked the wrong song or that the judges are idiots. And I am finding that there are too many of these people suffering from delusion to make me believe it's limited to a few random "psychos". So, what are each of us delusional about? What are you convinced of about yourself that if the whole world told you no, you'd be convinced that, against all statistical odds, everyone else was simply crazy?

Yesterday's post created some interesting comments that have further provoked my initial curiosity. This reason for drinking was given by two separate respondents: "I'm stressed and want to relax". Is alcohol the only stress-relieving drug in this country that's widely socially acceptable? What would it take for social and moderate huffing to become acceptable? Prescription painkillers? Marijuana? Perhaps the effects of drinking are subtler than these examples. Perhaps drinking has a longer history. But perhaps, it shares this lone spot simply because it's legal. When we declare something legal, we create an acceptance as well as an expectation. Therefore, this activity can not be wrong. After all, it is legal.