I have a 19% chance of becoming schizophrenic

"There is (also) evidence that some people believe in the probability of an event by the vividness with which they can imagine it." -Wolpert

Every time it storms, my mind decides that the more I think about lightning striking me, the more likely the chances are that it will occur. I start thinking about all of the electronic devices or metal that I have on me. Or the fact that I'm holding an umbrella, also dubbed a lightning rod. I think of the time my professor missed school for about a week because lightning had struck through his living room, narrowly missing his dogs. I even go so far as to think of the quote (not so sure if it's a viable statistic) "more people die being struck by lightning than in plane crashes."

Referring to the title of this entry, it's true. 19% isn't a lot. Unless you think of it as 1/5 of 100%. Or, more than zero. I don't know how reliable this statistic is, either, but when I'm fixating on it, that doesn't really matter. I feel like the more I dwell on the fact that I have a chance of exhibiting schizophrenic symptoms sometime in my life, the likelier it is to happen.

On a lighter note, another excerpt from the book discussed symptoms people have had from mania. A gentleman had decided he was a lion and went into a restaurant and ate raw meat. A lady bought a collection of Penguin books to start up a penguin colony. That cracks me up even though it shouldn't, considering mania is a type of intense depression.