Is it weird to have an imaginary friend

Page 1 of 5 [ 72 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5  Next

Sillylilgoober
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 12 Oct 2023
Gender: Female
Posts: 125
Location: Papas cheeseria

15 Feb 2024, 1:11 pm

Cuz I’m making imaginary friends and thinking of lore for them


_________________
i got that (ง ◉ _ ◉)ง in me


ocean
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 6 Jul 2007
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,253

15 Feb 2024, 1:14 pm

its fine...just dont tell anyone you know about it :nerdy:


_________________
im the one who put
the nail in the cross
im the one who told the world
about an alien corpse
im the one who brought
the truth to the light


blitzkrieg
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jun 2011
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 15,406
Location: United Kingdom

15 Feb 2024, 1:17 pm

ocean wrote:
its fine...just dont tell anyone you know about it :nerdy:


:lol:



ToughDiamond
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2008
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,401

15 Feb 2024, 4:39 pm

Probably less weird than being in a certain religion that a very large number of Americans belong to, because they have an imaginary friend and they don't think it's weird at all. But that's no reason to think it's safe to tell them about yours. They likely see their imaginary friend as an exception to the usual rule. To my mind, you have the advantage that you know your imaginary friend is imaginary, but to their minds, that might not help much.

But weirdness tends to be in the eye of the weirded-out, i.e. it's all rather subjective. I wouldn't start talking to an imaginary friend in the presence of others, unless they were extremely non-judgemental people. Nor would I mention it to others unless they were fairly non-judgemental. Unfortunately a lot of people are judgemental.

Objectively, weird means "strange or extraordinary." I have no data but I strongly suspect it's a common thing even for secular people to have imaginary friends here and there to prop them up psychologically. It's just that most people don't like admitting it, so it looks more extraordinary than it is.

I often have dialogues with myself when I don't think anybody can hear me. That probably counts as a kind of imaginary friend, though I know it's all me really. I might make an assertion for the "other me" to see if "he" can knock any holes in it. So it feels useful for keeping my thinking rigorous, and it gives me a sense that I'm not alone, which is nice because I often feel lonely when I'm on my own.

I don't think of lore about "him" though, because I'm not that much of a lore person, though I enjoy such stuff as Tolkien and ancient myths well enough. I don't suppose it does you any harm as long as you don't permanently forget that you've made it all up. Fantasy can be good fun if real life is boring.



CockneyRebel
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Jul 2004
Age: 49
Gender: Male
Posts: 113,565
Location: Stalag 13

16 Feb 2024, 5:44 pm

I don't think it's strange to have an imaginary friend at all. People are so two faced and flakey that sometimes it's better to have imaginary friends.


_________________
Who wants to adopt a Sweet Pea?


funeralxempire
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 25,553
Location: Right over your left shoulder

16 Feb 2024, 5:50 pm

Not at all, most adults use religion as their excuse to maintain imaginary friends.


_________________
Watching liberals try to solve societal problems without a systemic critique/class consciousness is like watching someone in the dark try to flip on the light switch, but they keep turning on the garbage disposal instead.
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う


Hokulea
Snowy Owl
Snowy Owl

User avatar

Joined: 12 Jan 2024
Age: 30
Gender: Male
Posts: 152

16 Feb 2024, 6:09 pm

I imagine it's ok.



ToughDiamond
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2008
Age: 71
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,401

16 Feb 2024, 7:32 pm

CockneyRebel wrote:
I don't think it's strange to have an imaginary friend at all. People are so two faced and flakey that sometimes it's better to have imaginary friends.

Imaginary friends are great listeners. No matter how long I talk, mine never gets tired of my rants or loses focus on them.



funeralxempire
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 25,553
Location: Right over your left shoulder

16 Feb 2024, 9:11 pm

ToughDiamond wrote:
CockneyRebel wrote:
I don't think it's strange to have an imaginary friend at all. People are so two faced and flakey that sometimes it's better to have imaginary friends.

Imaginary friends are great listeners. No matter how long I talk, mine never gets tired of my rants or loses focus on them.


Lucky, I haven't even seen my imaginary friend in years. Probably's got better things to do.


_________________
Watching liberals try to solve societal problems without a systemic critique/class consciousness is like watching someone in the dark try to flip on the light switch, but they keep turning on the garbage disposal instead.
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う


AprilR
Veteran
Veteran

Joined: 8 Apr 2016
Age: 33
Gender: Female
Posts: 4,519

17 Feb 2024, 3:52 am

I used to have several when i was a child. I am not sure if it is abnormal when you are an adult



ezbzbfcg2
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Feb 2013
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 1,936
Location: New Jersey, USA

17 Feb 2024, 4:04 am

Depends on how old you are.



cyberdad
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,284

17 Feb 2024, 4:12 am

funeralxempire wrote:
Not at all, most adults use religion as their excuse to maintain imaginary friends.


Imaginary father figures



funeralxempire
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 27 Oct 2014
Age: 39
Gender: Non-binary
Posts: 25,553
Location: Right over your left shoulder

17 Feb 2024, 4:37 am

cyberdad wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:
Not at all, most adults use religion as their excuse to maintain imaginary friends.


Imaginary father figures


Weird how they're always abusive father figures.


_________________
Watching liberals try to solve societal problems without a systemic critique/class consciousness is like watching someone in the dark try to flip on the light switch, but they keep turning on the garbage disposal instead.
戦争ではなく戦争と戦う


cyberdad
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Feb 2011
Age: 56
Gender: Male
Posts: 34,284

17 Feb 2024, 4:39 am

funeralxempire wrote:
cyberdad wrote:
funeralxempire wrote:
Not at all, most adults use religion as their excuse to maintain imaginary friends.


Imaginary father figures


Weird how they're always abusive father figures.


The steppes weren't kind



goldfish21
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 17 Feb 2013
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 22,612
Location: Vancouver, BC, Canada

17 Feb 2024, 1:52 pm

funeralxempire wrote:
Not at all, most adults use religion as their excuse to maintain imaginary friends.

:lol: my friend calls jesus his wife's imaginary friend


_________________
No :heart: for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.


blitzkrieg
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 8 Jun 2011
Age: 35
Gender: Male
Posts: 15,406
Location: United Kingdom

17 Feb 2024, 2:01 pm

I don't think it is fair to equate a persons idea of a creator of the universe that is a shared belief for millions, perhaps billions of people, with an imaginary friend that has a personality made up by a single individual.

Some people have no idea of things like the theory of evolution and never attain the thinking abilities to be able to think of anything other than God as being the creator of the universe. Other people are aware of the popular scientific theories about how the universe was created, but choose to reject them in favour of an idea that God did that.