[krapp]

I can see for miles and miles.

But i'm arguing specifically against the shamanistic point of view in the gp. Should we treat mental illness exactly the same as any other? Absolutely. The stigma behind mental illness, I believe, is a vestige from the days when most people thought such things were the work of demons. People can't accept that someone who thinks and sees the world so differently is just as human as they are. But reverence? No. Being told that you've been touched by God can be a prison of its own.

[MawNicker]

I didn't say anything about God. They aren't like other people. It can be distinctly useful. They just need to be respected. Maybe that would have been a better term than revere. The respect does two things. It helps them exist; They need it and we ought to help them. In doing so we learn useful things about ourselves. They're exaggerations of a part of us. I think this is the point of the GP. A society fit for a shaman is a better society for everyone else. This is congruent with your idea that they're just wackos. They have no idea how they're being helpful.