The artist had a traumatic and violent childhood, and was committed to a mental asylum in his 20s, where he spent the rest of his life. It was during his incarceration that he started drawing, eventually producing over 1500 works and a 25,000 page illustrated ‘biography’ of Saint Adolf.
I wouldn’t be that extreme, but I agree that it does not encourage rational thinking.
This being said, I know believers in various religions who are very good technicians, scientists or engineers. I have always wondered how it is possible to be so fact-based in your daily job and at the same time accept fantastic tales as the divine truth.
I know lots of people with serious mental problems, like schizophrenia, who have managed to keep themselves together with hard work and medication. They know the voices are fake……
Around here it is called “the mystery of faith” and if I am right most of the people I know do NOT hear voices.
I can understand how comforting it must be to have a benevolent and almighty supernatural entity watching over you but… It still puzzles me.
The alternative being a purposeless universe and life being a fortuitous, localized and temporary event. I can cope with the lack of extraterrestrial intelligence ‘here’ and ‘now’ in our part of said universe, the ineluctable end of mankind and of Earth. It is not very uplifting but I’ll be fine with that, for a few more decades at least, until I disappear without leaving any trace nor residue.
Our brains evolved to be very good at analyzing our environment, to find causes and consequences and to understand “why”, even if it means making everything up. Accepting that some things might have no “why” and suspending one’s judgment is very hard.
Usually people who know you’ll look at them weird for hearing voices don’t tell you they’re hearing voices.
But then how would you know? ;)