PARANOID LOGIC ----

If you talk to someone who is paranoid, the explanations they give for their odd beliefs always seem to make some logical sense. If they say that the CIA is watching them, they almost always have "proof." Upon request, they will offer a whole litany of evidence to support their claims: The newspaper arrived late today, and the mailman wasn't the usual person who does the route. There's a van parked across the street with tinted windows, and strange clicks can be heard on the telephone. If you turn yourself over to this person and hear only their side of the story, you may begin to believe it, too. Maybe the CIA is indeed watching this place!

Who is to say that the paranoiac is wrong and we "sane" people are right? On the surface, we only seem to have a difference of opinion. Maybe the phone is tapped and the van across the street is a government observation vehicle. Neither of us knows for sure, so how can we say who is correct? Based only on the evidence the paranoiac himself presents, the case seems flawless.

At the same time, we know there is something warped about this person's point of view. He seems to have ALREADY come to the conclusion that the CIA is after him, and he looks around for any shred of evidence that supports that view. When he finds the evidence he is seeking--like the mysterious van parked across the street--then he grasps it passionately without bothering to investigate further. If you or I saw a strange vehicle parked across from our house, we might walk over to take a look or call our neighbors to find out who it belongs to. The paranoiac usually won't do this. He has already reached a conclusion of ominous threat, and he will do only the minimal investigation necessary to justify what he knows in his heart already.

Observing how the paranoiac selectively collects and interprets ambiguous evidence to support his prior convictions, we could conclude that he WANTS to feel threatened. He NEEDS to preserve this siege-like state of mind to protect his fragile ego from something else.