PROPERTIES OF DELUSIONS (LIST)
<CONTEST>
The original concept for this Website was to hold a contest, offering a $500 prize to the person coming up with a definition of delusions for which no one could provide a real or hypothetical counterexample (a delusion that would not fit the definition or a nonpsychotic belief that would).
The idea was to go for a classical definition -- (necessary and sufficient defining properties), but other solutions to the problem of defining delusions were to be considered - e.g. a prototype definition, or, for those who argue that a delusion is defined solely by its context (see THEORETICAL OVERVIEW), a definition of the extrinsic psychotic trait in response to which someone’s belief gets called a delusion rather than something else.
Although we like the idea of a contest, we wonder if holding a contest might discourage the sharing of ideas that would occur in a more cooperative problem-solving format. And there’s the issue of who would judge a contest.
An alternative that addresses both concerns might be to try to enlarge the prize pot, and, in the event that a solution to the problem of defining delusions is by consensus agreed to have been reached, to share the prize among everyone who has participated in the discussion.
What do you think? DefineDelusions Bulletin Board