Starting A227 Exploring Religion (OU)

[@Con_blue]

Hope you come back! ❤

[@beckybaker3998]

Thank you for another OU video :)

[@lornajoy8765]

Hi Sarah, I've done some research into ADHD / autism and chronic illness. I don't know if you are talking about fibromyalgia, but that is very common in people with ADHD especially. Also hypermobility / Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) is very common in autistic people. Both fibromyalgia and EDS have some similar symptoms, although with different underlying cause. Good luck with your studies! I also studied as a mature student - I started with the OU and did my DipHE there, before moving elsewhere for my BPhil and masters. It's great that you are studying a subject that you are passionate about!

[@sarahstudies8149]

Thanks Lorna :). I've actually heard this too. However, my symptoms seemed to be very similar to POTS or IST (inappropriate sinus tachycardia). I have had a variety of horrible symptoms for 14 years and maybe even longer, many of which I was told to be anxiety and panic or some variety of 'in my head.' It took a few years before I started to believe that they must be right and stopped bothering the drs so much. I have a high heart rate that tends to be well over 100bpm when resting and at work when walking, and even standing sometimes, it can get up to 140-150bpm. I feel like I have been gaslit for some time! My Fitbit HR graphs look like I have been exercising all day every day. My resting HR according to them is around 90-95 but it takes into account when I am asleep as it drops to 80 or lower then so it isn't accurate. Funnily enough, when I saw the doctor this week he told me I need an urgent referral to the cardiologist. After all the years of believing it was in my head, this new doctor actually listened to me. I've felt like I was very sensitive to any kind of adrenaline or stress from a young age, which appeared in a very physical way - generally with my heart racing. I feel more emotionally resilient now I know it's more than anxiety and hope to get some answers soon.

[@lornajoy8765]

@@sarahstudies8149 I hope that you are taken seriously with this problem. It's terrible the amount of gaslighting that there is - it seems that women especially are treated this way as it's assumed to just be emotional! I don't know anything about the specific issues you experience, but when I was doing my research into the ADHD and fibromyalgia link, one of the participants mentioned 'dysautonomia' (autonomic dysfunction) which I had never heard of before and I found out that there are many different types, some of which cause tachycardia. Anyway, I know it's not necessarily the same as what you have, but some types / symptoms of dysautonomia could explain many symptoms of fibromyalgia. Also I know that POTS is very common in Ehlers-Danlos syndrome. But anyway, there seem to be many different types of actual physical differences that are linked to neurodiversity (just to be clear, I'm not suggesting this in your case necessarily, but I think that physical health in autistic / ADHD people is often ignored)

[@sarahstudies8149]

@@lornajoy8765 Thanks Lorna. I tend to agree that women are brushed off by doctors. I've been reading many stories of women diagnosed with chronic illnesses and heart problems say the same thing. I believe dysautonomia is an umbrella term and POTS comes under that. I don't think I have EDS because I don't have stretchy skin or problems with joints but I have read that POTS can be either primary or secondary - caused by something else such as EDS or even IST, which is a possibility for me. I wonder why there is a link between neurodiversity and physical health conditions, especially chronic illnesses.

[@PixelatedMeme]

Hey Sarah! Thanks for your OU videos. I actually just applied a few weeks ago for MA in Philosophy at OU, but to be honest, I am nervous because I only hold a non-UK degree albeit it is a NARIC-certified university so I am not certain if they will accept me. I do hope they consider my professional background as I have worked at various organizations related to philosophy as well. How was your experience getting in? Like the requirements. Is OU strict in its entry requirements?

[@sarahstudies8149]

From my experience, they are not strict about entry requirements so fingers crossed you will get in!

[@PixelatedMeme]

@@sarahstudies8149 thanks Sarah! 😃

[@Hinsoog]

I would love to hear any thoughts you have on your study interests! Religion is such a prickly one for me, because antisemitism is somehow on the rise in the US in the most confounding, horrific way, and it's actually horrifying because it's the same sort of nonsense we have been arguing with in the US for years now (perhaps coinciding with a particular gross form of nationalism), and my first impulse is to fix it with atheism and rationality and make religion itself the bad guy sapping away these people's ability to think. But, nothing is ever simple, and it always seems like there has to be another hidden perspective, because it occurred to me that I'm even a hypocrite in some regard because my way to fight "dogma" in religion is to push for a universal ethic that can be updated with science and reason, and while I think that clearly beats religion, it might still translate as its own dogma for people who can only think with loyalty to traditions and authority, regardless of how despicable their authority is.

[@sarahstudies8149]

My main issue with dogma isn't necessarily in the heart of each religion itself, but how dogma creates little tolerance some religions have towards other religions, especially in terms of equality - certain religious people use their religion as justification for their views on equality or to harm others. Their claim of what is 'true' is also one of my biggest problems and science and reason should always come first and naturally does to me as long as I am not being steered by my own biases, which I recognise does happen. But you are right nothing is ever simple, especially when it comes to religion, and nothing is black and white and when you start to study a religion in a country where most people practice it, such as Hinduism it becomes clear that it is so engrained into their culture and way of life that it becomes something much bigger than the type of religions we see more over here. The UK and the US at least are both moving even more towards multi-faith societies that it almost feels natural that there would be an amount of intolerance, from religion and non-religious alike. From what I have learned so far, I think religious literacy is the main way people will ever change their attitudes and live more in harmony with each other. Science and reason does play it's part but for countries like India, people aren't going to change their entire culture at least over our lifetimes in favour of this, and in the past it has caused something harmful to happen for people to realise potential dangers. I'd argue that many people who believe in more, shall I say, outdated ideologies, generalise and dehumanise those of the religions they disagree with (also atheism). A random point that doesn't seem to fit in anywhere else but many people love to feel connected to the past in some way, to their younger idealised life, their parents lives, their ancestors who are the reason they are here today (whatever the reason) and that's potentially another reason why they hold on to dogma.

[@Hinsoog]

@@sarahstudies8149 Ohhh I love this idea that at a certain point it probably does just have to be allowed to be there as a joyful part of a culture, and not as related to some kind of toxic nationalism machine. I take your point that it's not like we are going to get people to agree on some kind entirely transformed new religion with an updateable code of ethics in our lifetimes, so may as well get everyone educated. In the US we can't even keep people from sheepishly deciding to listen to people who as best we can tell are genuinely antisemitic, which is making life feel a little like bad fiction, but I just heard good news from Dr. Jonathan Haidt who had data that only about 7-8% of Americans are extremists on both the left wing and the right wing. It's a little creepy to have extremism at a measurable level like that, but, could be worse I guess.

[@sarahstudies8149]

@@Hinsoog 7-8% seems a lot to me (seeing as I know like 1 person in real life who I would class as asn extremist) but if to hear your relief it does really seem like you may have thought it was much higher. I guess they may have the loudest voices and try to have the most influence. There was a fascist British group quite a few years ago called 'Britain First' but had a clever marketing scheme of posting subtle memes and this got lots of people liking and sharing their posts even though I knew they had no idea who this group was. Over time it was clear that they were a fascist group but they convinced a lot of people to follow them at first. I was like... do you know what they stand for??? It was crazy how easily people liked and followed them without considering that they were an extremist political group... the name has a clue in it. They definitely played big a part online in the whole 'foreigners are stealing our jobs' mentality.

[@Hinsoog]

@@sarahstudies8149 It's amazing how much of that has a familiar ring to it, especially the "Britain First" name. Maybe everyone has their own version and just hopefully it doesn't grow into the mindless frenzy they are probably hoping for. There is an especially absurd one in the US whose name I even feel weird about typing at this point, but I think I have fussed about it before, it's essentially a politically fueled cult called Qanon. This group apparently thought it was no big deal to not resemble reality in any way, and if they had their way you would just assume that I'm harvesting the blood of children for being a Democrat in America. I think for people into it it is actually kind of like drugs to feel special and to see themselves as witnesses to what are basically holy events in their minds. But, despite that being that level of extreme, we now have a person in the US Congress (Marjorie Taylor Greene is her name, and it's so funny I feel weird about even just typing the name of someone in Congress) who was touting it right along antisemitism, and she just won another election in an apparently confused district of the state of Georgia. That was really freaking me out, but, it seems like the tide is shifting, their version of extremism seems to be losing them votes elsewhere, so I'm letting myself calm down.

[@legitwhitebelt8353]

Any experience with psychedelics sarah?

[@sarahstudies8149]

No not personally

[@xx1its___me1xx13]

HEY

[@xx1its___me1xx13]

Wanna go live on study together sometime? 👀 And are you on discordd