Realizing that this actually is a distinct possibility is important for anybody interested in talking with random people on the internet. Mental illness is prevalent, and there is little keeping the mentally ill off of the internet.
Losethos's real name is Terry Davis. His video had me awestruck, laughing (he can be pretty funny and relatable), and just all-around amazed at the man's sheer brilliance. I cannot begin to fathom the dedication that it must have taken to create such a piece of software, especially in the face of constant rejection from people on the internet because of his schizophrenia.
It's upsetting how dismissive of his work he can be, he deserves to be proud of this, I certainly would be.
Normally when you have problems with a person like this, you can go to the police and get a restraining order. It becomes harder when it is online because you have to weight the possibility that anything that you do to defend yourself might get them closer to finding you.
These days I find myself being fairly sensitive to 'craziness', whenever I get the slightest whiff of it I break off the conversation completely. I'm not a professional who is trained in how to deal with people with these sort of problems, so I am not going to attempt it.
^ Technically I was not using my real name, but a pseudonym that was unique enough to only return results relevant to me when googled. I've since taken to using names of characters from history or fiction as my pseudonyms, and picking new ones at least once a year.
They might not have had any mental illness, and might have just been unpleasant people.
> These days I find myself being fairly sensitive to 'craziness', whenever I get the slightest whiff of it I break off the conversation completely.
I am crazy. I've had treatment for a long term, severe, mental illness, from specialist mental health service providers. That illness has caused some admissions to general hospitals. My illness has sometimes affected my posts to HN. (Although I'm pretty good at setting noprocast when needed).
I know many people who have spent time in mental health hospitals for severe and enduring mental illness.
I let you know so that you can adjust your filters accordingly.
I suppose thats a good plan, until someone decides that you'd make a good subject to use to "emphasize to the whole world that privacy is really important because anonymity is highly limited & breakable for even the most competent and motivated person".
(I'm quoting Gwern's comments about his own initiative to unmask Satoshi.)
Common, maybe. Probably underestimated in number, sure. Prevalent, I do hope not!