That post of mine you quoted was mostly a copy/paste from google's AI summarizer. I probably asked google something like "Are schizophrenic people more likely to start cults?" or something.
I got the idea from a friend I had for a decade; he was schizophrenic. He told me this story several times over the years, about a conversation he had with a psychologist or therapist in his teens, so I got the impression it was an important, unforgettable moment to him. He said the therapist told him he could be an effective cult leader. He never explained the context, or whether the therapist provided reasons; he just accepted her opinion as fact and adopted that potential. Almost like she seeded the idea for him.
He wasn't a cult leader, but not for lack of trying. He was an artist of many mediums, and influence was something he cultivated with intention. He idolized artists that reportedly made pacts with spirits for powers. I don't think he valued relationships in the same way most people do. People were more of an opportunity for him to exercise influence on. Being center of attention was a compulsion for him. He couldn't even walk down the sidewalk without showing off for complete strangers like a modern-day jester. He'd have strong conviction about his beliefs, which was usually harmless, like praying to certain planets at certain hours on certain days - for god knows what reason, for power I guess. But it also made him gullible, he's the only person I know who got Nigerian prince scammed. His ability to rationalize was clearly impaired.
He heard voices too, and one time I think I got close to rationalizing the voices to him. I told him it's normal to hear voices other than your own, everyone can. We create characters that are convincingly separate from ourselves every night when we dream. It's not unusual while conscious for a thought to pass through and a voice to be heard, usually a memory. He didn't seem to understand that though, which made me wonder if he believes every voice he hears other than his monologue is contact with a real entity.
I'm not 100% sure if he even had a monologue; when he spoke he would branch off on so many tangents, he openly admitted to never being able to repeat something he said aloud. Which would be likely for anyone that rambles for minutes at a time before letting someone else participate, but I fully believed was true for him just by how disconnected each sentence was from the last. He'd be making a point, and end somewhere completely irrelevant, and take so long getting there that you forgot what the original topic was. And he talked FAST, as if saying something faster made it more meaningful, even if it was incoherent to the listener. He'd channel 5 minutes of BS on fast-forward, it was really something. Very different from how I communicate, I rough draft everything through internal monologue.
Anyway, your three questions...
Yes, I believe in a power greater than myself.
No, I don't believe anything is possible.
I guess no, I don't have a stereo or any sound system with pictures on it. That does feel like an incoherent question.
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