According to the recently released Diagnostics and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, one of the criteria for a diagnosis of delusional disorder is that a person’s thinking no longer needs to be “non-bizarre.”

For instance: if you were walking somewhere with a friend and he pointed to one of those lovely, low-lying cumulus clouds and said, “That cloud is talking to me,” you could probably consider that a delusional “bizarre” statement.

What I have to confess is that I have thought that was always the case. However, if delusions include the “non- bizarre,” it opens the door to an explanation, for me, at least, regarding the thinking of some of our public figures which I find quite frightening.

There are several political figures who aspire to leadership positions who definitely exhibit delusional thinking. For instance, those who say that the earth is only seven million years old. That may be someone’s belief, but it has no basis in reality because the scientific fact, that is demonstrable with radiometric dating, indicates that the earth is at least several billion years old.

People are also told there is no such thing as global warming when scientific data shows that the temperature of the planet is increasing now faster than it has for several thousand years.

When most people go to apply for a job, they have to go through an interview. Why, then, do people get leadership roles in government with no interview?

Jenny Orr, West Paris