Enjoyable article. Reminded me of the experience of keeping the faith in a startup after it's become clear that it's going nowhere - there's the pragmatic need to keep earning, of course, but also an unwillingness to overturn the social framework of your life, and perhaps a stubborn refusal to upset your strong conviction that you were on the bus to destination success.

I met an ex-JW the other day who has become convinced that he is an extra-terrestrial volunteer, sent to earth in order to help stabilize human society, and that he's able to remotely converse with anybody through the aid of his physical paraphenalia. He was interesting to talk with; 100% convinced that his belief system was real; IANAP, but I wouldn't immediately lump him into any major DSM-5 category. I guess certain minds seek non-mainstream belief systems as a way of distinguishing themselves from the norm, or accounting for a deep feeling of being different, or not fitting in. Perhaps this too is somewhat endemic in the startup crowd; why work for a big firm when you have special capabilities, and can blaze your own trail?