What positive things has therianthropy done for you?

[BlueSloth]

I'd have behaved like that anyway, but without understanding exactly why. Having an explanation (or at least a theory) for why I had urges to [insert wolf-like behaviour which isn't normal for humans] is liberating. Micheal was also right in saying that knowing about therianthropy has allowed me to feel I'm able to act more like that, instead of just thinking 'What the hell am I doing? Like, when did this become a thing and why can't I just be fully normal?'. This is especially important as I'm usually very logical and science-focussed.

I still maintain that we have no explanation, but... yeah, knowing that there's a word for it, and I'm not the only one, is a huge help.

The therian community made me more comfortable with myself and helped me get my m-shifts under control, and it's no exaggeration to say that that completely changed the trajectory of my life for the better. (And then I met a certain dragon and things got even better, but that's another story)

So do you think it helps in spiritual or existential sense?

I have backed off somewhat from being a hardcore materialist, and taken on more of a "I don't have a clue" attitude. I did that largely because of the hard problem of consciousness, which I think is quite possibly a bigger mystery than therianthropy. But therianthropy was also a factor.

But therianthropy seems pretty weird no matter what it is. Even if it's purely a psychological thing, it's still not something most people would expect, and it's still pretty hard to believe if you haven't experienced it. It's made me more likely to give other strange things the benefit of the doubt (insofar as there is any doubt).

[Lupus Paws]

I still maintain that we have no explanation, but... yeah, knowing that there's a word for it, and I'm not the only one, is a huge help.

The therian community made me more comfortable with myself and helped me get my m-shifts under control, and it's no exaggeration to say that that completely changed the trajectory of my life for the better.

I think your way's a better way of putting it; I know I'm not the only one, so that helps. On a fundamental level, I still don't know for certain why I think/behave in the way I do. Of course there's spiritual and psychological explanations, but they can only go so far.

(And then I met a certain dragon and things got even better, but that's another story)

Damnit, now I wanna know! I understand if it's too private and you don't want to say, though.

I have backed off somewhat from being a hardcore materialist, and taken on more of a "I don't have a clue" attitude. I did that largely because of the hard problem of consciousness, which I think is quite possibly a bigger mystery than therianthropy. But therianthropy was also a factor.

But therianthropy seems pretty weird no matter what it is. Even if it's purely a psychological thing, it's still not something most people would expect, and it's still pretty hard to believe if you haven't experienced it. It's made me more likely to give other strange things the benefit of the doubt (insofar as there is any doubt).

I'm trying to look into anti-materialist explanations of therianthropy at the moment, and I plan to share my theory/theories when I eventually come up with them. I'm looking into idealist philosophy to see if it provides any indirect explanations of therianthropy (e.g. if at least some, or perhaps all, things are mind-dependent, that might leave from for it).

[Kerguelen]

wait what's the "hard problem of consciousness"
*googles*
Oh that. Damn that problem. What's fun about it is that it's such a universally-asked question, I immediately knew what it was without reading too much about it. Just didn't know it had a name.

[micheal65536]

if at least some, or perhaps all, things are mind-dependent, that might leave from for it

I wrote a rather complicated explanation in terms of perspective in the second part of my reply here: http://www.werelist.net/showthread.p...620#post298620 Thought this might be interesting to you, I know it's not quite the same as what you're suggesting but it's based on the idea of "if something is X but every piece of information tells you that it is Y, how can it still be X?".

[Lupus Paws]

I wrote a rather complicated explanation in terms of perspective in the second part of my reply here: http://www.werelist.net/showthread.p...620#post298620 Thought this might be interesting to you, I know it's not quite the same as what you're suggesting but it's based on the idea of "if something is X but every piece of information tells you that it is Y, how can it still be X?".

I actually think this is the most rational explanation of therianthropy, and is for the moment the one I follow. It can't really be disputed in any way because it doesn't make any extravagant, unfalsifiable claims, and its premises are easily verifiable.

[Lopori]

I never stop meeting interesting people and finding new connections, I've totally made a nice little niche for myself in this community.

[Kerguelen]

True. I haven't got much in the way of "communisty" outside of here.

[Night]

My therianthropy has brought people into my life that I otherwise might not know or be nearly as close to.

I feel like it's also caused me to introspect far more than I would otherwise; not everything I found about myself is positive, per se, but I'd rather know myself even if the things I discover can be unpleasant sometimes.

[Lupus Paws]

My therianthropy has brought people into my life that I otherwise might not know or be nearly as close to.

That's interesting. If you don't mind me asking out of curiosity, are these people in real life or online, how did therianthropy bring you closer to them, and are they also therians? Like, for me, it's introduced me to some really interesting therians online (mainly on this forum), but I don't know anyone else in real life.

[RunningRed]

To answer this, I have to consider what my life was like before I discovered my therianthropy and what it was like after.
Before, I was an atheist with depression. After I had a connection to the world/universe and mental tools to fight depression.
I gained inner strength. My wolf side has helped me deal with intimidating/overwhelming situations like job interviews or meeting managers or moving.
I gained an identity beyond the expectations my family had for me.