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I want to extend the expression "mind bending" to mean "mind bending in multiple directions at the same time".

My intuition to "mind bending" is an object becoming curved to roughly a quarter circle - with no reference to the previous shape. So the "bending in multiple directions" could be a sequence of circle sections of random size and curvature. *

The term "mind curling" is the best I came up with - it would fit, except that it describes a well defined high level structure. The somewhat random aspect is relevant .

I like the term "mind bending" - so I prefer it as a base. But an alternative expression with the same meaning based on something else or novel would still interest me. My interpretation of "mind bending" is something like "rationally irritating in a structured way".


* While I find the expression fascinating in general, I can actually cite a source for the intended primary use. The lecture/work of art/emotional performance Suic!de and Ment@l He@lth of Philosophy Tube could be described as seriously irritating in a surprising number of ways, on rational and emotional level. Known terms like "mind bending" or "mind boggling" just do not cut it. So it deserves a new term. (And a content warning in relation to the topic of suicide.) (Ending with that word feels spooky, so it's continued.)

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  • To send the mind of in all directions at once is to confuse. Get out a thesaurus, look up ‘confuse’ and se if you find a word you feel fits your idea better.
    – Tuffy
    Jun 14, 2019 at 22:36

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I would argue that bending does not necessitate there being only a single bend. Whether there is one bend or many, bending still applies. If you twist and bend something, it's not normally thought of as meaning just a single iteration of the action. If you bend something once, there's not to prevent you from bending it again—and in a different place.

Barring further clarification, mind bending, to me, remains the best choice.


However, if you want to dispense with bending itself, there are other possibilities. (The following links all go to Merriam-Webster definitions.)

Many of the typical words don't include the idea of "structure", at least in terms of keeping the original intact: shattering, fragmenting, splitting, randomizing, distorting, warping, reconfiguring, mutating.

Others do suggest a sense of multiplicity and also might be thought of in terms of "structure": bifurcating, parallelizing, multiplying.


In line with the second set, I personally like mind reiterating. (Interestingly, I used the base word in the original paragraph I wrote without thinking about it.)

To reiterate means to do the same thing again, but not necessarily in exactly the same way or producing exactly the same effect:

: to state or do over again or repeatedly sometimes with wearying effect

In terms of multiple bends, each bend could be a reiteration of the last one; each bend could have the same general structure as the last, but have its own unique direction and shape.

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  • Yes, "mind warping" is describing it! Warping as when you take a rope made from strands by twisting them, make a loop, and twist it so much that it shortens - and then let it go. A sequence of curves, locally well defined - but no overall structure. Each part is mind bending but can be understood - and as a whole, it's overwhelming - even while it is not random. Jun 15, 2019 at 5:21
  • @VolkerSiegel I should note that in your question you said you were looking for something structured—but in your comment you seem to say say that warping is not structured. So, I'm confused. But, regardless, I'm glad you got what you needed—albeit from one of the words I'd actually ruled out and listed as something I thought you didn't want. ;) Jun 15, 2019 at 5:28

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