I remember my surprise when I heard of James Tilly Matthews' case, because no matter how you look at it, it indicates that there's some underlying truth to this delusion. back then I thought it lends itself nicely into panpsychism, assuming that we all operate on a common consciousness frequency, and the schizophrenics have a broken "receiver", that catches too much noise, creating patterns that overwhelm them. now, I'm not so sure any more. maybe James Tilly Matthews did actually stumble upon what he described? the closer you look at the history and current events, the more you turn into the archetype of the fool. in renaissance literature court jester's laughter had an underlying note of knowledge, that came from his closeness to the king. he was one of the courtiers, but unlike them, he was in a position that made him able to voice things, no one else would have dared to point out. perhaps a few centuries back James would have become a jester in some nobleman's court, on the account of his endearing straightforwardness? understanding historical depictions of madness can be quite eye opening, and I'd recommend to put more trust in studying them than in reading the current DSM