Paranoid, alert, caucious or just careful?

What's the difference?

I think paranoid is when you THINK people are after you.. when in truth they probably aren't

alert, cautious or just careful sound pretty much all the same to me.. and probably smart to apply in just about everything you plan, save for and invest in (be it relationships or financially..)

lol On line I think a certain amount of just being cautious is realizeing there are people who are out to get you on line because cyber crime is a lazy crime where one criminal can work literally hundreds of victims and one person can manipulate hundreds of others and pretty much escape harming their local reputation or having their reputation preceeding them.

While this is a gender neutral situation I think the number of men who are ripped off for chronic small sums of money for years is higher.

lol very true that...could sum it up with respect to the mind...

paranoid is when you think something is happening when it is not actually happening! (sub-conscious or unconsious)

cautious and alert is being aware about something that might happen. (consciously)

I think it wise to have a little of all of them because there are evil people in this world.

I very much agree with this. I think I am all four, at times. Though, only for one specific reason. Sometimes all those four feel like the same thing.