I just thought of another one. I’m interested in true crime, especially unsolved crime (my grandfather was a reporter from about 1930 to 1972, and he had the crime beat most of his career, so he had lots of books on true crime, and I used to look at them whenever we went to visit). I post on a lot of unsolved crime message boards.
There are people who have pet solutions to famous unsolved crimes, and can become enraged when challenged. Often the solutions are extremely detailed, and full of lots of examples of the original meaning of “begging the question.” But people defend them like they are their own children. They also come to message boards unprepared to discuss with an open mind, but only to promote their pet theories. They get suspended a lot.
Yeah, I can see being passionate about politics since a handful of people really do have the ability to meaningfully impact the nation for years to come. Or, if you’re a believer, being passionate about religion since you believe eternal souls are on the line. Even if I don’t agree, I can follow the thread that makes you worry about it.
But there’s no rational reason to get insane over entertainment. That’s just crazy-sauce.
Since you mention toxic fans, I’ll clarify my original post by saying that there’s a big difference between someone displaying their video game passion by spending all their disposable income on Nintendo tchochkes and someone sending death threats to a game developer because they’re mad about a new character. I don’t really understand the allure of either but if you just want to harmlessly spend your money on stuff, rock on with your bad self.
It would be a much shorter list if I just wrote down what doesn’t surprise me. Must be 90% of the things people in groups are passionate about, I find difficult to imagine ever wanting to even glance at. But in particular I am surprised by people getting excited about something which is being sold to them. Like lines of clothings, brands of beer, different models of cars. The experience of being profitable to giant corporations is one I wish I could bypass altogether, but it consumes the majority of the world.
Last night I thought it best to ignore this, and not derail the tread with politic. However, these are not normal times and none of us can sit back and let pass any opportunity to raise an alarm and yes, resist. So now, fortified with coffee, I’m just going to say that it is no vice to be passionate about American values and be quite passionate what the current administration is doing to all we once at least pretended to hold dear. Obama actually was a good president, and more importantly, a good man. I’ll let Steve Schmidt’s quote sum up for me:
And that’s fine. The people I’m referring to are active on travel forums or travel meetup groups. They love to look down from their pedestal and sneer at the unwashed masses who aren’t ‘smart’ enough to travel carry on only.
And, there’s a subset that seems to be similar to the ultra light hikers mentioned above. They engage in competitive packing wank fests so they can brag about just how light they traveled.
I’ve stopped being shocked by what people can be passionate about. When I realized I really loved reading and editing FAQs and other technical writing, I realized I’m one of those people with a surprising passion. I mean, honestly, who but me actually reads instruction manuals?
The statistics of the 1996 Dallas Cowboys Offensive Line? Fine. Totally obsessed with the various incarnations of the X-Men and all of their AU powers? Good for you. Wanna hear about how to properly structure a Table of Contents for an instruction manual? 'Cause that’s what I’m into.
People who are very insistent on very particular, single-use only food terms.
E.g., BBQ is only this. Chili is only that.
And they aren’t just preferring one use. They know for a fact (!) that there use is the only one. Period.
And of course citing the original meanings, decades old uses, etc. just irritates them.
Similarly, in Computing we have the idjits that insists that “hacker” means only one thing. A meaning, BTW, that was used by exactly one person at all the colleges I was a student or CS faculty member. Again, citing decades old usage like “hack writer” does not provide the needed enlightenment. They just double down on the foolishness.
There’s nothing mysterious about this anymore as it’s been thoroughly studied. When watching sports our bodies react in a very similar manner to if you are actually participating. Heart rate increases, testosterone is released, and our brains release chemicals like dopamine, serotonin, and cortisol.
I find it really interesting how we can trick our bodies into doing things like this simply by watching a video of people kicking a ball around.
Speaking of food, how one eats a steak. There are people on Facebook who threaten to defriend acquaintances if they eat their steaks well-done. Internet diatribes against those who would ‘reduce a steak to leather’ by having it well-done. If it were the steaks being given to them, OK, but why such rage and anger over how someone *else *eats *their *steak?
Women who fixate on a single, rather obscure part of their body that they feel is “ugly” and are insecure about. I can understand wanting to have a flatter tummy, smaller hips, larger/smaller bust. But upper arms? Feet? Ears?
I just found out a year ago that a thigh gap is 1) A Thing and 2) A Thing which, lacking it, can cause insecurity.
I don’t really care except when they stretch the definition of “carry on” to it’s absolute breaking point, where both their “carry on” and their “personal item” are excessively large. Bonus points if it’s a whole family like this. Even more bonus points if their bulging, densely packed carry on is so heavy they can’t easily lift it, making loading and unloading the plane a slow ordeal. (obviously, people with disabilities that need help are well within their rights to slow things down. But refusing to check your bag and taking pride in travelling light rings hollow when you can’t even move your bag on your own. Check it and be done!)
Adults who are really into children’s cartoons. I am not talking about the Simpsons or Family Guy, which are at least partially aimed at adults, but programs specifically for children. The Powerpuff Girls, or Kim Possible, to use a few dated examples. How can grownups stand to watch these for more than a few minutes?
People who are really into American muscle cars from the 60s and 70s. I am not really interested in cars in general, but these have always struck me as particularly unattractive and uncomfortable. And yet people will pay tens of thousands of dollars for them. And those that can’t afford these sums will watch auctions of these cars on the Discovery Channel.
I acknowledge that I have some interests, like dance or art history, that others would find bizarre.
