Obsessed Fans
I read the Ferrett’s post on Corrosion of Nonconformity, which discusses overly obsessed fans. "But there is this fine line in fandom where people stop treating it as a hobby and start treating it as a mandate from God, completely forgetting that other people exist."
I would argue that there are very few areas of human endeavor where people do not fall into this trap. It seems to me that it’s a key part of human culture and it’s not restricted to fandom.
Take a look at any culture’s insults as an outsider and they will often seem ridiculous to you. What does it matter that Joe is a keyboard turner, Nancy’s bow to Jane was preceded by a second’s hesitation, or that Pat wore orange to the bar? I recently spent a day touring holes in the ground with people who have intense feelings about the exact kind of dirt that was in them. Take any aspect of humanity and there are people who have gone nuts turning the minutiae into shibboleths.
I believe that there are very few people who are not at least mildly obsessed with something. When people cross the line Ferrett mentioned, it is a problem. As I discussed in my post on MMO Addiction, defining the line is a tricky proposition. The bright side to this is that it’s generally not that hard to find out people’s obsessions, which then gives a good basis for conversation, building connections, and learning something new.