Fanaticism and Neurological disorders

No this isn' t a thread on Religion, it' s a thread of fanaticism itself.

The " Oxford Dictionary of Current English" states this about Fanatic:

informal-" A person with an extreme enthusiasm for a passtime or hobby."



Human behaviour is somewhat of an interest of mine. You could say that everyone has an interest in human behaviour but I like to observe exteme examples of different behaviours.

Anyways my point is that I think I found the single most extreme example of fanaticism ever recorded. If you guys think you' ve found a better case I want to see it.

Here it is, the Pokemon card fanatic:

http://www.break.com/index/slightly_over_excited.aspx

You sure that kid doesn' t have down syndrome or something?

The expressions he makes on his face are not normal, he looks like he' s retarded. The N64 kids looked like healthy kids that were just really excited.

You sure that kid doesn' t have down syndrome or something?

No, I' m not sure.

Well, he does.

You sure that kid doesn' t have down syndrome or something?

I would have said Asberger' s or something along the lines of very mild autism personally.

Not so much in his facial expression as in his voice. It' s hard to describe.

I have a niece and a nephew (or what amounts to a nice and a nephew, close family friends) who were both diagnosed with Asberger' s syndrome very young, and while perhaps it isn' t true of all kids diagnosed, they tend to be very very expressive with their emotions. More so than your average kid. Jumping or fidgeting or moving around a lot as well as being very verbally expressive.

I mean, I used to play Magic: The Gathering as a kid, & I' d get excited over a card every once and a while, (all the cool kids knew to play Magic, they knew it' d be around forever.) but there' s something a little off about him, to be sure.

And yeah, human behavior is an absolutely facinating subject. It tells you an amazing amount about a person, certainly more than a person is willing to tell you about themselves.

If we' re talking about fanaticism, the kid seems to be a Pokemon fanatic sure. But he' s also a kid, and he hasn' t fully developed mentally. He (like almost every other human being I know) had some very fixed interest as a kid (whether it be dinosaurs, trains, video-games).

I' d honestly have to say that the " Christian" nutjob from the other thread was more of a fanatic. She was most definately over 18, and her brain developed as far as it was ever going to get. And she was still nuts.

Edit: By the way, awesome idea for a thread Ghost.

When he starts shaking halfway through the video, that just kind of gives it away, he obviously has a mental disability.

Whatever the kid has it' s not nearly as cool as Tourette' s.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=myB_8UPTGBQ

That guy definetly seems fake to me. his outburst doesnt seem spontaneous enough!

That guy definetly seems fake to me. his outburst doesnt seem spontaneous enough!

Well his videos don' t actually display too many symptoms of Tourette' s itself. Which is basically muscle spasms. However, what' s interesting about Tourette' s is that it overlaps with several other disorders, that is to say people with Tourette' s are prone to other conditions such as ADHD, obsessive compulsive disorder among others. A person may have mood disorders, such as rage issues. I' ve seen a video of a girl with Tourette' s and she was always yelling.

One disorder found in a small percentage of people with Tourette' s is called Coprolalia, which it looks like " the Tourette' s" guy has (or imitating). Which basically means they have uncontrollable vocal " tics" of obscene language. Anything that a person knows is innappropriate may come out of their mouth during a vocal " tic" . For these people they become afraid to say anything innappropriate and in doing so they think of the most inappropriate things to say. Which is a real bitch when they can' t help but say what' s on their mind. They don' t neccessarily mean what they say. If a person with Tourette' s calls you a fag he probably doesn' t actually think you' re a fag, he said it because it was something he didn' t want to say.

That' s why I think it' s ***ing hilarious. Have you guys ever thought what could be the most innappropriate thing to say in certain situations as they' re happening? I have but I never say these things because I have self control. People with Coprolalia do not.

I don' t know for certain that he really had Tourette' s, but I have no reason to believe it' s fake. Coprolalia is always in effect, it' s not supposed to be spontaneous. Keep in mind also that it looks like he has a few disorders, on top of this he was an alcoholic.

I' m sure that the fact that his videos are edited also exaggerates his behaviour.

I don' t even care if it' s real or not, I' m still LMAO at his videos.

If that video is a link to " Tourettes Guy" , then it' s fake.

I worked in a junior club some years ago, there was a kid with tourette, and he had some bad issues, with lack of remorse and such, my college was assigned as permanent aid to him, and she told me that if someone was destined to murder someone, it was that kid, scary stuff!

I would have said Asberger' s

Not trying to sound rude or anything, but who came up with that name???

I suppose they are probably all named after whoever discovered them, but Asberger? It just doesn' t sound right when you say it out loud.

EDIT: Nevermind. I just found out how it is actually pronounced.

Whatever the kid has it' s not nearly as cool as Tourette' s.

Hey! I have tourette' s syndrome! I' m not joking. I don' t use inappropriate words unintentionally though. I just twitch a lot and make strange noises. Oh, and sometimes I stutter.

It' s pretty stupid, as I sometimes find it difficult to concentrate when I try to read something.

At least I will still be able to drive, as other people with tourettes seem to (on television, anyway).

Sick Shit!

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.

Sick Shit!

What? Because I have tourretes?

No, I think he was talking about the pokemon card kid.