[thechat] The Sociology of Fanaticism

Ken Kogler ken.kogler at curf.edu
Wed Nov 20 12:50:01 CST 2002


I'm doing a 15 minute presentation titled "The Sociology of Fanaticism"
next week for a class I'm in... I've got plently of info on causes,
effects, etc, but what I don't have is examples.

Can anyone think of examples of extreme fanaticism, specifically as it
relates to either sports or lesiure activities?

A few to get started:

  * Crazy fan stabs Monica Seles in the back
  * "Dead heads" -- those people that followed The Greatful
     Dead around for years on end
  * Man rides rollercoaster for 104 days straight
    <http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/2234589.stm>
  * Hockey Dad beats another dad to death in stands
    <http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/hockey000710.html>

A few of these are pretty depraved, but some are positive, too -- I'm
looking for more positives than negatives... I don't want the whole
report to be about psychotic people...  :)

Thanks, everyone!

--Ken Kogler




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