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Relevant classic post: Most of What You Read on the Internet is Written by Insane People, https://www.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/9rvroo/most_of_what_y

• jchw 5y ago
  “Insane” is mostly meant in jest here, not to imply that heavy contributors are mentally ill. The examples they picked out are pretty ridiculous but are also the biggest outliers. The real point here is that <1% of the users account for ~99% or so of the consumed content. Which is interesting in its own right.
  • exolymph 5y ago
    I think "insane" in both contexts mainly denotes being a cognitive outlier.
    • jchw 5y ago
      Ah, but "insane" is not used by the article - the term "psychological issues" is, to imply some kind of mental unwellness. OTOH, the Reddit post explicitly clarifies: > Edit: I guess my tone-projection is off. A lot of people seem to be put-off by my usage of the word "insane." I intended that as tongue-in-cheek and did not mean to imply that any of them literally have diagnosable mental illnesses. I have a lot of respect for all of the individuals I listed and they seem like nice people, I was just trying to make a point about how unusual their behavior is. Unusual behavior? Yes. However, I think you can see how that would not fall into the same bucket as the implication of "psychological issues." This nuance is likely why people have grown to dislike words like "insane" and "psychopath," since these unintentional connections might warp people's perspectives.