Rou

This really isn't a rant. More of a sharing experience.

In the course of a discussion with a friend of mine, I was linked to a blog. (One that I would link if the spam filter didn't hate the SPOT where the BLOG was hosted) This particular blog contained a very useful term. Crazification.

It's a great term. I'll quote their definition here:

John: Hey, Bush is now at 37% approval. I feel much less like Kevin McCarthy screaming in traffic. But I wonder what his base is --

Tyrone: 27%.

John: ... you said that immmediately, and with some authority.

Tyrone: Obama vs. Alan Keyes. Keyes was from out of state, so you can eliminate any established political base; both candidates were black, so you can factor out racism; and Keyes was plainly, obviously, completely crazy. Batshit crazy. Head-trauma crazy. But 27% of the population of Illinois voted for him. They put party identification, personal prejudice, whatever ahead of rational judgement. Hell, even like 5% of Democrats voted for him. That's crazy behaviour. I think you have to assume a 27% Crazification Factor in any population.

John: Objectively crazy or crazy vis-a-vis my own inertial reference frame for rational behaviour? I mean, are you creating the Theory of Special Crazification or General Crazification?

Tyrone: Hadn't thought about it. Let's split the difference. Half just have worldviews which lead them to disagree with what you consider rationality even though they arrive at their positions through rational means, and the other half are the core of the Crazification -- either genuinely crazy; or so woefully misinformed about how the world works, the bases for their decision making is so flawed they may as well be crazy.

John: You realize this leads to there being over 30 million crazy people in the US?

Tyrone: Does that seem wrong?

John: ... a bit low, actually.

I like it. Not just for political usage, but for everything. Left, Right, religious, nonreligious... right down to the best flavor of ice cream.

I agree that 27% is probably a bit low. (BTW their math is wrong. 27% of ~300 million is ~80 million) We all see crazy things every day. This site is DEVOTED to the insanities that drive us up a wall. This term doesn't explain the crazy people, but it gives us a means to quantify them! To help us accept the fact that 1 out 3 of the people we deal with is statistically insane. Or, if they're not, you are!

So, I thought I'd share the word. Next time you're locked in a meeting with crazy people, review the crazification of the room and smile to yourself.