Some speculations on the night at GH

[Barry Arrowsmith]

--- In the_old_crowd at yahoogroups.com, "nkafkafi" <nkafkafi at y...> wrote:
> It is only dangerous to a very small sub-group of Potterheads (myself
> included, unfortunately) who are totally obsessed with finding the
> ultimate theory that explains everything in the Harry Potter books,
> and would go to any length to discover it (short of breaking into JKR
> house and looting her drawers. I think). We poor addicts have a
> tendency to invest hours on hours of our free (and not-free) time
> picking the books apart and building huge and intricate theories that
> might crumble at any moment if you take out a single card from the
> bottom. Naturally, investing so much time and thought in our theories,
> we tend to become very protective about them and very hostile to other
> possibilities. A cure for this terrible condition was not yet
> discovered (hopefully it will disappear by itself when Book 7 is out)
> but there may be certain precautions that the addict can take in order
> to minimize the risks for distress and heartache. So if you are lucky
> not to be in this risk group, I assure you that you can speculate on
> HP as much as you want to, with no damage to yourself or to your
> accessories.
> 

There's a quote by Richard Feynman that might be applicable:

"Physics is like sex. There may be practical outcomes, but that's not why
we do it."

Personally, I feel the same way about theorising on HP. Constructing
a theory and testing it on a public forum is much more fun than
sitting there waiting to be told what's what by the author. Passivity
is not fun, in fact it's not much of anything.

So some get enthusiastic about a few crazy ideas; who cares? So long
as they appear reasonably civilised, wash behind their ears and change
their socks occasionally I can't see any problem. I have a visceral hatred
for SHIPs, can't stand  'em, but others revel in them so let them get on
with it; it's no skin off my nose and I can always ignore them. Which is
just what I do. Others feel the same about TBAY. Nobody likes everything
that's posted and it doesn't take long to identify which posters are liable
to get steam venting from your ears on a regular basis. 

When they lean towards foaming at the mouth fanaticism, that's something
else. But it's my observation (and personal experience - you wouldn't believe
some of the mails that have hit my screen) that it's the appearance of 
opposition to their mania that really sets them off; if nobody mentions 
their posts they soon go away. Mind you, if you actually enjoy rattling
somebody's cage - it can be fun, but you're very naughty.

Nah. Fandom's a broad church, most interests can be fitted in without too
much trouble. 
Don't fret about it, is my advice.

Kneasy