I hate this admonishment of fanboy-ism that permeates the discussion anytime MG or Gruber are mentioned.

We need fanaticism to counter balance apathy.

There is nothing more empowering than a belief in what you do, why you do it, or who you do it for.

*said as someone who ran a fan site for 16 years

There is no need for fanaticism to counter balance apathy, well-written, factual and objective articles work fine.

That isn't how culture works.

I wish more people could be closer to the middle.

The middle is only achieved by meticulously removing all emotion and dissecting the words down to structure only. Passion for anything drives us to the edges.

I guess I would rather have the vibrant edges and a sense of civility that, frankly, has never been there(1) than the gray landscape of the middle.

(1) see various sources on the election of 1800 for a nice historical example

Most people are closer to the middle. The middle isn't what we need. Compassion, caring, and humility in our passions are.

I guess I considering myself in the middle. I'm extremely passionate about a handful of topics. But at the same time I've learned to not allow it to alienate myself from the majority. The alienation is where I consider the edge to start. It's counter productive because you're just viewed as a crazy.

I think we agree but our scales of the edges and the middle might be different.

Without the edges, you don't have a middle.

Now I think of it though, I remember when the most fun you could have was standing in the middle of a see-saw whilst your friends sat on the ends.... I don't think it would have been anywhere as much fun if everybody was standing in the middle and there was nobody on the ends to upset the balance.

The middle is the most boring place to reside. Nothing happens there.

They are. You only hear the loud ones.