Talk:Eccentricity (behavior)

Title
Should this just be Eccentric behavior? Jake 22:03, 3 Dec 2004 (UTC)

There are different types of eccentricity (i.e mathematical), so no, behaviour in commas is fine.

IanJSB —Preceding unsigned comment added by IanJSB (talk • contribs) 14:02, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

Spelling
"Bad speller[2] (usually uncommon) "

What does does "usually uncommon" mean really? Wouldn't that be the same as common? Please remove. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 66.235.50.103 (talk) 02:39, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

Usually uncommon is not a double negative. So, it would mean exactly what it says...not very common, not common, rarely common, etc.

Drug usage
The article says: "Eccentric behavior has also been attributed to drug use." Which, in the context of psychology- is a functionally retarded statement. By "drug use", do you mean ONLY 'illegal' drugs, or does aspirin also cause eccentricity? If you actually meant 'mood altering' or 'psychoactive' rather, did you include alcohol- or are we back to somehow supposing that the legality of a drug has some basis for impacting whether or not that drug might inspire eccentric behavior in a person? (This very well could be true- despite sounding somewhat absurd).

Basically, the statement "Eccentric behavior has also been attributed to drug use." is a complete cop-out to science.

Examples
It seems like it would make this article both clearer and more interesting to name some historical figures commonly asserted to be eccentric, people like Howard Hughes or Ludwig II of Bavaria. On the other hand, since the term seems to be a bit in the eye of the beholder, this might not be strictly appropriate for an encyclopedia. What do other people think? Markwiki (talk) 09:14, 15 February 2010 (UTC)

Is all eccentricity looked on positively?
Here's the part from the article that I question " given the overwhelmingly positive stereotypes often associated with eccentricity, detailed above, it would seem only natural that certain individuals would seek to be associated with this sort of character type." Granted, in fiction, popular characters are often eccentric. But in real life, not all eccentric people are charismatic or even likeable. Many eccentric people are scary, creepy, incomprehensible, socially inept, or otherwise, not very fun to be around. A lot of real life eccentrics tend to get left alone. Mr. ATOZ 15:14, 11 September 2006 (UTC) No, it's not, but you get used to it, especially after being one myself and growing up with some.137.118.106.30 (talk) 00:32, 9 September 2018 (UTC)
 * That's the whole thing though. People very rarely meet genuine eccentrics. All they have to go on is the idealised fictional eccentrics like Doctor Who and similar. They never see the crippling social problems or strange obbsesions. Popular culture have idealised them and being an 'individual' so most people do hold a possitive view eccentrics and would see them as a role model.
 * What you say is true regarding idealized eccentrics who usually are depicted as invariably witty, intellectual, artistic, liberal, confident, brilliant, romantic, rennaisance men, ect. ect and in the case of males, boyishly handsome or average looking but still considered cute. Doctor Who does come to mind. However, I doubt that fits the mold of most "genuine" eccentrics that you're likely to meet in the real world. Real life eccentrics are probably going to have more in common with Rorschach from Watchmen than the Doctor from Doctor Who.Mr. ATOZ (talk) 17:37, 16 December 2008 (UTC)

Hey I take offense to that! Kiri621x (talk) 19:13, 24 February 2021 (UTC)

Removed material
I removed the following material (but left in the part in parentheses):
 * (Eccentricity is often associated with genius, giftedness, or extreme creativity); the word itself is often employed to euphemize or invert a connotation of madness hence the phrase "there's a method to their madness", implying inscrutable complexity or originality in lieu of the dismissible randomness of common lunacy.

The sentence is awkward and difficult to understand. It uses the word randomness to mean, basically, "eccentricity," a rather informal and slangy sense of the word. It misuses the "method to my madness" quote (which comes from Hamlet and refers to deliberately strange behavior to achieve a specific end). Furthermore, it is unattributed conjecture and is not encyclopedic at all. Fishal 14:02, 23 August 2007 (UTC)

I have removed the following paragraphs, which are original research and not relevant to the article:

While as a nation the British are often depicted as eccentric by other nations, inside the UK this epithet is most usually reserved for the English. Their twin national characteristics of insularity and ingenuity produce a frame of mind conducive to designing individual solutions to the problems of life, and then sticking with them in spite of social disapproval.

It may also be that the British gained their reputation for eccentricity as a result of exporting their own social norms to the nations they conquered while they were building the British Empire. There are, for instance, many depictions of English afternoon tea being taken in jungle environments or half-way up Everest. Codik 10:21, 23 October 2007 (UTC)

The list of characteristics is a little bit misleading: I think that it would be appropriate to say something to the effect of: "...the following are traits that are often popularly associated with eccentricity...". As is, it appears to suggest that most of these traits must be present. Personally, as a person who is rather "eccentric", I'd suggest that traits like "single" or "avoiding others" need not be a part of eccentricity. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 63.131.72.105 (talk) 18:10, 27 August 2009 (UTC)

Odyssey of the Mind - relevance?
Is the section 'Odyssey of the Mind' of any relevance whatsoever? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 143.93.105.137 (talk) 14:49, 4 December 2007 (UTC)

Einstein
I think the bit about Einstein picking dog ends up off the street and smoking them should be removed. The article makes it seem like he did this regularly, but in fact he only did it after his doctor forbade him from smoking. The information comes from a letter from his grandson, Bernhard Caesar Einstein. Here is an article about it from the Telegraph. I have left the information in because it is at least slightly eccentric behaviour, but it's still misrepresented in the article. Reidlophile (talk) 11:44, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Eccentric as a mental illness (ICD-10 F60-8)
On the WHO site, I discovered "eccentric" as a mental illness (which is quite subjective, but nevertheless medically accepted) under the ICD-10, F60-8 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems 10th Revision – Other specific personality disorders.) Could anyone find out more about this? Thanks! --Enigma (talk) 21:04, 26 July 2009 (UTC)

Characteristics and mental illness
The article said, "this may be related in the same way that introverts (introversion) suffer more from their mental illness than do extroverts (extroversion), who tend to make those around them suffer instead by their actions or deeds (outward expression of their illness rather than inward)."

I deleted this material under the grounds it's too controversial and obscure for an encyclopedia. It requires previous knowledge of Jung's theory of extroversion and introversion. In any event, its hard to say whether introverts, as opposed to extroverts, suffer more. Suffering is hard to define let alone measure.

The argument can be made that it is really the mentally ill extroverts who suffer more, owing to the retribution others impose on such individuals for what society considers wrongful deeds. It should be mentioned this talk does not deal with whether or not the punishment, or the so-called correction, is really deserved and just. --Oilstone (talk) 16:30, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

RE Eccentricity as a mental illness
The following link leads to an article by a reputable Psychiatrist that questions the validity of "disorders" such as this. He is more than a bit convincing in his arguments.

http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2010/06/27/2003476462

It is also quite likely that the word is commonly misapplied... like many others.

(A prime example being orientate. Next time it is used instead of orient query the necessity of facing East.... which is the correct meaning of the word.)

If a million people make a mistake... it is still a mistake. —Preceding unsigned comment added by IanJSB (talk • contribs) 13:54, 10 August 2010 (UTC)

David Weeks' list of characteristics
The old list was problematic. It cited a source that had re-written Weeks' list (http://www.gnomesondope.com/stuff/on-being-eccentric/), had ten fewer items than Weeks now claims (15 vs. Weeks 25) and had them in a different order. (Weeks claims his list is in descending order of importance.)

I replaced it with a direct quote, from Weeks site (http://celebratingeccentrics.com/the-definition-of-eccentricity/) of just the top 5 elements (of the 25 total he lists. Weeks claims that these five are close to constituitive of eccentricity, while the additional elements are only frequently or sometimes found. cshirky (talk) 00:40, 21 January 2017 (UTC)

Definition of eccentricity
Where did the definition for eccentricity come from? Particularly the sentence "This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive"?

Considering little to no research has examined the perception of eccentric behaviour, there isn't a basis for this statement. Additionally, eccentric behaviour, especially with regards to eccentric social behaviour, could easily be perceived as maladpative. Consider famous eccentrics such as Hetty Green, one of the richest women in the world in her lifetime, who always wore the same clothes and only changed her underwear when they wore out. This behaviour is unhygienic and personally distressing, making it a prime example of maladaptive eccentric behaviour.

Relates to Mr ATOZ post in '06 about "Is all eccentricity looked on positively" as well. He gives more examples of eccentric maladaptivity.

Rcro (talk) 16:22, 6 September 2017 (UTC)

Idealism?
Idealism is eccentric? What a poor, poor jaded species we have become when wishing the best for all is not considered normal.... — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.99.74.135 (talk) 07:51, 30 September 2018 (UTC)

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