question - why are are all furries mentally unstable or autistic

[Donnies Catch]

idk lol

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[IkeTheGeneric]

I'd say it's a symptom of social handicapation, rather than the inverse. As a matter of fact I think being on the forum in itself is a minor symptom of social frustration

You go hunting for online interaction because there are no social cues involved, so it's easy to feel included. When you still fail to be included because you're a turbocreep, you move on to communities made up of people whose entire personalities revolve around some sort of incredibly undesirable trait, forcing them to include everyone due to the fact that they are the lowest possible common denominator in social hierarchy. In the case of furries, the undesirable trait is a degenerate special interest.

Gonna be brutally honest here, this is probably one of the most autistic things I've read to date. No wisecracks or puns or anything, just god damn.

[Zloff]

honestly what rally said does sense, but only if you believe that being a furry could be an undesireable trait and/or symptom of "social handicapation" or some other mental illness. i could easily see there being a lower net amount of furries being regularly active on this forum if there weren't threads where discussion for the special interest often (or almost exclusively) takes place

[IkeTheGeneric]

Some ten or so years ago, playing video games was seen as an undesirable trait and many believed that having a hobby playing games was a symptom of social handicapation. It's just a thing that they like and unfortunately in some circumstances it's a thing they get off to. A disproportionate amount of furries could be autistic just because the furry fandom isn't exactly an inclusive club. To owe it to some complex social hierarchy that somehow churns "Turbocreeps" into specific groups that Rally personally has a distaste for seems completely insane.

[otto-san]

wait since when was being furry a special interest lol

[Steve5451²]

I guess the assumption is that by having the furry special interest you're automatically a member of the furry fandom.

[Zloff]

Some ten or so years ago, playing video games was seen as an undesirable trait and many believed that having a hobby playing games was a symptom of social handicapation.

that's because of the opportunity costs to playing video games - as listed by the people who characterized the hobby as such back then - were likely often related to interaction with people or things in real life ("you know you could go play that sport outside with friends instead", "why don't you do *generic hobby* rather than play these games", etc) it wasn't recognized as a real hobby

liking to play video games is not that comparable to having a loveual attraction to animals even in this context

It's just a thing that they like and unfortunately in some circumstances it's a thing they get off to. A disproportionate amount of furries could be autistic just because the furry fandom isn't exactly an inclusive club. To owe it to some complex social hierarchy that somehow churns "Turbocreeps" into specific groups that Rally personally has a distaste for seems completely insane.

i wouldn't say it's due to a social hierarchy so much as a plausible and natural route of action-- the basic idea is that, if desired, through trial and error people will hop from group to more similarly-traited group until they find one they are most comfortable being themselves in. in rally's spiel i took it that this was the basic idea and the setting was the internet and the defining trait in question was a special interest for animals/anthromorphs. i don't believe the forced-inclusion bit, as to me it implied that everyone within the group believes that their are no other options and therefore stick within the group despite discomfort/whatever

[McJob]

People who are incapable of understanding standard, real-world social cues and graces ("robots") lend themselves towards curious perversions and the groups that delight in those same perversions. There's always a primitive need for socialising, and when you aren't able to cooperate with real people, you'll find a group that you are comfortable with, that hopefully shares a lot of similar traits and interests as you.

When a community is built around the obsessive desire to create and roleplay characters that go beyond the normal, particularly those based around the wildlife that these robots seem to enjoy moreso that humanity itself, it becomes attractive those kinds of people. Moreover, as it starts attracting some "autistic" people, others see this a comforting fact that they'll be including too, without fear of reprisal.

It's basically a vicious cycle, where the stronger numbers that this community creates, the more degenerates who see it as a valid "escape route" for the problems in their own life. All I'm saying is that people get on my goat for liking to drink, but at least my drinking never involved masturbating to the image a 6-foot dog.

EDIT: I'm not saying that normal people can't appreciate the art and want to participate in that way, but I simply believe it's more than coincidence that a lot of the people we see who brand themselves as "furries" have social issues and are generally some of the less-well-received users of these forums.

EDIT2: Apparently some people needed further clarification; I don't just mean generally awkward or shy people. I'm talking about the absolute bottom of the barrel; those far, far removed from the real world and are completely incapable of sympathising/empathising with anything a normal person feels.

[IkeTheGeneric]

that's because of the opportunity costs to playing video games - as listed by the people who characterized the hobby as such back then - were likely often related to interaction with people or things in real life ("you know you could go play that sport outside with friends instead", "why don't you do *generic hobby* rather than play these games", etc) it wasn't recognized as a real hobby

liking to play video games is not that comparable to having a loveual attraction to animals even in this context

I meant in more of a way that ten or so years ago, people would dismiss the legitimacy of entire communities of avid gamers based on the hobby being supposedly an undesirable trait or the hobby itself being a symptom of mental illness, or in that their assumed inability to play actual sports meant that they instead flocked to playing video games instead.

A lot of what Rally's post was implying is that a majority of furries are furries not being they happen to enjoy being a part of the furry fandom, but rather because they couldn't fit in anywhere else due to their own shortcomings and settled identifying along with the other degenerates in this example. While this may be true for a disproportionate amount of furries, I can say with confidence that a hard majority of furries identify as furries nowadays just because they like being a part of the furry fandom, not because they didn't have a choice in it.

[Rigel]

They are usually very friendly and accepting, at least the ones I know. That in itself might be attractive to someone looking for a group to fit in with.

[Insert Name Here²]

Im only really a furry for the fandom and huge sense of community, mainly for how open and kind 90% of the community feels to be a part of

That and art but that is only a very small part of it all

[Bisjac]

didnt badspot say artists that draw furry do so because they are stuffty artists that couldnt draw human faces.

[IkeTheGeneric]

My biggest hangup on Rally's post is, like a friend of mine said, conflating three different completely incorrect things. This being that all furries are socially inept, that they are furries because they cannot fit in any other fandom and that the furry fandom is a bubble of unacceptable social behavior. The furry fandom, at the very least what I've observed from the outside, is built on mutual interest in furry stuff.

Implying that furries are only furries because they legitimately couldn't be anything else is like I said, autistic.

[OrangeMan]

This being that all furries are socially inept, that they are furries because they cannot fit in any other fandom and that the furry fandom is a bubble of unacceptable social behavior.

that's all true though

[IkeTheGeneric]

that's all true though

I know you're a handicapped troll 'n all, but it's an interesting counterargument to bring up. If it was true, the furry fandom couldn't exist outside of a vacuum. If the fandom wasn't built on mutual interest, it would look a lot different than it does. Take /r/incels into example of a community actually built around the individual's ineptitude or lack of social capability.