Definitions by Abzugal
Neoliberal Fanaticism
A specific form of capitalist fanaticism, based on the neoliberal doctrine of deregulation, privatisation, austerity, and free trade as universal goods. The neoliberal fanatic applies market logic to every domain—education, healthcare, prisons, even personal relationships—and treats any form of state intervention as tyranny. They worship entrepreneurship, scorn welfare, and reduce democracy to consumer choice. Neoliberal fanaticism ignores historical evidence of market failures, the social destruction caused by austerity, and the role of state power in actually creating functioning markets. It is the ideology of financialised capitalism presented as common sense.
Example: “He insisted that selling state assets at fire‑sale prices was ‘efficiency’ even when it led to mass layoffs—neoliberal fanaticism, ideology dressed as economics.”
Neoliberal Fanaticism by Abzugal May 2, 2026
Capitalist Fanaticism
An extreme, uncritical devotion to capitalist economic principles—markets, private property, competition, profit motive—as the solution to all social problems, while rejecting any alternative or critique as naive or dangerous. The capitalist fanatic treats market outcomes as inherently just, regulation as inefficient, and collective action as threatening freedom. They dismiss criticisms of exploitation, inequality, or environmental damage as ignorance or envy. Capitalist fanaticism often masquerades as pragmatism, but it is an ideology that refuses to examine its own assumptions, treating capitalism as natural law rather than a historically specific system.
Example: “He argued that healthcare should be entirely privatised because ‘the market knows best’—capitalist fanaticism, treating an economic model as a universal truth while ignoring human suffering.”
Capitalist Fanaticism by Abzugal May 2, 2026
Cognitive Fanaticism
A dogmatic commitment to cognitive science as the sole or superior framework for understanding mind, behavior, and society. The cognitive fanatic treats everything—from economic behavior to political preferences to artistic taste—as products of cognitive biases, heuristics, or information‑processing mechanisms, while ignoring historical, cultural, and structural factors. This stance often appears in rationalist communities, where any deviation from “optimal” cognition is pathologized. Cognitive fanaticism reduces human beings to information processors and dismisses interpretive, phenomenological, or social accounts as “unscientific.”
Example: “He explained political polarization solely through ‘confirmation bias’ and never mentioned media ownership or economic inequality—cognitive fanaticism, mistaking a partial mechanism for the whole story.”
Cognitive Fanaticism by Abzugal May 2, 2026
Neuroscientific Fanaticism
A reductionist belief that all psychological, social, and even cultural phenomena can be fully explained by brain activity, and that neuroscience provides the only “real” explanations. The neuroscientific fanatic dismisses psychological, sociological, or narrative accounts as “mere” or “folk” understanding, insisting that only fMRI data or neural correlates matter. This stance ignores the reality that different levels of explanation (neural, cognitive, social) are complementary, not competing. Neuroscientific fanaticism often appears in debates about consciousness, free will, or mental health, where brain data are treated as ultimate truth.
Example: “He claimed that love was ‘just dopamine’ and that romantic poetry was obsolete—neuroscientific fanaticism, reducing a complex human experience to a neurotransmitter while losing all meaning.”
Neuroscientific Fanaticism by Abzugal May 2, 2026
Debunking Fanaticism
An obsessive commitment to debunking—exposing fraud, pseudoscience, or misinformation—that becomes indiscriminate and self‑righteous. The debunking fanatic treats every non‑mainstream claim as a target, uses ridicule and mockery as primary tools, and refuses to engage with nuance or complexity. They often debunk harmless or even valuable practices (e.g., yoga, meditation, traditional medicine) because these practices lack scientific validation, conflating “not proven” with “false.” Debunking fanaticism is driven less by a love of truth than by a desire for intellectual dominance and social belonging within skeptic communities.
Example: “He spent hours ridiculing a local crystal shop on social media, even though the owner made no health claims—debunking fanaticism, attacking the harmless because it satisfied his need to feel rational.”
Debunking Fanaticism by Abzugal May 2, 2026
Proof Fanaticism
An extreme insistence on mathematical or logical “proof” as the only acceptable validation, applied inappropriately to domains where proof is impossible or unnecessary. The proof fanatic treats any claim that cannot be formally proven (e.g., historical narratives, ethical positions, personal experiences, spiritual beliefs) as automatically false or worthless. This stance confuses proof (a formal, closed‑system concept) with evidence (an open‑ended, probabilistic concept). Proof fanaticism is common in internet debates where participants demand “proof” of God’s existence or non‑existence, ignoring that neither side can meet such standards—leading to endless stalemates and frustration.
Example: “He said that without a mathematical proof, her argument about social justice was ‘just opinion.’ Proof fanaticism: demanding a standard appropriate only for geometry in a domain that can never meet it.”
Proof Fanaticism by Abzugal May 2, 2026
Evidence Fanaticism
An obsessive demand for empirical evidence as the sole legitimate basis for any belief, while rejecting other forms of knowledge such as testimony, intuition, tradition, or personal experience. The evidence fanatic sets an impossibly high bar—often demanding RCTs or peer‑reviewed studies for claims that cannot be tested that way—and dismisses anything that doesn't meet that bar as “unsupported.” This stance ignores that much of daily life, ethics, and even scientific practice relies on non‑empirical reasoning. Evidence fanaticism often hides behind scientific rhetoric but functions as a gatekeeping mechanism to exclude perspectives that don’t fit a narrow evidentiary mold.
Example: “He demanded a double‑blind study to prove that her grandmother’s recipe worked—evidence fanaticism, demanding lab standards for a kitchen tradition.”
Evidence Fanaticism by Abzugal May 2, 2026