One thing your comment brings to mind is the way that most people are "fannish" about something in their lives, but not all of them are able to substitute another's passion for theirs in order to understand it. What I'm saying is that many sports fans, for instance, don't get comic books, and therefore don't consider comic fans rational in their passion. It is probably a very similar impulse, if not exactly the same. I know my father doesn't "get" fannish obsession because he hasn't felt it and it's all for fiction. As much as he enjoys fiction, such energy expended on something untrue is wasted. Give him a sailboat, however, and he's as focused and obsessed as anyone.