Extremists

[JASKN]

What about the "Extremist" who either wants all of something, or nothing? He doesn't want a new phone once it gets a scratch, enough to be totally unhappy every time he uses it. He doesn't want a haircut if it is not perfect, as he saw it in his mind, enough to buzz it off completely. The food doesn't taste good enough, his mood is totally altered. Why?

I would like to know more about why they are like this. Can anyone point out basic flaws in thinking that makes someone an Extremist? What does psychology or philosophy have to say about this?

[MichaelH]

What about the "Extremist" who either wants all of something, or nothing? He doesn't want a new phone once it gets a scratch, enough to be totally unhappy every time he uses it. He doesn't want a haircut if it is not perfect, as he saw it in his mind, enough to buzz it off completely. The food doesn't taste good enough, his mood is totally altered. Why?

I would like to know more about why they are like this. Can anyone point out basic flaws in thinking that makes someone an Extremist? What does psychology or philosophy have to say about this?

The given examples illustrate pathological perfectionism rather than extremism. According to Wikipedia:

Perfectionism, in psychology, is a belief that perfection can and should be attained. In its pathological form, perfectionism is a belief that work or output that is anything less than perfect is unacceptable.

<snip>

Perfectionists often exhibit some or all of the following personality traits: emotional guardedness; a need for control; fear of making mistakes or errors; thrift; need to be above criticism; tendency to be stubborn or confrontational; and so on. Most of these traits are used as criteria to diagnose Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD).

The basic flaw seems to be the automatized judgement that anything imperfect is utterly unacceptable. It leads to frustration as nothing physical is "perfect". We can achieve "completely functional" and "within specifications" and "within reason".

I encourage others to provide psychological analysis. (!)

[SapereAude]

I encourage others to provide psychological analysis. (!)

It meets a fair amount of OCD criteria.

[softwareNerd]

It meets a fair amount of OCD criteria.

I was going to mention OCD too, though I'm not sure if that's correct. For OCD, I think the starting point is a feeling of being out of control. Then, the person tries to feel more in control by getting into minutiae or by repeating an activity multiple times and so on. Edith Packer had a lecture on the topic, and I just found that she has some notes online.

What JASKN describes might be something different though.

Also, some cases may not be neurosis at all.

[Ifat Glassman]

What about the "Extremist" who either wants all of something, or nothing? He doesn't want a new phone once it gets a scratch, enough to be totally unhappy every time he uses it. He doesn't want a haircut if it is not perfect, as he saw it in his mind, enough to buzz it off completely. The food doesn't taste good enough, his mood is totally altered. Why?

I would like to know more about why they are like this. Can anyone point out basic flaws in thinking that makes someone an Extremist? What does psychology or philosophy have to say about this?

By the way, you should not use the term "extremists" for that. A radical or extremist is someone who is consistently loyal to his principles. It could be an Objectivist who does not compromise or a religious extremist. I recently read an article by Ayn Rand: "extremism, or the art of smearing" in Capitalism the unknown ideal, you might want to check it out.