I had a run-in with one of them one semester. She wasn't noticeably SJW-like just looking at her - no dangerhair, no horrible makeup (at least not to class). The only thing that'd clue you in would probably have been the eye-gore pseudo-lolita fashion that she decks herself in every single day. I never knew of her existence until I had to take a philosophy class to clear out my classes and she was in that class with me, and boy did she make an impression day one.
There's a tendency by instructors here to either give very light content or no content at all in the first lecture, preferring to run through some logistics, deadlines, the course structure and the course itself. In this particular class, the prof decided to just run through some deadlines and go through the themes and (briefly) the reading materials that we would be running through in each week. We happened to have a week dedicated to a Darwinian perspective in understanding ethics and morality, and the main material assigned was this article that attempted to take a look at morality using Darwin's theory of evolution. It wasn't supposed to be a particularly controversial reading, and mind you, this was just the first week into semester and most people wouldn't have much strong opinions about things much later in the semester.
Except her. Just hearing the word 'Darwin' flipped on her switch and she piped up in the middle of the prof's introductory spiel about the week's theme, speaking with a lisp, something along the lines of: "But-but Darwin was responsible for homophobic and sexist beliefs..." Maybe it was just me, but I swear the class went into this dead, awkward silence. Not one of those thoughtful silences where you could feel everyone thinking, but one of those awkward silences where you could feel everyone dying inside.
In later weeks her behavior showed more. She would pipe up in the middle of class to say the most inane shit, or sometimes even chirp up her opinion on why she was so happy the prof brought up homosexuality as an example. And the prof was all too happy to accept whatever she said. Towards the end of the semester, either because she didn't realize the implications or because of a slip of the mouth, she said to the prof in the middle of class, with everyone listening: "I heard from my mother that an acquaintance of yours ate chicken in front of a philosopher to annoy him." Her
mother taught in the department and knew the prof personally. Make what you will of that.
I grew curious about her across that semester and did my own snooping on the net about her. I'd also happened to make a friend who happened to be in the same course as her and heard of her antics before, and I found out that:
- She had Aspergers, was dyslexic and had been awarded a disability scholarship
- She apparently had a track record where she would dramatically faint during examinations just so she could re-take it, or bugging instructors endlessly just so she could get an advantage over others in assignments
- She was lesbian and had a girlfriend from overseas that she might have never met in person before (but for some reason she was dying to marry and would proudly announce that to the whole class)
- She actively declared herself as a feminist and a fierce supporter of trans rights
- Although she didn't do it in the class we were in, there were also stories of her chimping out about social justice in other classes
I'm just glad I won't ever see her anymore. Apparently what I'd experienced with her was just the tip of the iceberg of her insanity.
