I just found an joke entry on wiki

  • Thread starter Alex_Sanders
  • Start date
In summary: That's exactly what I was saying. None of the refernces list first hand accounts of people who intimately knew the supposed sufferers, e.g. there is no reference to a document written by a close friend of Napoleon. Even if there was, we have to be careful about whether the documents (were they really written by so-and-so? etc.) and the author (real historical person? is he or she lying or not? etc.) are trustworthy.
  • #1
Alex_Sanders
73
0
Guess I'll have to post it here before wiki site maintainers delete it:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailurophobia

Welcome the the crazy world! There are people, famous ones, scared of cats!

Hahaha, and the author of this entry went so far as to give the term a greecian origin, hilarious!

And let's take a look at the list of famous victims:

Napoleon Bonaparte
Julius Caesar
Alexander the Great
Adolf Hitler
Genghis Khan
Benito Mussolini

Basically all those historic figures that had their hands drenched in blood!
 
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  • #2
What makes you think this is a joke entry, and what makes you think the wiki site maintainers are going to delete it? The entry is about a real phobia, the title of the article is the correct word that names that phobia. This particular wiki article has been around since May 2007, so the odds that it will be deleted are rather low.
 
  • #3
D H said:
What makes you think this is a joke entry, and what makes you think the wiki site maintainers are going to delete it? The entry is about a real phobia, the title of the article is the correct word that names that phobia. This particular wiki article has been around since May 2007, so the odds that it will be deleted are rather low.

Yea, right, Napoleon, Caesar are afraid of cats.

As for the long remaining time, I'd say wiki is a big site, takes lots man-hour to maintain.
 
  • #4
I wonder where they get the facts to back up that those people hada fear of cats. And no, I couldn't be bothered to find out for myself.
 
  • #5
qspeechc said:
I wonder where they get the facts to back up that those people hada fear of cats. And no, I couldn't be bothered to find out for myself.

There's a list of references at the bottom. If anybody was interested enough, you could go to the library and check.
 
  • #6
Its a real phobia. Your none acceptance of it doesn't mean its a joke. The reasons phobias are phobias is because they're irrational.
 
  • #7
They forgot to mention Roy Horn.
 
  • #8
Jack21222 said:
There's a list of references at the bottom. If anybody was interested enough, you could go to the library and check.

I went to each person's wikipedia page but they are much to long for me to be bothered to search for such a trivial thing, much less would I want to look up the references. I just wanted someone to go and look for me, lol. I tend to agree with mister Alex_Sanders, I don't really believe (or care) that those men had "ailurophobia", or what us ordinary people call a fear of cats.
 
  • #9
You didn't need to go to the bottom of each person's Wikipedia page. Just the one linked in the OP. Most of the references point to an Azimov book.
 
  • #10
What exactly distinguishes this as a joke?
 
  • #11
There doesn't seem to actually be any evidence the famous people named had a fear of cats. But the phobia is real.
 
  • #12
I've actually checked the sources on the wikipedia page, and I did not find any real reputable source whether those famous persons feared cats or not. So I'm a bit skeptical...

The phobia is real though.
 
  • #13
The original mail said "scared of pussies!", and it was hilarious. Now it got changed to "scared of cats!". I do not get the joke now...
 
  • #14
jobyts said:
The original mail said "scared of pussies!", and it was hilarious. Now it got changed to "scared of cats!". I do not get the joke now...
There is no joke.
 
  • #15
Evo said:
There is no joke.


Oh yes there is, killer kitties, anything more comical than that? Wait a minute, I could make a cartoon series outta this! Oh wait yet another minute, I can't draw...
 
  • #16
Jack21222 said:
You didn't need to go to the bottom of each person's Wikipedia page. Just the one linked in the OP. Most of the references point to an Azimov book.

I didn't. I went to the wiki page for Ailurophobia that the OP gave, saw the names of the people supposedly to have suffered from it, went to their wiki pages, and gave up because they were to long for me to be bothered.

Evo said:
There doesn't seem to actually be any evidence the famous people named had a fear of cats. But the phobia is real.

That's exactly what I was saying. None of the refernces list first hand accounts of people who intimately knew the supposed sufferers, e.g. there is no reference to a document written by a close friend of Napoleon. Even if there was, we have to be careful about whether the documents (were they really written by so-and-so? etc.) and the author (real historical person? is he or she lying or not? etc.) are trustworthy. I am just not convinced by the whole thing.
 
  • #17
Just lighten the mood here, I am pretty sure I posted this video in another thread for another reason before, nonetheless, I present "http://www.military.com/video/off-duty/humor/very-disturbing-killer-kitties-in-tanks/946199631001/" ".

Rhody... :wink:
 
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  • #18
qspeechc said:
That's exactly what I was saying. None of the refernces list first hand accounts of people who intimately knew the supposed sufferers, e.g. there is no reference to a document written by a close friend of Napoleon. Even if there was, we have to be careful about whether the documents (were they really written by so-and-so? etc.) and the author (real historical person? is he or she lying or not? etc.) are trustworthy. I am just not convinced by the whole thing.

The source for Napoleon is an Azimov book. We'd need to get the Azimov book and see who he cites.

One of the references does cite a first hand account... La Toya Jackson.

Anyway, I'm quite confused about this thread. I don't see how a cat phobia is any stranger than the million other phobias out there. At least a cat has the real capacity to harm you. Contrast this to the fear of the number 13.

As for the list of people, I'm skeptical as well, but I suppose it's possible those people had a fear of cats. It really wouldn't surprise me if they did.
 
  • #19
Ailurophobia is all too real. Every 52475385 seconds someone dies or is injured due to fear of cats. If you, or someone you love is effected by this crippling condition, don't despair, every day we are closer to a cure. Send money to the Jimmy Snyder Ailurophobia Fund. Do it today.
 
  • #20
Jack21222 said:
The source for Napoleon is an Azimov book. We'd need to get the Azimov book and see who he cites.

I didn't know that Azimov was a contemorary of Napoleon AND he knew him personally! Wow!

One of the references does cite a first hand account... La Toya Jackson.

I don't even know who that is. I was talking about the people the OP listed.

Anyway, I'm quite confused about this thread. I don't see how a cat phobia is any stranger than the million other phobias out there. At least a cat has the real capacity to harm you. Contrast this to the fear of the number 13.

As for the list of people, I'm skeptical as well, but I suppose it's possible those people had a fear of cats. It really wouldn't surprise me if they did.

Being afraid of cats and having a cat phobia are two different things. I am afraid of public speaking; I stutter, sweat, and generally feel uncomfortable. I do not, however, faint or start crying, have breathing problems, recurrent nightmares etc.
 
  • #23
A couple of case studies from my life:

1)My grandfather was afraid of cats. He believed in an old wives' tale that cats would steal the breath out of babies' mouths and suffocate them.

2)I once had a maid come over from an agency and she was deathly afraid of cats - but apparently the agency hadn't warned her. My little tabby walked into the living room and the lady fell to her knees and started hyperventilating. I asked her if she was allergic to cats and she said that she wasn't. Just terrified of them. She crawled out the door and reached around the threshold to grab her supply bucket, and then made a beeline for her car.

The latter I see as a genuine case of ailurophobia. My grandfather had more a dislike/distrust of the animals and preferred to avoid them, but he never exhibited the full-blown panic symptoms.

I've read about the people listed in Wiki in other sources as being "cat haters", but as far as them being true ailurophobes, that I don't recall. I don't know how much care the list creators took to separate the two.
 
  • #24
qspeechc said:
I didn't know that Azimov was a contemorary of Napoleon AND he knew him personally! Wow!

You really need to work on your reading comprehension. I said "we would need to see who Azimov cites." I NEVER SAID AZIMOV WAS A FIRST-HAND SOURCE. Why would you assume that? Are you just obtuse, did you not finish reading the sentence before hitting "quote," or are you intentionally trolling?
 
  • #25
qspeechc said:
I don't even know who that is. I was talking about the people the OP listed.
How can you not know La Toya Jackson?
 
  • #26
Jack21222 said:
You really need to work on your reading comprehension. I said "we would need to see who Azimov cites." I NEVER SAID AZIMOV WAS A FIRST-HAND SOURCE. Why would you assume that? Are you just obtuse, did you not finish reading the sentence before hitting "quote," or are you intentionally trolling?

All of the above. But please don't ban me.

Someone should notify wikipedia that we here at PF are not amused by their Ailurophobia.

DaveC426913 said:
How can you not know La Toya Jackson?

I'm obtuse.
 
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  • #27
Jack21222 said:
You really need to work on your reading comprehension. I said "we would need to see who Azimov cites." I NEVER SAID AZIMOV WAS A FIRST-HAND SOURCE. Why would you assume that? Are you just obtuse, did you not finish reading the sentence before hitting "quote," or are you intentionally trolling?
It was tongue in cheek, meaning since when is Asimov an authority on cat phobia, or these persons. From what I've read, neither Hitler nor Napolean had a cat phobia, since nothing about this has been found in either their writings or by historians. I haven't checked that deeply into the others as it didn't seem worth the effort. It seems the list was an internet myth picked up and posted by someone on wikipedia.
 
  • #28
Evo said:
It was tongue in cheek, meaning since when is Asimov an authority on cat phobia, or these persons. From what I've read, neither Hitler nor Napolean had a cat phobia, since nothing about this has been found in either their writings or by historians. I haven't checked that deeply into the others as it didn't seem worth the effort. It seems the list was an internet myth picked up and posted by someone on wikipedia.

Seems likely. All I was suggesting was Asimov was listed as a source, and he might list further sources in his book. I wasn't suggesting Asimov's book was correct or an expert in any of these topics (as the poster I replied to seemed to think).
 
  • #29
See this: http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2004/nov/06/weekend.justinehankins
It implies that most cat phobias of famous persons are just made up. I tend to believe that, because I want through hundreds of sites and I saw no factual evidence.
The article is not evidence that they didn't suffer from cat phobia, but I find the article to be more believable than wiki since they refer to an actual book.
 
  • #30
There is a great deal of evidence that http://mummy.wikia.com/wiki/Imhotep" person was afraid of cats.
 
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1. What is a joke entry on Wiki?

A joke entry on Wiki is a page or article that is intentionally written to be humorous or satirical. It is not meant to be taken seriously and is often created as a parody or spoof of a real entry on the website.

2. How can I tell if an entry on Wiki is a joke?

Usually, joke entries on Wiki will have obvious signs that they are not meant to be taken seriously. This can include exaggerated or ridiculous information, absurd images, or a disclaimer stating that the entry is a joke.

3. Are joke entries allowed on Wiki?

While Wiki is a platform for sharing factual information, joke entries are allowed as long as they do not violate the website's terms of use. However, they are often flagged or removed by moderators if they are deemed inappropriate or offensive.

4. Can I create my own joke entry on Wiki?

Yes, you can create your own joke entry on Wiki as long as it follows the website's guidelines and does not harm or offend others. However, keep in mind that joke entries may be removed by moderators if they are deemed inappropriate.

5. Why are there joke entries on Wiki?

Joke entries on Wiki serve as a form of entertainment and can provide a break from the serious and factual content on the website. They can also be used as a way to poke fun at certain topics or to make a statement about a particular issue.

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