Tom:
>I agree with your observation. Some of the "100% raw NOW" people seem
>to have very serious mental problems - hostile zealotry, full-blown eating
>disorders, lunacy, etc. (This list has seen examples of hostile zealotry.)
>Some other "100% raw" people display symptoms of less serious mental
>impairments: mental spaciness, emotional fragility (just challenge their
>diet -you will see this very quickly), sugar addiction, eating disorder
>behavior (binge eating, cheating, lying about eating, obsession with food
>and its "purity"), adherence to crackpot conspiracy/environmental schemes,
>emotional immaturity, and so on.

You seem to be describing the average fruitarian. Let me do the same
with the average instincto. Maybe some of the readers will find
the following caricature amusing, but not so far from reality.

                                     *****

Mr. X is an instinctive eater. He had been a vegetarian for 3 years, but
his health didn't benefit from his diet as much as he would have liked.
He had read about many different theories, which contradict more or
less each other. One day, as he was looking randomly at books on a shelf
of a bookstore, he spots a thick book. The title says: "Manger Vrai", by
G.-C. Burger. Intrigued by the fact that the Ultimate Diet could consist
of cheeseburgers, he opens the book at the first page and sees a story
about red cabbages. After a while, he realizes that it is about eating
raw. As the ideas seem non-conventional, and haven't been exposed in any
of the 35 dusty books about dietetics that lie in Mr X's library, he
decides to buy it.

Coming back home, he cannot wait to read his new book. At first, he is
seduced by the provocative tone, and then by the scientific approach.
So many rigorous arguments, and promises of eternal youth, return to
the Golden Age! Wow! He is conscious that raw diets are extreme, and that
instincto is one of the most extreme of raw diets. But doesn't mind. He
has never liked conventional ideas, and always despised those who
a priori reject all the ideas that have not been scientifically proven.
And any idea, by the mere fact that it can disturb people, is attractive
to him.

So, he decides to go to Montramé for one week. Everything is so fine,
Burger is bright and has a strong personality, everyone is so excited
about their experience, like kids discovering a new toy. Of course adults'
toys are somewhat more expensive, but what's the hell? Health is priceless.

After that euphoric week, he firmly decides to continue forever. Of course,
he loses weight, and as others think he has gone crazy and self-destructive,
he knows it is a sign of detoxification and says to everyone who wants
to hear it that he is feeling great, that all his health problems are being
solved. Of course, he worries a bit about his weight, and eats a lot
of concentrate food, maybe too much. But why worry about pouring so much
high-quality, "original" food? So, he doesn't listen to the comments around
him. Instead, he strongly believes that he has found the right path to
Ultimate Truth, that most people are blind to it, and that he is somewhat
enlightened, among the elite.

A few months later, as his weight comes back to normal, it comforts him
in his belief that his diet is correct and that his was right, alone
against the whole world. Of course, he is conscious that his health is
not yet perfect, but there are many reasons to that: detoxification still
under way, food supply not of perfect quality, and, above all, "mistakes"
that will certainly be corrected with experience. He feels he has to
keep closer to the instincto line, make no exceptions, because anything
incorrect may mislead his instinct and destroy the fragile building.
So, he is trapped, but he doesn't care, because his jail is a golden one.
He is obsessed about his diet, yes, but doesn't want to appear so. His
feelings are a mixture of a sense of purity (so many instinctive quality
tropical fruits flown by Orkos) and of guilt (why attach so much importance
to something trivial, the lowest, animal part in us?).

Three years later, his health has improved a lot. He has been searching
for a more and more perfect diet, fighting against his neo-cortex and
many years of obliterated instinct. His health is still not perfect, but
he still believes that the key lies in more perfection, more refinement
of his practice. At that point, he decides to come back to Montramé for a
few days. There, he meets Miss. Y. They immediately fall in love with
each other at the first glance (wow!). Of course, he guides her in her
new path. He is a bit paternalistic, but he is too proud of showing the
truth to a not yet enlightened person. He feels his understanding of
instincto theory is so deep that it is his duty to share it to others.

The following year, X and Y plan to travel to Thailand (country of the
durian!). Of course, they have heard of some diseases in tropical areas,
such as mal... malar... What? Don't remember. They don't care, since
instinctos are immune to all diseases, and anyway, as viruses are all
beneficial, the new ones they would encounter can but help further
detoxifying. So, they land at Bangkok in the summer 19**, and really enjoy
the cheap tropical fruits. However, after one week, Y has a severe fever,
muscle cramps, lost appetite, and is so weak that she has to stay in
bed. Convinced that it is a detoxification process, X advises Y to let
Nature do its work of natural healing, although Y expresses some doubts.
But after one week, as Y gets worse and worse, X decides to call a doctor.
Y is immediately sent to the hospital for an emergency treatment, as
she is diagnosed to have caught the notorious par... paras... Well,
something that doesn't exist in instincto theory.

Y gets better after 48 hours. They both come back to France, but after her
near-death experience, Y has become more skeptical about instincto theory,
so she decides to give up strict practice. Her diet still includes lots
of raw fruits and veggies, no wheat and milk. Of course, X was a bit
angry towards her, has a feeling of betrayal. He thinks she should resume
instincto, refine her diet, detoxify further... but he finally accepts it
with philosophy, more convinced than ever that instincto is only for the
elite, and that he decidedly is among the privileged people.


Best wishes,

Jean-Louis
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