I appreciate your answer
I don't think Ed Grondine is exactly insane. But he is bordering on it and should at the very least go talk to a professional over his obsessions and delusions.
I tend to agree with you, i.e.,that Grondine is not insane. Moreover, so does the clinical psychologist (a friend of my wife) to whom I submitted a sample of E.P.'s "Top Twenty Greatest Hits/Posts from The Habitable Zone." Her response was:
Based on the admittedly limited data, I do not believe the Subject [Grondine] is psychotic, at least prima facie. Most psychotics tend to be quite erratic and not make sense in general conversation. The Subject does appear to make sense in his/her uniquely eccentric way. Beyond that, it's hard to say. As to whether the Subject is suffering from untreated manic-depression, schizophrenia, paranoia, etc., I, or any other professional, would need to perform a detailed personal examination, including in-depth review of the Subject's personal history.
OK, I respect that professional opinion. That said, however, the question remains: Why does Grondine do this? Sometimes I am convinced that he is merely playing (i.e., "trolling"), that he can't be serious, that it's a game for him, that he is just being curmudgeonly, etc. I'm sure he would deny this, of course. Remember that mentally sick people can be quite clever in disguising their pathology, too.
The problem is that nobody here seems to be able to put a finger on it. As human beings, we're complex creatures. We all have a variety of feelings and thoughts; even when we disagree with someone there is almost always at least a part of us which understands the other person. But Grondine's postings here fall outside of that realm, and that is truly puzzling. There is no understanding of what he is doing, of what motivates him, if he is serious, etc. The "game" ... well, everyone understands that. But if it is not a game to him, what is it? What he claims it is just does not make sense (viz., "protecting Earth from asteroids"). I think this is what has led to all the comments about him being mentally disturbed or unstable. If other humans can understand why someone does something, even if they disagree with it, they usually don't consider the person crazy.
So much of the evidence suggests that Grondine is sane, I agree. But then what is going on and what is he doing?