Apparently, I'm 3 years late to this place (you're not really found on the standard google search, for good reasons). I guess I'll go through your rant and correct some errors and answer questions:
First of all, in regards to the beginning of the conversation with Stef, I was hot off of some /pol/ and /fur/ on 8chan, still in the mindset of that culture to gross-out with extreme examples. If I'd mentally prepared much better and not been doing that, I think I would have been in a better state to properly speak with Stef. Secondly, I believe that the lack of general socialization did not help my case in general. Yes, those sorts of things DO happen (like 20% as some were saying), but not so much as initially perceived. I agree that the nature of the title and thumbnail of the video was certainly in-line with the click-bait present on Youtube (from a money-making standpoint, it fits though)
"The Otters are your family"
You may be correct that a large portion of those in the fandom have it just as a hobby or otherwise trivial aspect of their life. In the subsequent Talk-Therapy and pursuit of Self-Knowledge, the further assertion of it having a deeper role did prove to be accurate to some degree, particularly with a Father figure and with male peership. Not exactly on-the-nose, but close enough in the territory to be accurate when I explored that aspect further.
"Abandon your Otter Family"
At this point (3+ years later), I've almost exclusively left the furry fandom. I won't say that there still aren't opportunities to socialize, learn, grow and otherwise enjoy other people within this realm, but as a whole, I don't see it as a good fit for me and, with the countless informal conversations I've had with others in this fandom, doesn't seem good for them either. I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:11 "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." I won't say that the fandom as a whole is completely childish, but those who are in it should do a little bit of self-reflection on if they are growing as a person while doing it (I wanted to put an example here like diaperfurs, but that seems petty).
" what role does the education system play in our rearing?"
Pretty good question, It absolutely had an influence in my life, which was primarily negative (with the exception of 3 LDS teachers that I had in gradeschool and High School). My experience with it as an institution was un-caring or even hostile while the so-called "peers" within this group were disconnected and rude as well. It's not hard to see this glass as half-empty while it was so differently bad to my other social spheres.
In the end, There is some good I've found out of the experience: The positive aspects that I see in my Fursona are certainly acheivable in my own life. I am reminded of the Quote by Alan Watts on Dreams:
“Let's suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream that you wanted to dream. And that you could, for example, have the power within one night to dream 75 years of time. Or any length of time you wanted to have. And you would, naturally as you began on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all your wishes. You would have every kind of pleasure you could conceive. And after several nights of 75 years of total pleasure each, you would say "Well, that was pretty great." But now let's have a surprise. Let's have a dream which isn't under control. Where something is gonna happen to me that I don't know what it's going to be. And you would dig that and come out of that and say "Wow, that was a close shave, wasn't it?" And then you would get more and more adventurous, and you would make further and further out gambles as to what you would dream. And finally, you would dream ... where you are now. You would dream the dream of living the life that you are actually living today.”
Apparently, I'm 3 years late to this place (you're not really found on the standard google search, for good reasons). I guess I'll go through your rant and correct some errors and answer questions:
First of all, in regards to the beginning of the conversation with Stef, I was hot off of some /pol/ and /fur/ on 8chan, still in the mindset of that culture to gross-out with extreme examples. If I'd mentally prepared much better and not been doing that, I think I would have been in a better state to properly speak with Stef. Secondly, I believe that the lack of general socialization did not help my case in general. Yes, those sorts of things DO happen (like 20% as some were saying), but not so much as initially perceived. I agree that the nature of the title and thumbnail of the video was certainly in-line with the click-bait present on Youtube (from a money-making standpoint, it fits though)
"The Otters are your family"
You may be correct that a large portion of those in the fandom have it just as a hobby or otherwise trivial aspect of their life. In the subsequent Talk-Therapy and pursuit of Self-Knowledge, the further assertion of it having a deeper role did prove to be accurate to some degree, particularly with a Father figure and with male peership. Not exactly on-the-nose, but close enough in the territory to be accurate when I explored that aspect further.
"Abandon your Otter Family"
At this point (3+ years later), I've almost exclusively left the furry fandom. I won't say that there still aren't opportunities to socialize, learn, grow and otherwise enjoy other people within this realm, but as a whole, I don't see it as a good fit for me and, with the countless informal conversations I've had with others in this fandom, doesn't seem good for them either. I am reminded of 1 Corinthians 13:11 "When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things." I won't say that the fandom as a whole is completely childish, but those who are in it should do a little bit of self-reflection on if they are growing as a person while doing it (I wanted to put an example here like diaperfurs, but that seems petty).
" what role does the education system play in our rearing?"
Pretty good question, It absolutely had an influence in my life, which was primarily negative (with the exception of 3 LDS teachers that I had in gradeschool and High School). My experience with it as an institution was un-caring or even hostile while the so-called "peers" within this group were disconnected and rude as well. It's not hard to see this glass as half-empty while it was so differently bad to my other social spheres.
In the end, There is some good I've found out of the experience: The positive aspects that I see in my Fursona are certainly acheivable in my own life. I am reminded of the Quote by Alan Watts on Dreams:
“Let's suppose that you were able every night to dream any dream that you wanted to dream. And that you could, for example, have the power within one night to dream 75 years of time. Or any length of time you wanted to have. And you would, naturally as you began on this adventure of dreams, you would fulfill all your wishes. You would have every kind of pleasure you could conceive. And after several nights of 75 years of total pleasure each, you would say "Well, that was pretty great." But now let's have a surprise. Let's have a dream which isn't under control. Where something is gonna happen to me that I don't know what it's going to be. And you would dig that and come out of that and say "Wow, that was a close shave, wasn't it?" And then you would get more and more adventurous, and you would make further and further out gambles as to what you would dream. And finally, you would dream ... where you are now. You would dream the dream of living the life that you are actually living today.”