The case of Tarrare
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It is a familiar pattern. These figures are treated as stars of the medical circuit until they become a nuisance, at which point they are exiled.
his case helped early medicine categorize polyphagia.
The claim that his appetite bypassed moral reasoning is a psychological conclusion, not a medical one. Were there any recorded measurements of his metabolic rate to support a physiological basis?
If we assume the medical accounts were exaggerated to fit the era's taste for the grotesque, would the descriptions of his physical skin folds still be enough to prove a physiological disorder?
The military's attempt to use him as a spy occurred during the French Revolutionary Wars. The desperation of that period explains why they would attempt something as illogical as using a man who could not stop eating as a stealth agent.
I disagree that he was just a liability. The fact that the army tried to integrate him shows a genuine, if clumsy, attempt to find a use for his unique condition.
The idea of hunger as an identity is so wild... it makes me think of the hypothalamus and how those satiety signals can just fail... imagine the mental toll of a permanent starvation loop...
You're missing the grift. He spent years as a professional glutton for paying crowds. That's not a biological glitch; that's a calculated performance.