One thing not mentioned was maybe this guy was a nervous flyer. I used to be deathly afraid of flying and didn't even take my first flight until 7 years ago. Since then I have logged 10s of thousands of miles but still get uneasy at times. If there is ever a strange noise or a weird feeling I always look out the window, even if there is nothing to see. Just a weird habit. Now I'm not so nervous that I would constantly open and close the shade that many times but if this guy was doing it during landing or at certain times he might have just been really scared. Food for thought.

As the last commenter said though, most of the people complaining in the aisle would never switch seats. Funny how that works.