It's time to call time on nerd culture

http://radar.oreilly.com/2014/10/its-time-to-call-time-on-nerd-culture.html

by Garbage • 12 years ago

14 6 12 years ago

radar.oreilly.com

mindcrime• 12 years ago

I'm not sure I agree with all the amateur psychoanalysis stuff in this piece, but I generally agree with the overall spirit. Hacker culture / geek culture / whatever you want to call it, isn't always as welcoming and kind-spirited as it could be, and I think that's sad. It's sad on very many levels too - everytime a prospective Open Source contributor walks away because a group of morons on IRC were acting like dickheads, or anytime a kid decides to study finance instead of physics or computer science, everytime somebody (note: Female OR Male OR Trans, whatever) is harassed and abused at a conference, it makes the world a suckier place.

I wish we could get geek culture (and, to be honest, ALL human culture eventually) to adhere to a simple "Be Excellent To Each Other" principle. It's really not that hard to choose being kind over being a dick, or to choose to treat other people with respect and dignity instead of being an asshole. So why not just do it?

kstenerud• 12 years ago

What I'm seeing is a group of traditionally marginalised people being suddenly thrust into positions of power. And lo and behold, their behaviour is more mainstream than they're willing to admit.

And therein lies the problem. Nerd culture holds fiercely to the differences between them and the "mainstream". But what does one do when ones culture becomes the mainstream? Suddenly, caustic behaviour and bullying are no longer the eccentric responses of an oppressed people, but instead are the humdrum machinations of your average asshole.

This is not nerd culture; it's HUMAN culture, and must be dealt with as such. You don't treat those who lack empathy with kid gloves.

daveloyall• 12 years ago

I agree with @mindcrime that the spirit of this is right and the details have probably been implemented by an amateur.

I read an article on this topic recently which said something about people who grok what a meme is.

Let's say that you are in that club and also agree with the author in spirit.

Some trolls are paid to be disruptive because you-know-who doesn't want our geek community to be too unified. Oh, and the shills are sometimes armed with big-data insights, too.

...Yes? Okay. :)

krigi• 12 years ago

I had to stop reading half way through. Whenever this type of examination is posted, it's usually that the author finally realizes he's an individual and doesn't have to adhere to any culture at all.

Nullvoice• 12 years ago

Just no. He mixes this,

"nerds now have money, power, and status", and "mainstream culture has shifted from mocking us to respecting us" with, "GamerGate made me ashamed to be a gamer"

Nerds are still the butt of the joke, and still get the negative media attention. Gamergate is the perfect example of this. The media spin has been enormous, and not in "nerd" favor. I don't know how many times I've seen "fat sweaty basement dwelling nerd" thrown around during the ordeal. If the nerds had really won, certainly the nerds would get the spin, or at least a proper voice. No, This guy has obviously just been reading the mainstream, otherwise he'd know that the death threats, harassment, and other terrible elements of internet culture have been thrown equally at pro-gamergate supporters.

The nerds haven't won yet, not even close. Some nerds and elements of culture have merely gone mainstream, but nerds themselves are still pariah at large. In TV they're still black-faced by shows like The Big Bang Theory and Scorpion. Negative stereotypes still rule public perception. I would equate what's happening now to the rise of Jazz and The Blues in early America. Many whites during this time were accepting of some black musicians (enough to listen to them), but blacks themselves at large didn't benefit from the popularity of the media they'd largely created.

Are there issues in the community? Yes. There is in any, and they should be addressed reasonably. But only because that's the right thing to do, not because nerds have "the power" now and have a responsibility to do right by it as such. Most of the money and power they have is locked up by non-nerd businessmen, investors, and a select few nerds who have taken nerd labors and interests and made them profitable and mainstream.

So for the time being, while the mainstream is so bent on portraying nerds so insultingly and wrong, they should keep not listening. Nerds should solve these problems from their own ranks, and not from impartial bystanders. Nerds have gotten better over the years, and almost none of it because the detractors.

A_COMPUTER• 12 years ago

A while back I was with a friend, and in the course of a conversation she referred to another person we know by "what a fucking nerd." I said "don't you call yourself a nerd?" And she replied "Well yeah, but not a real nerd."

I don't play games much anymore, but I still have affection for them. I have watched the gamergate thing unfold and began to feel things I hadn't felt in a long time. It took me a little while but I finally remembered. It felt like back when being a "nerd" wasn't cool, and your peers treated you like human garbage for loving science fiction or typing code from a book into a Commodore 64.

I don't think a god damn thing has changed about people hating nerds, except nowadays you pretend you're tolerant and enlightened so you have to construct a moral failing that the nerd is guilty of even if they didn't personally do anything to you. Then they're fair game for name-calling and personal abuse. Basement-dweller neckbeard dateless permavirgin fedoralord.

It's time to call time on nerd culture

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