The word 'nerd' has been co-opted and mainstreamed. The original hacker culture was made up of laid back left-libertarian people really into computers. Not the most politically sophisticated people on the planet, and usually a bit awkward around women. Despite that, the culture was remarkably free of racism, homophobia, and structural sexism. There was a canon of cerebral entertainment that most nerds enjoyed, but it wasn't a part of their identity, just their love for embracing weirdness and subversion.
These days it seems to be about people who really like some kind of entertainment, be it a show, or gaming. As an old school nerd, this bothers me. No, you're not a nerd if you watch Dr. Who, or play videogames, or went to university. And being a political conservative, or a liberal, that's just plain not weird enough to be a part of nerdhood. Go away, posers. It's like chuds pretending that neoconservatism is 'punk rock'.
The word 'nerd' has been co-opted and mainstreamed. The original hacker culture was made up of laid back left-libertarian people really into computers. Not the most politically sophisticated people on the planet, and usually a bit awkward around women. Despite that, the culture was remarkably free of racism, homophobia, and structural sexism. There was a canon of cerebral entertainment that most nerds enjoyed, but it wasn't a part of their identity, just their love for embracing weirdness and subversion.
These days it seems to be about people who really like some kind of entertainment, be it a show, or gaming. As an old school nerd, this bothers me. No, you're not a nerd if you watch Dr. Who, or play videogames, or went to university. And being a political conservative, or a liberal, that's just plain not weird enough to be a part of nerdhood. Go away, posers. It's like chuds pretending that neoconservatism is 'punk rock'.
lol
Remarkably, taking into account that they were politically ignorant and estranged from the world of large on account of being awkward shut-ins.