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I've worked on quite a few teams of nerdy hackers, as I suspect you have and many of us have, and let's take a look around and be honest: for the most part, the

I've worked on quite a few teams of nerdy hackers, as I suspect you have and many of us have, and let's take a look around and be honest: for the most part, the stereotype still holds. For the most part. Are things trending, if slowly, in the other direction? Perhaps. But we have a long, long way to go in a galaxy far away before your average hacker is dating attractive women.

electromagnetic 16y ago
I don't believe nerds are becoming any less stereotypical, I just believe more and more people are becoming nerdy. As more generations are born, technology becomes more ingrained. I'm in my 20's, we grew up with technology. I was navigating DOS at 4. My wife remembers using Amigas. I don't have to ask anyone my age if they know how to use '...' because they do, it's innate. You give your average 50 year old a new piece of technology and they're lost. Simply take video games. The amount of people who play are now astounding. I know girls that play CoD, who WoW, who're making levels on LBP, who were excited when SC2 came out. For my generation I expect a lot of nerds will be dating attractive female nerds.
- jonnathanson 16y ago
  True, but we must keep in mind that the definition of "nerdy" isn't static either. Nerds operate at the fringes (we can call them bleeding edges if we're feeling self-generous!) of interests and culture. MMORPGs may no longer be the exclusive domain of nerds these days, but there are other things to fill the void. The revival of old-school hardware hacking and homebrew hobbyism, for example. Or hard sci-fi. Or the latest and greatest tech in general (and obviously I don't mean mainstream tech). Nerds are also defined by a sort of intense interest level in their given fields. (Not coincidentally, Asperger's follows a similar diagnostic consideration set). A non-nerd may play Civ5, but will a non-nerd ever mod Civ5? Will a non-nerd ever intentionally hack the AI to improve the realism of diplomacy in Civ5, or to script out realistic reenactments of the Cold War? I did those things, and I really doubt a "normal" would have done them. I'm sure you have similar passions, projects, quirks, hobbies, interests, etc. -- that unique combination of traits that will always set you apart as a nerd. Yes, in theory, these days it's a lot more socially acceptable for you to wear that nerdery as a badge of honor. But that's theory, and then there's praxis. I find that most non-nerds pay lip service to nerd-chic, but they won't actually walk the walk. I really doubt a non-nerd will ever entertain a conversation with me about artificial intelligence or string theory.
9oliYQjP 16y ago
In high school, when my algebra teacher found out I was attending a semi-formal that he was chaperoning, he said "Really? You're taking a girl? Good for you." I showed up and when he saw who I was with, his jaw literally dropped. I had one of the hottest girls as my high school sweetheart. We won a "cutest couple" award that night. We dated for 3 years. I know a lot of hackers (of either sex) with attractive partners. It's not hacking that's unsexy. My girlfriend encouraged me to play on the computer so long as she got the attention she needed too. She loved it when I built her a computer (it was completely purple in the 1990s, a rare machine). She even played a few Quake 2 death matches online with me. But sometimes hackers are unconfident. That's a universal turnoff. After I dated that girl I went years without finding another girlfriend because I'd totally lost confidence in myself. Get some confidence, and even a computer programmer can get an attractive partner. I thought this was thoroughly documented in The Game :-)
- jonnathanson 16y ago
  Well, yes. It's not that hacking in and of itself is not sexy; it's that hackers and social awkwardness tend to be fairly highly correlated. That doesn't mean hackers, as a categorical rule, must be scrawny and squirrely and awkward. But a lot of us are. I don't consider myself to be, nor do I fault those who are for being that way. I just think we'd be slightly naive to assume the myth of the nerdy hacker is no longer reflective of reality whatsoever.

electromagnetic 16y ago

I don't believe nerds are becoming any less stereotypical, I just believe more and more people are becoming nerdy. As more generations are born, technology becomes more ingrained. I'm in my 20's, we grew up with technology. I was navigating DOS at 4. My wife remembers using Amigas. I don't have to ask anyone my age if they know how to use '...' because they do, it's innate. You give your average 50 year old a new piece of technology and they're lost. Simply take video games. The amount of people who play are now astounding. I know girls that play CoD, who WoW, who're making levels on LBP, who were excited when SC2 came out. For my generation I expect a lot of nerds will be dating attractive female nerds.

jonnathanson 16y ago
True, but we must keep in mind that the definition of "nerdy" isn't static either. Nerds operate at the fringes (we can call them bleeding edges if we're feeling self-generous!) of interests and culture. MMORPGs may no longer be the exclusive domain of nerds these days, but there are other things to fill the void. The revival of old-school hardware hacking and homebrew hobbyism, for example. Or hard sci-fi. Or the latest and greatest tech in general (and obviously I don't mean mainstream tech). Nerds are also defined by a sort of intense interest level in their given fields. (Not coincidentally, Asperger's follows a similar diagnostic consideration set). A non-nerd may play Civ5, but will a non-nerd ever mod Civ5? Will a non-nerd ever intentionally hack the AI to improve the realism of diplomacy in Civ5, or to script out realistic reenactments of the Cold War? I did those things, and I really doubt a "normal" would have done them. I'm sure you have similar passions, projects, quirks, hobbies, interests, etc. -- that unique combination of traits that will always set you apart as a nerd. Yes, in theory, these days it's a lot more socially acceptable for you to wear that nerdery as a badge of honor. But that's theory, and then there's praxis. I find that most non-nerds pay lip service to nerd-chic, but they won't actually walk the walk. I really doubt a non-nerd will ever entertain a conversation with me about artificial intelligence or string theory.

9oliYQjP 16y ago

In high school, when my algebra teacher found out I was attending a semi-formal that he was chaperoning, he said "Really? You're taking a girl? Good for you." I showed up and when he saw who I was with, his jaw literally dropped. I had one of the hottest girls as my high school sweetheart. We won a "cutest couple" award that night. We dated for 3 years. I know a lot of hackers (of either sex) with attractive partners. It's not hacking that's unsexy. My girlfriend encouraged me to play on the computer so long as she got the attention she needed too. She loved it when I built her a computer (it was completely purple in the 1990s, a rare machine). She even played a few Quake 2 death matches online with me. But sometimes hackers are unconfident. That's a universal turnoff. After I dated that girl I went years without finding another girlfriend because I'd totally lost confidence in myself. Get some confidence, and even a computer programmer can get an attractive partner. I thought this was thoroughly documented in The Game :-)

jonnathanson 16y ago
Well, yes. It's not that hacking in and of itself is not sexy; it's that hackers and social awkwardness tend to be fairly highly correlated. That doesn't mean hackers, as a categorical rule, must be scrawny and squirrely and awkward. But a lot of us are. I don't consider myself to be, nor do I fault those who are for being that way. I just think we'd be slightly naive to assume the myth of the nerdy hacker is no longer reflective of reality whatsoever.