3 ms·

That's not true, it some BS cultural narrative with a couple data points that allows people to other that which they fear to be a part of. It's the tech equival

That's not true, it some BS cultural narrative with a couple data points that allows people to other that which they fear to be a part of. It's the tech equivalent to artist are tortured geniuses. More importantly, I would much rather have no power "geeks" pushing toxic sex/race/gender politics out of fear and awkwardness then the structural crap being pushed on mass by big tech companies with huge gold parachutes for bad actors. I grew up loving the ideas of RMS, but for every RMS behaving "nerd", there were 4 Ivan Sutherland, Grace Hooper, Alan Kay, Ajay Bhatt.

bsaul 7y ago
Well, no. There's definitely some kind of truth behind it. Wanting to spend most of your life in front of a computer , barely talking to anyone was considered something very weird until it became common in all kinds of jobs. I remember when i started freelancing 10 years ago, people would say things like "oh, you don't look like a developer. i mean, we can talk to you normally". And that was based on their personal experience with their own IT department. And i know teachers in coding schools that regularly have to make public announcement asking people to take showers every morning. I couldn't believe it when they told me that, but apparently they had to.
- soganess 7y ago
  I'm sure one could place those first two sentences at the start of any defense of a stereotype. I remember when i started freelancing 10 years ago, people would say things like "oh, you don't look like a developer. i mean, we can talk to you normally". I know so many tech workers with that exact story open. Telling individual they are the special exception is how we maintain stereotypes. "My preconceptions aren't wrong, this is just atypical" is the first rule in the book. And people's interactions with their IT departments are always so strange. People don't like being at fault for productivity lose so they shift blame. I've seen people blame the computer or even the IT guy for issues they do not understand and balk at the explanation as "not normal." Those same people wouldn't accuse a doctor of not speaking normal for using medical jargon. But the stakes and the power dynamics are quite different in medicine. While I care about my hygiene a fair bit, if I was in a coding academy and someone had the audacity to treat a group adults like children and basically tell them they don't understand how to keep their bodies clean... I would demand a refund and tell that individual off for the self-serving infantilization of others. There are a million reasons why someone's odor is more noticeable then what most are accustom too. Simply assuming "nerds don't shower, so I'll give em a little hand" is all kinds of wrong. They can't shower but they can build infrastructure, right?
  - bsaul 7y ago
    Stereotypes don’t come from nowhere.. in the case of nerds, i don’t know of any sociology studies performed by researchers on a nationwide scale, so i guess personal experiences is all i can provide. They do mostly confirm the sterotypes.
    - emiliobumachar 7y ago
      Beware of No True Scotsman. Of the people you know personally, who do you consider a nerd, other than those who confirm the stereotype?

bsaul 7y ago

Well, no. There's definitely some kind of truth behind it. Wanting to spend most of your life in front of a computer , barely talking to anyone was considered something very weird until it became common in all kinds of jobs. I remember when i started freelancing 10 years ago, people would say things like "oh, you don't look like a developer. i mean, we can talk to you normally". And that was based on their personal experience with their own IT department. And i know teachers in coding schools that regularly have to make public announcement asking people to take showers every morning. I couldn't believe it when they told me that, but apparently they had to.

soganess 7y ago
I'm sure one could place those first two sentences at the start of any defense of a stereotype. I remember when i started freelancing 10 years ago, people would say things like "oh, you don't look like a developer. i mean, we can talk to you normally". I know so many tech workers with that exact story open. Telling individual they are the special exception is how we maintain stereotypes. "My preconceptions aren't wrong, this is just atypical" is the first rule in the book. And people's interactions with their IT departments are always so strange. People don't like being at fault for productivity lose so they shift blame. I've seen people blame the computer or even the IT guy for issues they do not understand and balk at the explanation as "not normal." Those same people wouldn't accuse a doctor of not speaking normal for using medical jargon. But the stakes and the power dynamics are quite different in medicine. While I care about my hygiene a fair bit, if I was in a coding academy and someone had the audacity to treat a group adults like children and basically tell them they don't understand how to keep their bodies clean... I would demand a refund and tell that individual off for the self-serving infantilization of others. There are a million reasons why someone's odor is more noticeable then what most are accustom too. Simply assuming "nerds don't shower, so I'll give em a little hand" is all kinds of wrong. They can't shower but they can build infrastructure, right?
- bsaul 7y ago
  Stereotypes don’t come from nowhere.. in the case of nerds, i don’t know of any sociology studies performed by researchers on a nationwide scale, so i guess personal experiences is all i can provide. They do mostly confirm the sterotypes.
  - emiliobumachar 7y ago
    Beware of No True Scotsman. Of the people you know personally, who do you consider a nerd, other than those who confirm the stereotype?