akirlu | Five Geek Social Fallacies (Reply)

Interesting analysis of root causes of angst and dysfunction in geek social circles. Of the five fallacies he lists, the one that seemed most distinctively geek-ish, and sadly familiar, was the first: Ostracizers are Evil. Certainly there were several cycles of that meme on rassef-that-was -- one (usually new) person or another would get up on a soap-box and denounce anybody who tried to enforce the local cultural norms as rotten, mean, wicked no-goodniks. For that matter in meatspace, I long ago noticed that it takes rilly substantial provocation to get LASFS to toss anybody out, and thus you get the social greshaming-out of people who believe in minimal standards of hygiene and social aptitude. But a lot of the other observations ring familiar as well --I'm surely victim to the occasional belief, or at least wish, that all my friends should get along with each other too -- and there were several "ah-ha!" moments in it. If you've hung around with fans much, you might find it insightful. If nothing else, it gives one some extra tools to analyze social dynamics gone awry. I can certainly see a lot of the YFYP (Your Feelings, Your Problem) species of assholishness in my own reactions to the fallacies. Anyway, an interesting read. I commend it to you.