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Fierce Nerds

paulgraham.com

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Re: Fierce Nerds

#101

Post by def_true_false »

zozbot234 wrote: post #84
shalmanese wrote: post #79

PG gets dunked on on Twitter for defending Antonio Garcia Martinez but he knows he's right even though everyone is making fun of him so his natural defense mechanism is to go back and create an elaborate framework to prove he's right and it's just that nobody else can see he's right. You see, AGM isn't a misanthrope misogynist, he's fierce! He says the things everyone else is afraid to say and thinks the things every…

For anyone who isn't currently on Twitter, AGM is the guy who publicly called Bay Area women "soft, weak and full of $#!+" and was recently canned from a management role at Apple when people pointed out that his performance assessments of subordinates might not be free from bias. Sucks to be him of course, but what's the alternative?

> Sucks to be him of course, but what's the alternative?

Uh, not firing people over Twitter drama? I swear America is getting more insane by the day. It's even more obvious if you take a break from social network sites and then come back after a while.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#102

Post by eplanit »

dncornholio wrote: post #94

If you don't let the word nerd affect you with bad feelings, the post is pretty OK. I don't think nerd is a bad thing to say anymore. Also I can identify me with this personality. Last few years I can find myself turning more into bitterness and I just started realising that the cause is not external.

I like to be clear and differentiate between "dorks" and "nerds". Dorks are insufferable by definition. Nerds might sometimes act like dorks (ex: talking about bitcoin throughout a dinner), but nerds have, on balance, more redeeming qualities than the dork. There is a lot of overlap in the definition of the two[1][2]. I don't hear "dork" used much anymore -- it should be used more.

[1] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dork [2] https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nerd

Re: Fierce Nerds

#104

Post by [deleted] »

airhead969 wrote: post #88

Impatience due to rules not applying to them. And delay is often some form of BS. "Strategic" impatience when patience encourages faster results. (Manipulating people on the highway to drive faster or change lanes through various techniques.) Nothing precludes actual fierceness rather than strictly fitting to an archetype. I used to illegally street race for cash. I can detail strip most Glocks, ARs, and AKs, and fir…

[deleted]

Re: Fierce Nerds

#106

Post by helen___keller »

shard wrote: post #95
helen___keller wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

To be fair, there's a lot more to the "nerd" archetype than just technology. But, from my experience, it was not particularly edgy or differentiating to be passionate about video games, board games, card games, literature, obscure TV, fanfics, internet culture, etc.

Is the word "geek" no longer used for what you are describing? Although there a lot of overlap, I thought nerd referred to strong interests in academic subjects and geek referred to niche cultural subjects.

True, I've been conflating the two in all of my posts. As far as how they were used when I was growing up, the distinction tended to be moot because they were most commonly used ironically or jokingly.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#107

Post by zozbot234 »

def_true_false wrote: post #101
zozbot234 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For anyone who isn't currently on Twitter, AGM is the guy who publicly called Bay Area women "soft, weak and full of $#!+" and was recently canned from a management role at Apple when people pointed out that his performance assessments of subordinates might not be free from bias. Sucks to be him of course, but what's the alternative?

> Sucks to be him of course, but what's the alternative? Uh, not firing people over Twitter drama? I swear America is getting more insane by the day. It's even more obvious if you take a break from social network sites and then come back after a while.

This wasn't even Twitter drama. He wrote that in a published book, that then went on and on and on demeaning women in all sorts of "fun" ways (i.e. this isn't a single throwaway statement that might be misunderstood; the misogyny is core to what he was saying). His girlfriend is "special" of course, but he still manages to say very not-nice things about her.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#108

Post by ziggus »

oreally wrote: post #58

That's a pretty good description, and many of the posts here are about fierce nerds with petty issues which I think the essay is not about. I've grown into that fierce nerd. Being in forced conscription in my 20s has made me wary of the 'wait to rush for nothing meaningful' culture. Then I joined companies and it feels like a ton of my time is wasted by processes, norms and ideologies. I did break out once to try and…

"...a ton of my time is wasted by processes, norms and ideologies."

So, all the stuff that helps society function?

Re: Fierce Nerds

#109

Post by grae_QED »

>To be a nerd is to be socially awkward, and there are two distinct ways to do that: to be playing the same game as everyone else, but badly, and to be playing a different game.

Perhaps I'm mistaken, but I've always been under the impression that this is what it's like to be a geek. Maybe someone can help me understand the two. I've always identified more as a geek for this reason, but maybe I'm a nerd.

Re: Fierce Nerds

#110

Post by waheoo »

moolcool wrote: post #42
CoastalCoder wrote: post #7

Nobody who knows me would call me "woke", except as part of some joke. But as the father of a kid with Asperger Syndrome, and as someone with a likely diagnosis myself (according to neuropysch testing), I'm a little bothered by the broad brush with which P.G. is painting.

+1, and with all due respect to PG's technical background, reductive and stereotyping pieces like this kind of feel like he's looking at the people who thrust him into his lofty VC position with contempt.

I can sort of get over all that, I'm not going to sit here and take it personally because I know it's just broad strokes, but at the same time, if it is broad strokes, there is nothing to be gained here because nothing is factual and everything can be dismissed because it is too general.

If he focused on something more defined than a vague and derogatory term for smart people in general heay have had something worth reading.

Ps. Seriously, why is the grey subtext so hard to read? Stop with grey text. Please.

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