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Is Nerd Culture Dying?

samkriss.substack.com

111–117 of 117 posts

Re: Is Nerd Culture Dying?

#111
post #64

I believe there is no counter culture in the west anymore. It is mainstream to be subversive, and so there is little to no subversiveness left

Unfortunately, as things like irreligion, tolerance for sexual minorities, or left-wing economics became more mainstream, it is now, among the youth, incredible as it may sound, counter-culture to be reactionary . A reverse 1960s of sorts.

That happened when the yuppies in the 1980s rebelled against their hippie parents and embraced Reaganomics. They made a whole sitcom about it (Family Ties.) Of course nowadays Alex P. Keaton would be an incel flogging NFTs and MAGA conspiracy theories and collecting Nazi memorabilia. History doesn't repeat but it does spiral.

Re: Is Nerd Culture Dying?

#112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> has just gone mainstream Care to provide some examples? Most "nerd" interests like SciFi have been neutered if not completely bent out of shape while going mainstream.

The term "MCU" being in the common cultral lexicon.

Huh? Do normal people like microcontrollers these days? Maybe I should go outside...

Re: Is Nerd Culture Dying?

#113
post #76

In my opinion the author completely mischaracterizes what hipsters and nerds are. Hipster just want to be different, unique, feel that they're not part the mainstream, that is their reason d'être, while nerds are obsessively interested and knowledgeable about a niche topic. The counter-example of someone "obsessive, all-consuming interest in the literature and mysticism of the medieval and early modern eras" would de…

AI generated Techno is already a thing, and I can't tell it apart from actual Techno, as per the xkcd cartoon.

https://xkcd.com/411/

Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h1sHVw5K6w

Re: Is Nerd Culture Dying?

#114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you be more transparent about who you’re insulting and how you hope to thus raise your own status? It’s difficult to figure out anything from what you’ve written except that you hold someone in contempt.

Are you well? I am criticizing the idea that "nerd culture" is a thing which exists. The presumption that an overgeneralized stereotype conveys some form of meaning. That there there is some monoculture common to "nerds" that can be said to be "dying". All of this is clear from my written words.

Ah, do you hold the people who identity with and find meaning in “nerd culture” in contempt and are insulting them? Thank you for clarifying.

Re: Is Nerd Culture Dying?

#115
post #65
post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think 'geek chic' (i.e poseurs) went mainstream a while ago, but actual nerds will never be popular by definition. I've tried in vain to find people at parties who care about my favourite arcane programming languages and obscure political doctrine, it's impossible :(

FWIW I consider myself an "actual nerd", but I also find "arcane programming languages and obscure political doctrines" to be extremely boring. No offense, but I would definitely snub you at one of those parties where you're looking for nerds. To me programming languages are just a means to an end and political doctrines are for nontechnical people. I'm more interested in building stuff. Eg I wanted to benchmark the…

Fair criticism. I think I need to move away from politics for my own sanity. I've thought this way for a while, even though I've avoided partisanship and focused on philosophy. Even there it's all heat and not much light, and in my experience building things is always more fun.

Re: Is Nerd Culture Dying?

#116

I find the analysis flawed. In the article "Marvel is failing because they thought that most people were nerds: that mass audiences would actually want to delve deep into their joyless multiverse and slog through all its lore". Marvel is failing for the simple reason that it has become "content" for an audience that doesn't exist instead of an entertaining movie/series for the masses. And anyone who has tried to poin…

I have a feeling the same is going to happen with Star Wars films here soon.

To be honest, I think the level of effort that Star Wars (and ig now Disney) has put in to really expand the universe (and add more details to the same story with series' like Bad Batch or Kenobi) can be sufficient to satisfy the hunger of the true fans. Especially when compared to Marvel that basically runs the same characters / stories again in different universes as an excuse for lack of detailed writing....

Re: Is Nerd Culture Dying?

#117
post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a feeling the same is going to happen with Star Wars films here soon.

To be honest, I think the level of effort that Star Wars (and ig now Disney) has put in to really expand the universe (and add more details to the same story with series' like Bad Batch or Kenobi) can be sufficient to satisfy the hunger of the true fans. Especially when compared to Marvel that basically runs the same characters / stories again in different universes as an excuse for lack of detailed writing....

But that being said I am not a fan of the token diversity quota characters being added...
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