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<blockquote data-quote="Cristian Andreu" data-source="post: 7679798" data-attributes="member: 23822">A very interesting read.I've always been of the impression that the end of nerdom would relate to its banalization, rather than strictly to massification. One of the things that makes nerdom simultaneously so appealing and unappealing is how extreme it can get; it can motivate someone enough as to undergo a deep study of high-energy physics simply to one-up Steve the next time he brings up Super Star Destroyer vs Enterprise (Super Star Destroyer all day, erry day). There's true passion there.If we take away that extremism, traditional nerdom certainly becomes more accessible, but in the process it loses precisely what makes it attractive to become so invested in it.A friend made one of his sociology theses regarding subcultures, and one of the things he wanted to study was whether or not roleplayers et al constitute a subculture (his conclusion in that regard was no). One of the parts that caught my interest the most about his study was on the reasons he espoused why things like roleplaying games seem to have a higher-than-average number of people with various degrees of social pathologies. And a big one was that nerd fields allow people to become incredibly specialized in certain areas of knowledge and skill, giving them the chance to shine and thus achieve a sense of social acceptance and respect that they otherwise perceive as impossible to get in other contexts. Though the analysis was much more nuanced, I found it highly interesting, particularly when contrasted to other hobbies that lack this sort of &quot;sacred&quot; aura given to them by their enthusiasts.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Cristian Andreu, post: 7679798, member: 23822"] A very interesting read. I've always been of the impression that the end of nerdom would relate to its banalization, rather than strictly to massification. One of the things that makes nerdom simultaneously so appealing and unappealing is how extreme it can get; it can motivate someone enough as to undergo a deep study of high-energy physics simply to one-up Steve the next time he brings up Super Star Destroyer vs Enterprise (Super Star Destroyer all day, erry day). There's true passion there. If we take away that extremism, traditional nerdom certainly becomes more accessible, but in the process it loses precisely what makes it attractive to become so invested in it. A friend made one of his sociology theses regarding subcultures, and one of the things he wanted to study was whether or not roleplayers et al constitute a subculture (his conclusion in that regard was no). One of the parts that caught my interest the most about his study was on the reasons he espoused why things like roleplaying games seem to have a higher-than-average number of people with various degrees of social pathologies. And a big one was that nerd fields allow people to become incredibly specialized in certain areas of knowledge and skill, giving them the chance to shine and thus achieve a sense of social acceptance and respect that they otherwise perceive as impossible to get in other contexts. Though the analysis was much more nuanced, I found it highly interesting, particularly when contrasted to other hobbies that lack this sort of "sacred" aura given to them by their enthusiasts. [/QUOTE]

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