quote: Within the constellation of allied hobbies and subcultures collectively known as geekdom, one finds many social groups bent under a crushing burden of dysfunction, social drama, and general interpersonal wack-ness. It is my opinion that many of these never-ending crises are sparked off by an assortment of pernicious social fallacies -- ideas about human interaction which spur their holders to do terrible and stupid things to themselves and to each other.
Social fallacies are particularly insidious because they tend to be exaggerated versions of notions that are themselves entirely reasonable and unobjectionable. It's difficult to debunk the pathological fallacy without seeming to argue against its reasonable form; therefore, once it establishes itself, a social fallacy is extremely difficult to dislodge. It's my hope that drawing attention to some of them may be a step in the right direction.
I want to note that I'm not trying to say that every geek subscribes to every one of the fallacies I outline here; every individual subscribes to a different set of ideas, and adheres to any given idea with a different amount of zeal.
In any event, here are five geek social fallacies I've identified. There are likely more.
Geek Social Fallacy #1: Ostracizers Are Evil Geek Social Fallacy #2: Friends Accept Me As I Am Geek Social Fallacy #3: Friendship Before All Geek Social Fallacy #4: Friendship Is Transitive Geek Social Fallacy #5: Friends Do Everything Together
He expounds on them. I think I definitely have a bit of 1 and 2 and am recovering from #4.
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Olivetta mentioned that here but as it was a contentious thread were feelings could be hurt, I could see how people would have missed it.
For myself, I think that people who have these problems have a very different definition of friendship than I do.
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posted
Perhaps I'm a geek and always have been. I never really thought of myself that way, or, if I did it's passed into that trash heap of memories where I can never find what I'm looking for. I think that all of these so-called fallacies are normal human perceptions of friendship. I would grant that taken to extremes they could be detrimental but in modicum they look like sound thinking to me.
I'm going to recant a bit by saying numbers 3 (Friendship Before All) and 5 (Friend Do Everything Together) are overstated. I value friendship very highly but don't place it above everything. I love my friend Tim but I wouldn't invite him to share in my lovemaking with my wife.
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Because it's in a thread in which people are expressing their concern that they're too insular and unwelcoming, and yet linking to the forum in question from Hatrack is actively discouraged within the same thread. As I enjoy irony too much to let this pass, I have chosen to act.
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Tom that really wasn't relevant for this conversation at all. And as the original source for Hatrack was Olivia, although I was unaware at the time, it is even more irrelevant.
Galactic Cactus' dirty laundry can stay at Galactic Cactus as far as I'm concerned, and though I see the irony, I *do* think it was rude to bring it over here. Hatrack doesn't need it. Why bring another tempest in a teapot here?
I simply liked the list. I have seen most of the listed fallacies at work in person, not just on discussion boards. I did ask permission to post it here because I didn't want to "steal" a thread out from under anticool if he had planned it, not realizing Olivia had already given the link.
The guy who wrote the list also has very interesting treatises on MacNcheese variations and a poem, all of which I enjoyed as MacNcheese is one of my favorite comfort foods.
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