Fear and loathing...

Alright, I've been away for a while, but decided to bust out the old blog again to talk, and get my outlet. There's an amazing psychological paradigm that warrants some attention. That is, how much that even sub-cultures, can even be detested by the participants. Let me put it this way.
I once had a friend who was really into martial arts. This one time he told me, "You know Terence, I like martial arts, but usually hate all the guys that DO martial arts." This brought about quite the conversation topic. This then brings into conversation that we shouldn't define everything by a sub-culture. Even that definitions by and large are almost useless.

Now, anyone who has taken psychology knows that stereotypes are actually how we organize psychological information. However, we should never define people by such definitions.
Just as my friend feels about martial arts, I feel about nerds and the Internet culture. I know about computers and all that stuff, but I really hate almost all of the people involved in it. It comes about because of this. While I'm just bored and commenting on stuff on Facebook. A friend of busts out and calls me a nerd. Honestly, I was offended. Mostly, it's because of this. The following is a link off Digg (A popular Internet filter/social networking site).



http://digg.com/other_sports/Allison_Stokke_the_Hottest_Athlete_Google_it?OTC-wsli

Now, the average person who follows Digg is pretty much what I call, "nerdcore". They're the stereotypical nerd. The person who's got no social skills, plays Dungeons and Dragons, and gets no women. The sad, VERY sad thing, is that the article in question is talking about a young athlete who when she was in High School, a picture was taken of her and it was posted on the web. She was then hounded, which Internet sensations usually are, to the point where she lives in relative isolation. She even spoke with her father, who is a lawyer to see if they could get the publicity to stop. Now, take a look at the comments. After even linking the article talking about her own problems with Internet nerdom, the nerds are only talking about how hot she is. The first page of comments is just about her looks, and masturbation references, and the whole 9 yards.

So, when someone calls me a "nerd", I do take offense because it reminds me of these same assholes commenting on this poor girls looks, while she detests those said people. When it boils down to it, I'm not a nerd. If I had my choice, I'd not spend any time at a computer. I always spend the bulk of my time watching sports or doing social things, playing poker, etc. Also, I work with nerds, and all of their conversation topics, their tendencies, and their mannerisms bug me.

The ugly truth is that no one wants to spend time with a nerd as well. I have a good looking friend that I work with, and the nerds won't leave her alone. Those nerds who's got the backbone are awkward and unfunny people. According to her, "The attention is flattering, but too much."

There in lies the conundrum. There has to be a little bit of self loathing for certain people within a sub-culture. Also, everyone is in some kind of sub-culture, whether that be religion, sexual orientation, or hobbies. Everyone is with in one. Does everyone have to like it? I think not.