People who revere assholes become assholes themselves. Some people who revere hackers become decent hackers. Conclusion: If we want to minimize assholes in hacker culture (and we DO), we should not revere assholes. "No TRUE Scotsman...". Nerds aren't very smart, and are very impressionable and prone to hero-worship. They don't form their own opinions through careful and unbiased consideration of the facts; no one does. They're a product of a culture, just like the rest of us. Therefore, we have an ethical imperative to not allow assholes such as ESR to control any amount of social capital, nor have any influence over the youth.People who revere assholes are assholes themselves, and (sad to say) some assholes are decent hackers.
Any nerd worth their salt can make up their own mind.
This seems like a contradiction - I thought it was a requirement. Maybe my terminology is wrong.Nerds aren't very smart
People who identify as "nerds" like to think they're smart. And they're usually perceived as smart, because that's our shitty American culture. You wear glasses? Must be a nerd. Must be intelligent. But no, actually. I once interviewed for a job, and wore glasses during the interview. I had taken my contacts out and hadn't bothered to replace them. I got the job, and when I showed up for the first day of work, I was wearing contacts. The guy who had hired me was visibly distressed that I wasn't wearing glasses. "Where's your glasses?" Nerds are idiots with specialized knowledge, which knowledge our society deems only attainable by geniuses when in fact it's not very hard stuff at all. It's not hard to write web apps.