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empty · 3418 days ago · link · · parent · post: The Jargon File - a common heritage of the hacker culture
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.