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Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008, 03:20 pm
The Geek Hierarchy
I was both surprised and slightly disappointed by iMockery's geek hierarchy listings. Surprised because it included a couple of geek categories that desperately needed to be included, and it's about damn time someone included war re-enacters and sports facepainters in the mix. However, I'm disappointed that I'm left out once again: where's the category for plant geeks? Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 09:39 pm (UTC)
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) maradydd
Plant geeks, like sewing geeks, knitting geeks, auto repair geeks and carpentry geeks, have the advantage of actually producing something new that other people are likely to find useful (even if only as decoration). There's a big difference between the geekery-of-production and the geekery-of-consumption; the article focuses squarely on the latter. Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 10:10 pm (UTC)
czarina69
Go geekery-of-production! :D Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 10:44 pm (UTC)
la_azteca
Here, here! Sat, Mar. 8th, 2008 07:19 am (UTC)
murasaki_1966
Geeks of productivity unite! We can MAKE a better world! Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 10:45 pm (UTC)
sclerotic_rings
That's actually a very good distinction, and thank you for pointing that out. In fact, were you interested in writing an essay on the subject, I'd recommend sending it to Make. Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 10:49 pm (UTC)
maradydd
That is a good idea. If I happen to find the time (not likely, given my current workload), I'll do that. In the meantime, if inspiration strikes, feel free to use the idea for yourself. :) Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 11:38 pm (UTC)
reddragdiva
Fanfic writers consider themselves geeks of production. Mon, Mar. 10th, 2008 07:29 pm (UTC)
fyrdrakken
Yeah, ficcers pretty much fall into the cracks between "not having anything material to show for it" and "not making money for it" -- and as we all know, the sole measurement of value for any form of writing must necessarily lie in how much money one can make for it, because writing for personal enjoyment or the entertainment of a small circle of friends (or an online group that can reach hundreds or even thousands) is of necessity a "waste of time." Thank god I've got my knitting to fall back on. Mon, Mar. 10th, 2008 08:26 pm (UTC)
reddragdiva
The problem with fanfic is that it's a creative folk subculture where criticism is disallowed. This means a firehose of shit. And the producers of the worst stuff trying to use the best stuff as a reason their stuff doesn't suck in theory, whether it does in practice. Tue, Mar. 11th, 2008 12:11 am (UTC)
fyrdrakken
The problem with fanfic is the same problem you see in American society as a whole in any area where there are a significant number of adolescents involved: Overprotective parents who've been sufficiently indoctrinated with the seeping poison of the self-esteem movement stepping in to protect the fragile little darlings from the pain of failure, believing that their role in "nurturing budding talents" should be to quash any attempts at constructive feedback so that the ego can grow unchecked (with the vague hope that the skills will mature at the same rate as by magic). It's not that the fannish subculture disallows criticism, it's that the ones who believe skills need honing and feedback should be honest have found it the better part of valor to cede the more public, "ungated" areas of fandom to all comers and find their own places to hang out. Fanfiction.net and the like are about of representative of fanfic as a whole as school recitals are representative of live music performances as a whole. It's just the slush pile -- if the writers knew what they were doing, they wouldn't be putting it there. The good stuff is what you get pointed to once you find just one other person with a decently calibrated crap sensor and establish your own credentials as preferring something better. Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 10:50 pm (UTC)
la_azteca
In my case (cake decorating geekery), it can be a geekery of production and/or consumption. There's those of us that want to bake/decorate, there's those who eat or critique it, and then there's those who just want to drool over Duff from "Ace of Cakes" and his creations. Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 10:56 pm (UTC)
maradydd
Hah! Nice pun. Also, much respect for the cake decorators in the house -- a few years ago I borrowed one of czarina69's recipes for a friend's birthday cake (decorated to look like the Fields Medal), and gained a deep appreciation for the wide variety of skills that go into good cake decorating. And certainly knitting geeks, carpentry geeks and so on do their fair share of poring over examples of other people's amazing creations, both for inspiration and for sheer "wow" factor. (Hell, I'm a coding geek, and I enjoy reading articles about neat tricks in languages I don't use and will probably never learn, just because I appreciate the skill involved.) Still, I draw a line in my head between avocations centered around something real-world and practical which also requires artistry and skill, and avocations centered around either passively consuming the creativity of someone else or spending massive amounts of effort "producing" something that will never amount to anything in the real world (e.g. leveling up your barbarian on WoW). Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 09:58 pm (UTC)
labyrinthman
The idea of a plant geek is still germinating. Fri, Mar. 7th, 2008 10:44 pm (UTC)
sclerotic_rings
You know, I've threatened to kill the Czarina in her sleep for puns that were better than that one. Don't make me have to come up there and execute Terrance and Phillip. Sat, Mar. 8th, 2008 05:24 pm (UTC)
trickykitty
They are also forgetting the mathematicians. I get more flack from that than I ever get from ex-band, gaming, and sci-fi/ai. |
