tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post5292724934445027169..comments2023-07-15T04:20:16.543-05:00Comments on Almost Diamonds: I Am Geek; Hear Me Mutter PedanticallyStephanie Zvanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-20827748293476349472011-01-11T16:04:09.590-06:002011-01-11T16:04:09.590-06:00The article also doesn't get into the value of...<i>The article also doesn't get into the value of synthesis across geekdoms, which I'm rather fond of.</i><br /><br />Sometimes, I suspect I have the goal of becoming <i>otaku</i> for Fiction itself.Blake Staceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13977394981287067289noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-33508294285259933222011-01-11T12:01:28.033-06:002011-01-11T12:01:28.033-06:00Blake, I don't know that I agree with Oswalt&#...Blake, I don't know that I agree with Oswalt's premise. It's a bit too close to the evidence-free arguments that the internet is destroying attention spans, etc. For example, there's no good way of knowing whether pseudo-geeks are coming from the ranks of former geeks or former non-geeks, or whether they were there all along but the internet allows them to be more visible.<br /><br />The article also doesn't get into the value of synthesis across geekdoms, which I'm rather fond of. So I have some serious reservations about his conclusions. On the other hand, his descriptions of how geeks and pseudo-geeks interact with their areas of interest were too good not to use.Stephanie Zvanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15182490110208080002noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38764987.post-57798618953192059552011-01-11T11:29:38.928-06:002011-01-11T11:29:38.928-06:00Serious geek here.
I don't get what Oswalt is...Serious geek here.<br /><br />I don't get what Oswalt is on about. <br /><br />Being one of three <i>Star Trek</i> fans at my school <i>sucked.</i> Being able to taste the collective fruits of obsession <i>rocks.</i> When the only anime in town was a couple VHS cassettes of <i>Venus Wars</i> and <i>Project A-Ko,</i> the situation was decidedly suboptimal. Now, I can point Firefox to Hulu and stream <i>Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood</i> over the Wi-Fi aether. And it is awesome.<br /><br />If it's now easy to learn that which used to be arcane, well, swim on the rising tide. It once took the genius of an Archimedes to find the area enclosed by a parabola; just because the advance of mathematics has pushed back the mystique, that doesn't mean the subject has become unchallenging. As for science, so with art: If you want to argue the fine Talmudic points of the subtitled versus the dubbed translations of <i>Neon Genesis Evangelion,</i> you'll need to expand your Japanese beyond <i>kawaii!</i> and <i>domo arigato, Mr. Roboto.</i> Likewise, if you want to be a serious Nabokov buff, you ought to study Russian; if you want to go <i>otaku</i> for Greg Egan, you should learn General Relativity. Today, it is easier to reach a farther frontier, but terra incognita still exists beyond those borders.Blake Staceyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13977394981287067289noreply@blogger.com