@uberbatman I went to my favourite used book store last Saturday. Couldn’t buy a single Trek book. I already had every one on the shelf.
Have you read The Eugenics Wars: The Rise and Fall of Khan Noonien Singh, Vols. 1 and 2? So far, and by far, the best Trek books I’ve ever read. Close second: Destiny trilogy by David Mack.
@Imadethisupwithnoforethought – I do think there is a bit of a heirarchy. It’s flexible, because as nerds we geek out over each other’s creations, discoveries, and obssessions, but I think it’s definitely there.
Scientists are our rock stars. Stephen Hawking, Carl Sagan, Neil DeGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins… guys like that are the kings. They wouldn’t take a crown, and they share their “wealth” and are happy to do so, but they are the kings.
Just below them but equal in power – I’d perhaps say the “Bishops” of Nerddom – are the Gene Roddenberrys of the world. And by that I mean, the world creators. Tolkien, Robert E. Howard, Ursula K. LeGuin, Asimov, Arthur C. Clarke. These are the people who bring poetry and magic to science, and capture the imagination of young nerds who then aspire to become scientists or world creators themselves.
When you get down to the common nerd, there’s a bit more obvious hierarchy. I also consider this list collapsable. If, for example, you’re a Trekkie, you’re probably also a video-gamer and occasionally a NerdLite.
Nerd Lite is something like the teenager that watches Doctor Who because they think that the current Doctor is physically attractive. These people are merchandiser’s bread and butter. They buy the T-shirt, they buy the toy Sonic Screwdriver, and next year they’ve moved on to some internet cartoon and are buying their t-shirts and toys. Fair weather nerds. These people blend with their non-nerd compatriots well, without any adverse affects.
Somewhat more hardcore are the video-gamers. They can get along well enough with non-nerds, because who doesn’t like a good game? You know 60% of them hide their Magic cards when the football players visit their house for a little Call of Duty, and they probably don’t broadcast the fact that they have every episode of the first three seasons of the ‘90s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon on VHS, and they still watch it at night before they go to bed.
After that? Trekkies and Warsoids. The geeks willing to fight for what they believe in. I’m not talking the ones that pay thousands of dollars for one of Michael Dorn’s castoff “turtles” (affectionate name for Klingon forehead prostheses), just the ones willing to get into a debate over whether Hyperspace travel or Warp travel is more feasable, or who would win between the Defiant and the Millennium Falcon. They probably don’t get along well with others, at least not mid-rant. They likely have at least a couple of non-nerd friends that smile and nod while they babble about the obvious plotholes between Caprica and Battlestar Galactica.
Then, Rennies. I place myself in this category. What? Spend every weekend for three months dressing in uncomfortable, vaguely anachronistic clothing and pretending to be a fairy/pirate/bellydancer/knight/all of the above? Yes, please! Rennies are also likely Paper Gamers: Dungeons and Dragons (1st ed. AD&D if they’re hardcore), War of the Ring, I could list more but honestly all the games that I have are from the 70s and likely unavailable now. I don’t even bother with new games. The rules are too easy. They mostly hang out with other Rennies/PaperGamers, or other nerds that accept the lifestyle.
Next: SCA and LARPers. I aspire to be an SCA member, just haven’t done it yet. They’re like Rennies, but historically accurate. You want a dress? Start spinning some wool, bitch. Or at least, trade a spinner, a weaver, and a seamter(ess) for your mad-awesome leatherworking skill and get a dress that way. LARPers are hardcore PaperGamers. With weapons, and armour, and bruises.
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