Wednesday
Sep032008
I love finding new nerdiness
Wednesday, September 3, 2008 at 9:09AM
Every once in awhile I run across a person that has some sort of obsessive interest that I had never considered before. Of course everyone knows the stereotypical Star Wars/Trek nerd, the car nerd (gear head), and the sports fan nerd.
by riot jane
But I'm talking about more esoteric and unusual nerds. The ones that when you meet them, you're instantly amazed that someone could go so deep on a subject that you had previously failed to notice entirely.
Case and point, the sign nerd. Check out the video below.
What makes that video awesome is a couple things. Firstly, he does not look or sound like the sort of guy you'd expect to be a nerd of any kind, let alone one deeply concerned about the future of signage in America. Secondly, he is so deeply into his obsession that he got drunk and bought a 28ft motel sign on Ebay on impulse, then drives three days to go get it.
A slight variant of the sign nerd is the poster nerd. Below is the trailer for a movie entirely about the underground poster movement.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrrss_Bxfw0]
"I found a really cool octopus image, but I'll never use it, because it's played out... you know."
Both of these would fit into the broader font/design nerd category which I've come to realize is the most common of the rare-nerd categories.
by Stewf
From a Torontoist article on typography:
Then I happened upon an entire website dedicated to stair porn.
by snapperwolf*
This isn't porn filmed on stairs. This is an entire site dedicated to appreciating the beauty of stairs.
What's really cool is that many of these people seemed to have dedicated a large portion of their lives to these interests without deviating from them for years or decades. They are able to focus almost entirely on their subject, frequently to the exclusion of even knowledge of most other things.
by ihtatho
Personally I have flirted with a number of nerd categories over time. Aquarium nerd, venomous snake nerd. computer tech nerd, physics nerd, photography nerd, I could go on. But while I may have investigated these subjects deeply for a period of time, I've never acquired any of them as a permanent part of my identity.
by static416
I guess this is because at heart I'm just an information nerd. I crave new and unconsidered knowledge, and enjoy exploring new concepts and communities. I spend a substantial portion of each day just randomly browsing the inter-tubes grazing for bits of things I'm not familiar with. These rare-nerds are goldmines for that, they are spikes of originality standing out from the background-radiation of reposted content that fills most of the web.
by jurvetson
by riot jane
But I'm talking about more esoteric and unusual nerds. The ones that when you meet them, you're instantly amazed that someone could go so deep on a subject that you had previously failed to notice entirely.
Case and point, the sign nerd. Check out the video below.
What makes that video awesome is a couple things. Firstly, he does not look or sound like the sort of guy you'd expect to be a nerd of any kind, let alone one deeply concerned about the future of signage in America. Secondly, he is so deeply into his obsession that he got drunk and bought a 28ft motel sign on Ebay on impulse, then drives three days to go get it.
A slight variant of the sign nerd is the poster nerd. Below is the trailer for a movie entirely about the underground poster movement.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vrrss_Bxfw0]
"I found a really cool octopus image, but I'll never use it, because it's played out... you know."
Both of these would fit into the broader font/design nerd category which I've come to realize is the most common of the rare-nerd categories.
by Stewf
From a Torontoist article on typography:
Type of this nature, in this context, is increasingly atypical, where text is set either by robots or by the inexperienced. While it's unrealistic to expect the public at large to ever truly give a hoot about the perils of using Zapf Chancery all caps (or Zapf Chancery anything, for that matter), or the importance of kerning, there is a reason designers should create and set type, all ego aside.
Then I happened upon an entire website dedicated to stair porn.
by snapperwolf*
This isn't porn filmed on stairs. This is an entire site dedicated to appreciating the beauty of stairs.
What's really cool is that many of these people seemed to have dedicated a large portion of their lives to these interests without deviating from them for years or decades. They are able to focus almost entirely on their subject, frequently to the exclusion of even knowledge of most other things.
by ihtatho
Personally I have flirted with a number of nerd categories over time. Aquarium nerd, venomous snake nerd. computer tech nerd, physics nerd, photography nerd, I could go on. But while I may have investigated these subjects deeply for a period of time, I've never acquired any of them as a permanent part of my identity.
by static416
I guess this is because at heart I'm just an information nerd. I crave new and unconsidered knowledge, and enjoy exploring new concepts and communities. I spend a substantial portion of each day just randomly browsing the inter-tubes grazing for bits of things I'm not familiar with. These rare-nerds are goldmines for that, they are spikes of originality standing out from the background-radiation of reposted content that fills most of the web.
by jurvetson
Reader Comments (4)
Can you give us more examples of rare nerdiness that you've come across? What are some of the things that the people you know are totally obsessed about?
I am hella interested
There are tons of things, but most of the ones I'm familiar with are animal-based just because of the people I used to associate with.
There are a surprising number of people that know virtually everything there is to know about a various species of small fish called killifish. One family of these fish contains 320 species, many of which require slightly different conditions in order to live and mate. It becomes a competition at some point to be the guy that knows the most species care conditions, and has the rarest killifish.
Other nerdiness would be stuff like people who compete in making the most environmentally friendly, and energy efficient biofuels at home. I had a friend who did that. Made all his own diesel.
Or this guy, Theo Jansen, who makes kinetic sculptures. This are essentially light-weight robotics powered entirely by the wind.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY
I love this stuff.
Thanks for that! The kinetic sculptures are the best thing I've seen today.
I am imagining killifish nerds having a fight over who knows the most. Hopefully they would also call each other dirty beeyotches and wrinkly ballsacks and stuff.
http://villatype.blogspot.com
I am a contributor (as in, I have made one post - a long time ago).