

The Archipelago of Weird (2005) - dsr_
http://siderea.livejournal.com/201206.html

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greenyoda
_``When I signed up for graduate school, the one thing I was absolutely,
positively clear on was that I was sojourning to the Mainland. ... I can 't
exaggerate how helpful this mindset has been on a practical level. Really,
it's anthropology-fu. By approaching pretty much everything from an "I'm a
foreigner" stance has made social navigation vastly easier.''_

I suppose that approach could apply to many other situations, such as software
developers who need to work in a company that's dominated by business people.

By the way, the author of this piece has a fascinating history (see the
"Profile" link): she's a programmer who changed careers to become a
psychotherapist.

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dasil003
This is fascinating because I've totally become a mainlander, although in high
school and young adulthood I flirted with many island cultures, and everything
about this post reminds me of some of my mid-90s irc days and socializing with
all manner of gamers, goths, freaks and phreaks.

These days I had sort of been feeling like there are no more islands because
of The Internet and all culture is available to everyone at all times. But
maybe this is just part of passively slipping into the mainstream and not
recognizing how the subcultures are thriving without me.

~~~
xvedejas
There are a few good thriving subcultures out there, from what I can tell. My
main interactions have been with burners (as in burning man) and makers. But
some of my friends are also deep into anime, video games, hacking, SCA, and
the subcultures that follow those interests.

