I was recently introduced to a family I had never met. One of the daughters of the family had drawn a respectable looking female head at a three-quarters profile on the paper table cloth. The head was most definitely drawn in a generic anime style with slightly angular eyes and small triangular nose. Everyone near the table was remarking how good it looked and the artist was accepting the compliments well. Amy, who I think was looking for some nerd cred, remarked on its anime style. That's when the girl piped back, "Hey, someone else knows about it!"
And that right there, my friends, is what will perennially bug me about stuff nerds like. As a nerd myself, I understand the mindset. We certainly have a proclivity to dig into a particular topic that we enjoy and mine it until the depths of its caverns are seemingly unblemished by other human interests. Jewels of unique and interesting content remain partially un-mined and sparkling from smooth, unblemished walls, ready to be plucked for our discovery and marvel. It always seems to us, as we dig deeper into aspects of gaming, music, culture, whatever it may be, that no other person could have possibly ventured as deep into the mountain as we have. But it is guaranteed that someone else has done so but that we just don't know it yet. We fail to understand that this path has been worn for some time.
So my initial reaction to the girl's comment was to simply think to myself, "Oh great, one of those." Another budding fan of Japanese pop art and culture who feels as though she is alone in her obsession. Alone in terms of what scope? Her family? Sure, I could see it. My parents didn't and to some extent still don't understand some of things I like. Her friends? Less likely but still probable. But start expanding that scope from a narrow band to a wide, global radius and she will begin to find the kinship of like minds. It's inevitable.
Perhaps as someone who knows of life before the world suddenly became connected with itself, I understand better what it was to know the isolation of the nerd. Not many people I knew would seek out some of the gems that I did. Bulletin-board systems existed during my childhood, but I didn't understand them and therefore failed to see the amazing potential of interconnected machines and databases of information until early in my adulthood. But now that we have the opportunity to perseverate on any topic we so choose simply by powering on our Intertrons, we can easily find others who can share in our interests.
For now, however, we should leave this girl in her perceived wilderness, in her age of wandering. She will find her niche. She may not see it now, but she will find it. She will join us.
