Geek Social Fallacy #1: Ostracizers Are Evil
One of the most common fallacies, and one of the most deeply held. Many geeks have had horrible, humiliating, and formative experiences with ostracism, and the notion of being on the other side of the transaction is repugnant to them. Therefor, I will not participate in — or tolerate — the exclusion of anyone from anything, be it a party, a comic book store, or a web forum, and no matter how obnoxious, offensive, or aromatic that person may be.
Geek Social Fallacy #2: Friends Accept Me As I Am
Since a friend accepts me as I am, anyone who criticizes me is not my friend. Thus, I can’t take criticism from friends — criticism is experienced as a treacherous betrayal of the friendship, no matter how inappropriate my criticized behavior may be.
Geek Social Fallacy #3: Friendship Before All
The belief that any failure by a friend to put the interests of the friendship above all else means that they aren’t really a friend at all.
Geek Social Fallacy #4: Friendship Is Transitive
“Wouldn’t it be great to get all my groups of friends into one place for one big happy party?!”
Geek Social Fallacy #5: Friends Do Everything Together
Every friend in a circle should be included in every activity to the full extent possible.
– Michael Suileabhain-Wilson, from his web site, Plausibly Deniable
Read the entire 2003 essay at http://plausiblydeniable.com/opinion/gsf.html
and his reaction to his “15 minutes of internet fame”, here: http://plausiblydeniable.com/opinion/fifteen.html
