"Those people are weirdos" is a bad argument—computing history was built by weirdos
Afinetheorem · x · 2026-09-25
Responding to the common AI-discourse dismissal "but the people saying this are weirdos", the author argues this is a bad counter. He catalogs computing history—the Tech Model Railroad Club, phone phreaks, Homebrew Computer Club, Stallman's MIT AI Lab crew, Bell Labs, Whole Earth Catalog, the WELL, and nearly all of Usenet—as proof that weird subcultures and personalities drive innovation. If any industry should value oddballs for generating new ideas, it's computing. He cites Stewart Brand's essay "We owe it all to the hippies" in support.
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