Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Nerd And Craft Combo In New York

n Brooklyn NY there is a cool Hacker space called NYC Resistor, this group combines the like-minded Nerdiness of Geeks and Crafters. I think this is awesome!

If I could make an armchair analysis of why this works.....it is completely because of the psychological profile that makes a Hacker a Hacker and a Crafter a Crafter. It is the same profile.

Those that are really good at Hacking (programming, developing, reverse analyzing, and engineering) have the same mindset as a person who would be good at carving or faceting or or knitting. These are very patient people who need to be a combo of kinetic and digital/analytical learners.(as are drummers, and photographers and artists alike). So it is no surprise that a lot of folks who love gaming and programming and hacking, also have craft hobbies and are into music, and some are in bands...

I was like that. I was a race car driver, I was in bands, and from the time I was old enough to hold something in my hand I have crafted. I love video games and I am way into music in a big way.

Before computers, folks who were great crafters were also great at intellectual pursuits that required lots of observation analysis of data- like anthropology or archeology. The development of computers in the digital age brought a new interest for this intellectual crew.

NYC Resistor has tapped into the base of the productive makeup of this community group with the perfect balance of Nerdiness.

2 comments:

RheLynn said...

very cool group!

Al said...

Bre Peddis is pretty famous (at least to me) a la Make Magazine and I believe Instructables too. There is a hacker space in Toronto called HackLabs.