6. The Hacker/Nerd Connection
Contrary to popular myth, you don't have to be a nerd to be a hacker.
It does help, however, and many hackers are in fact nerds. Being a social
outcast helps you stay concentrated on the really important things, like
thinking and hacking.
For this reason, many hackers have adopted the label `nerd' and even
use the harsher term `geek' as a badge of pride -- it's a way of
declaring their independence from normal social expectations. See
The Geek Page for
extensive discussion.
If you can manage to concentrate enough on hacking to be good at it
and still have a life, that's fine. This is a lot easier today than
it was when I was a newbie in the 1970s; mainstream culture is much
friendlier to techno-nerds now. There are even growing numbers of
people who realize that hackers are often high-quality lover and
spouse material.
If you're attracted to hacking because you don't have a life, that's OK
too -- at least you won't have trouble concentrating. Maybe you'll
get one later.