What makes it really humorous is how incredibly well it captures the particulars of an actual session, most notably the socially awkward interactions and in-jokes which normally would have been the focus of bullying, but in this space resonate as the sort of very earnest fun play they were intended as.
Having these places to go to, when the rest of your week is full of generally challenging interactions designed to tear people down, can be absolutely incredible sources needed to build up a sense of self-worth.
D&D in some ways was possibly the place where the proto-seed for this kind of nerd-safe place was created. There may be some prior versions of this, maybe golden age Sci-fi book clubs or Trek gatherings or something, but D&D seems to be where it particularly gelled and crystalized hard. It's no wonder that it became part of the 80's moral panic since it threatened to provide a place where nerd culture could find itself and took a measure of control away from those in charge of the panic with regards to how one should behave and think.
Today there are many many of these kinds of environments, and in a sense when formed a certain way like Open Source Software, have turned global industries upside-down. But even competitive card playing tournaments, demoscene parties, cosplay conventions, video game conventions, and so on are all an outgrowth of what D&D really started.
My heart swells when I see little nerd culture shops that sell comic books and manga and figurines have signs out front for "Boardgame Thursdays!" or "Magic Tournament this Saturday!" Because there will for certain be at least one person who attends, who had an absolutely terrible month being shat on by most of the people they encounter, and will thrive in this place. Where it's safe to joke, be yourself, have fun. And that confidence and those social encounters might be not just enough to turn a nerdy kid into a CTO, but could also keep them away from the deep black hole of self-worthlessness, depression, and maybe worse.
I’m reminded in turn of Foucaults concept of heterotopia (‘other place’ or ‘place of otherness’) where things are different by design. The otherness of such spaces is one of their goals: they are there to provide an outlet for something or to hide or shield certain activities or thoughts (separating discourse).
As a child I was taken out of school for a while because I couldn’t cope and caused trouble. I was sent to a place for gifted children and met a lot of neurodivergent kids. It wasn’t a DnD gameroom but it was so explicitly outside the norm that I could put myself back together and reenter society on my own terms. I’ve been attracted to such places ever since, even running my own community center for a couple of years.
So uh, totally agree with what you said and all of the above is just to add that there’s a lot more heterotopias than one might think.
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I'm reminded of this old video https://youtu.be/zng5kRle4FA
What makes it really humorous is how incredibly well it captures the particulars of an actual session, most notably the socially awkward interactions and in-jokes which normally would have been the focus of bullying, but in this space resonate as the sort of very earnest fun play they were intended as.
Having these places to go to, when the rest of your week is full of generally challenging interactions designed to tear people down, can be absolutely incredible sources needed to build up a sense of self-worth.
D&D in some ways was possibly the place where the proto-seed for this kind of nerd-safe place was created. There may be some prior versions of this, maybe golden age Sci-fi book clubs or Trek gatherings or something, but D&D seems to be where it particularly gelled and crystalized hard. It's no wonder that it became part of the 80's moral panic since it threatened to provide a place where nerd culture could find itself and took a measure of control away from those in charge of the panic with regards to how one should behave and think.
Today there are many many of these kinds of environments, and in a sense when formed a certain way like Open Source Software, have turned global industries upside-down. But even competitive card playing tournaments, demoscene parties, cosplay conventions, video game conventions, and so on are all an outgrowth of what D&D really started.
My heart swells when I see little nerd culture shops that sell comic books and manga and figurines have signs out front for "Boardgame Thursdays!" or "Magic Tournament this Saturday!" Because there will for certain be at least one person who attends, who had an absolutely terrible month being shat on by most of the people they encounter, and will thrive in this place. Where it's safe to joke, be yourself, have fun. And that confidence and those social encounters might be not just enough to turn a nerdy kid into a CTO, but could also keep them away from the deep black hole of self-worthlessness, depression, and maybe worse.
Love the YouTube clip.
I’m reminded in turn of Foucaults concept of heterotopia (‘other place’ or ‘place of otherness’) where things are different by design. The otherness of such spaces is one of their goals: they are there to provide an outlet for something or to hide or shield certain activities or thoughts (separating discourse).
As a child I was taken out of school for a while because I couldn’t cope and caused trouble. I was sent to a place for gifted children and met a lot of neurodivergent kids. It wasn’t a DnD gameroom but it was so explicitly outside the norm that I could put myself back together and reenter society on my own terms. I’ve been attracted to such places ever since, even running my own community center for a couple of years.
So uh, totally agree with what you said and all of the above is just to add that there’s a lot more heterotopias than one might think.
There was a Columbo episode set in a quirky high-iq society's think tank compound. The social dynamics were hilarious.
https://columbophile.com/2019/10/27/episode-review-columbo-t...
Thank you for giving me a word to describe these places!