Is nerd/otaku culture materialistic? In tech related boards, the amount of discussion about consumer goods is always consistently high. People feel the need to be elitist about stuff like calculator models or laptop models. Exhaulting the benefits thinkpads have other other laptops (i'm typing this on a thinkpad myself) and stuff like that. When you think about it though, isn't it all just plastic crap? These are just tools, it'll all be dust one day, so why obsess over it? Whatever works works. Why waste money and space on decorations either? Why is it necessary to express your enthusiasm for things by buying stuff that takes space? Is materialism and an obsession with physical products and collection an inherent part of these cultures?Post edited on 20th Jun 2020, 8:46am
>>35335 The Earth is eventually going to die, the sun is going to explode, the universe is going to collapse in on itself and existence will stop existing one day, and even if all of that didn't happen you wouldn't live long enough to see it anyways. So really everything'll just be dust one day, so if having a bunch of plastic crap everywhere makes someone happy why not? One man's developing the next generation of technology is another man's buying lewd Miku figures to toss around in their room. And aside from the regular existential stuff, what else would you do with your disposable income? Whatever you do with it is just for your own pleasure anyways. I've heard of doctors and PhDs who blow their exorbitant incomes on looking fashionable in MMOs. Money is more or less just a means to an end than a mean itself. Some people really like having lots of different computers or calculators or decorations or etc.
I would not say it is materialistic in and of itself, however the two are often found hand in hand. It makes sense, if you like an anime, why not buy merchandise of it? If you like technology, why not buy it? There is nothing wrong with decorating either, again, if you like anime or technology then why not surround yourself with it? It's not necessarily about expressing enthusiasm, for many people who buy Otaku merchandise nobody will ever see their room anyway.
>>35336 >>35337 Part of it is me being annoyed by elitism. The notion that people who don't do those things and don't see the appeal in buying stuff are not as passionate about their interests. People may not show others their room in person, but they sure do love sharing pictures of their battle station or set up or whatever. Whoever bought the most is the winner and most impressive for some reason. Even food doesn't make me happy. I feel in the minority. The other part is not understanding the compulsion. What drives a person to buy a piece of plastic? What does it do? How does it improve one's life? Why does it make somebody happy? It's like a pathology, for a person to mysteriously want to spend money on plastic or digital clothing of all things. I can't comprehend it. It's like when I stay up until 3 am even though I know that's not in my best interest, except that doesn't cost 50 bucks. If I had a ton of money, I'd hope to use to create things, something others could enjoy. Maybe donate to a free software project or something. Or even make animation. Medical research. Something less transient. There has to be a more beneficial way to spend money. I'm not going to make a moral argument and say people are bad for how they spend their surplus income, but I don't understand it and it makes me sad. I'm sad that this is part of the human condition.
>>35338 It's not that hard to understand. We like cute things. The normal world and the things in it aren't usually cute. Having cute things around improves the general mood. Personally having figures of certain characters makes me feel like someone I like is there looking for me. I also like robots because they look cool. It's just nice to return from the normal world and see all that conforming your own microcosmos and bringing good memories. It's an human impulse from old, the ancients liked to have sculptures or pieces of art around, this is pretty much the same.
>>35339 Maybe. I never saw it that way. I think a figurine would remind me that it's not real. When they're behind a screen, I feel distanced enough to believe in and feel for them. They look alive because they move and speak and fit in their wold. A figurine though would take me out of that. If they're a product, mass produced for consumption and made out of artifical substances, they can't be alive. Well, whatever.
>>35340 I feel quite the opposite about it. I like articulated ones so I not only can touch them but pose them or try new accesories. It's an interaction you don't have with anime or manga, if something it makes the characters feel more real. There can be mass produced but there's still some artesany on them, they are detailed, painting is hand made and you can display them in creative ways. And let's not talk about plastic kits, you can build them and if you like more, personalize them in any way you can imagine. I want to get into dolls some day, I see them as the ultimate physical experience; you create them following your tastes, you can make clothes for them or buy hand made clothes from others so you have infinite variety, you can take them outside and they almost feel and look like real.
> In tech related boards, the amount of discussion about consumer goods is always consistently high I think that's just 4/g/ (since a large userbase is going to devolve into what's most accessible for the general population and that's consumerism.). Lainchan's programming board is more focused, and >>/navi/ has had a lot of good quality discussions.
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