Nerds in the Midst by School of Art, George Mason University

Nerds in the Midst

Nerds midst in the

a field journal by Rachel Carroll

Dedicated to the boyz, the lads, and the homies.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Subject Sheets

Tour of the Theives’ Den

Social Solidarity

Discoveries

Nerds in the Midst

WHAT IS THIS BOOK?

Introduction

“ This seems wrong. This seems so stupid and wrong, holy boly.” –Subject 1

This book is a field journal dedicated to the study and analysis of three computer scientists. This journal contains my personal observations, interactions, and depictions of computer scientists in a domesticated setting. Through my observations, I have learned that computer scientists are analytical, socially awkward, and passionate about their personal projects. Although these findings are not conclusive, they are beneficial to understanding the inner machinations of computer scientists. There is still much to learn about computer scientists, and each day sparks new discoveries. I urge those who are interested in the nuances and behavior of computer scientists to venture beyond this journal and take note of the people around them. It may be surprising to discover a computer scientist lurking in the midst.

Nerds in the Midst

THE WHY & THE HOW

Introduction

“I have to delete the whole thing again. This is why I hate computer science – it’s impossible to get started.” –Subject 1 As a normal person, the world that these three nerds live in terrifies and intrigues me. The way that the three of them perceive the world and what they choose to prioritize is often different than how I, an artist, would. It is boggling and hilarious to listen to the tales about past projects, how they are handling the current qualms they’re experiencing, and the road they’re each headed down. Sharing an apartment with them during the COVID-19 pandemic has given me insight into their personal view of the world: the way a computer scientist would. Over the course of about 9 months, I have recalled and recorded conversations, interactions, and events the subjects have taken part of inside the apartment we all share. The most notable events have been detailed in this journal. To preface all of the events, I plan to give a brief overview of the subjects, so the audience may grasp the character of the subjects quickly. Afterwards, I’ll go into how the subjects have turned an apartment into a living space. Lastly, I’ll discuss their unique experiences achieving a college degree. This book is, in no way, a complete character analysis of the subjects. That would be impossible. They’re still people, after all.

Nerds in the Midst

SUBJECT 1: DANIEL Daniel (also known as Big D, Danos, and various other D-related nicknames) is the wallflower of the group, and the closest to the stereotypical computer scientist. While he does procrastinate, when there is pressure Daniel can churn out the work he needs to do. Daniel chose to be a computer scientist after taking a game development class in high school, which made him realize his analytical skills are perfect for working with code. He has a deep, deep love for the fantasy genre. He is hilarious and can make a joke out of everything. He’s very opinionated, but has a strong moral compass. • Cooks beef daily. • Lawful neutral. • King of the Glow-Up. • Is the most frugal person in the house, and will go as long as possible without getting anything unless he absolutely has to (or for a joke). • Knows how to throw knives with incredible accuracy. • Believes candles are emasculating. • Bought a blender strictly to blend vegetables and chug them so he doesn’t have to taste them. • Hates getting his photo taken, and will avoid it as much as he can. • Has a high range of character voices, which he flexes during Dungeons & Dragons.

Subject Sheets

Nerds in the Midst

SUBJECT 2: JOSH Josh (also known as “Joosh” or “blackpikachu”) is the oldest member of the nerds. He is very diligent, and will spend hours meticulously checking and rechecking his work to make sure it is correct as possible. While he has a stricter schedule in comparison to the other subjects, he is a serial napper. He spends his mornings working out and can often be found nearly naked in the living room covered in sweat. He was initially a game design major, but switched during his freshman year of college. He did some research and came to the conclusion that having a computer science degree is “more valuable” than a game design degree, even though he aims to develop games in the future. • Taught taekwondo for years. • Swears in spirit, and says words like “ditch,” “dastard,” and “effing” in lieu of the actual words. • Most, if not all of his clothes, represent his interests, which is primarily video games. • Will make four pounds of pasta at once and put it down in a matter of days. • Pretends to be cryptic and mysterious on the regular. He is neither of those things. • Lays down the deepest roasts of all time, whether asked for or not. • The picture he chose for his online portfolio is his prom picture from high school.

Subject Sheets

Nerds in the Midst

SUBJECT 3: CHRIS To the unknowing eye, Chris appears like a mysterious and charming young Bulgarian man. Through observation, Chris is easily the most compassionate and empathetic of the subjects, which is abnormal for computer scientists, but he is still a huge nerd. He chose the path of computer science because of his upbringing: he’s very proud of the computer scientists in his family, and has had an interest in computers since he was young. Chris is the youngest of the pack, but is the first to graduate. Due to an extensive amount of transfer credits, he is able to graduate a year early. When he isn’t sitting in front of his computer (very rare), he can be found around the apartment watching math videos. • Has difficulty seeing, doesn’t wear contacts, purposefully lost his glasses years ago. • Wears a beanie to cover his hair so you can’t tell he hasn’t showered. • Never wears a shirt unless absolutely necessary. If he’s cold, he will wrap himself in a blanket toga (pictured). • Sweatpants are his go-to. Only changes into khakis when he has to face the outside world. • His hands and feet are always freezing cold. • Will accidentally eat an entire family-size bag of chips in one sitting and feel bad about it.

Subject Sheets

Nerds in the Midst

A top-down floor plan of the apartment.

Josh and Daniel’s room

Porch

Chris and I’s room Living room

Dining room

Gamer Station

Kitchen

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

TOUR OF THE THIEVES’ DEN The front door is hidden from the street (nicely referred to as a “tuckaway”). Due to it’s out-of-the-way nature, it is pretty difficult to find if you don’t know where to look. The apartment itself is mostly underground, and does not allow for many windows or natural light to get in. The nerds have dubbed it the Thieves’ Den. The subjects do not care about the aesthetics of the space that they live in, at least not openly. Most of the furniture we own has been gifted or bought from a secondhand store. The mismatched furniture does not bother the subjects, in fact they don’t care about decorating at all. Most, if not all, of the decor in the apartment belongs to me. If they’re buying anything, it is for the utility alone, and their frugal nature makes any kind of purchase rare. There are quite a few items that point to this conclusion, which I have broken down into their respective rooms: the master bedroom, the living room, and the kitchen. Each space has their own quirks courtesy of the subjects.

Nerds in the Midst

GAMER STATION The master bedroom of the apartment was turned into an office, also known as “The Gamer Station.” The boys believed that we would never see each other if our computers were inside our own rooms, so we decided to put all of our computers in one room as a way to spend time with each other. This also meant that Daniel and Josh would be sharing a room with each other, but this is a sacrifice they were easily willing to make if it meant human interaction. This configuration has led to some interesting conversations and allowed me to see what each of them got up to every day.

A panorama of the Gamer Station desk layout.

Daniel

Josh and Daniel’s bathroom

Josh

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

While this situation was a good way for all of us to get out of our rooms, it also makes us constantly in each other’s business all the time. Regardless of what we are doing, there will always be someone else in the room. This has become especially problematic due to the fact that Josh and Daniel’s bathroom is constantly in my laptop’s camera view. I have had to be extremely mindful of my camera as to not accidentally flash my classmates or coworkers with my half naked roommates as they come out of the shower. The only source of sunlight we receive on a daily basis.

Chris My desk

Nerds in the Midst

Daniel, when not doing homework, usually plays World of Warcraft. I often turn around to see him completely submerged in the game. When I ask, he tells me about his characters, how often he “raids,” and what his guild members are like. He’s been playing W.O.W. since he was a kid, and gets excited when an expansion is released. He plays other games too, and goes on a hot streak with them for about a week or so until returning to W.O.W. He has a number pad on the side of his mouse. Daniel says it is for his game but the idea of playing a game that requires a number pad on the mouse terrifies me. Subject 1 quickly pulling up a funny video to show the room.

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

Josh will either be watching a video game streamer, doing his homework, or napping in his office chair. He is the only one to be able to fall asleep in their office chair. He will sometimes fall asleep during his online classes. It doesn’t look very comfortable. I do not know how he does it. While he’s doing his homework, he talks to himself. If he doesn’t take his laptop into his room to hardcore study, he will talk and walk himself through his homework out loud.

Subject 2 dead asleep. This is a near-daily occurrence.

Nerds in the Midst

Chris spends most of his time coding. What he is coding, I do not know. I usually have to ask to figure out what he’s working on at the moment. He can either be working on his homework for school, code for work, or code for his personal game engine. He gets joy out of solving coding problems, and will sometimes solve “interview math problems.” The concept of solving math problems in an interview sounds like a nightmare. If he’s not coding, he will be looking for 3D figures to support and print.

Subject 3 completely distracted by math videos.

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

This is where I sit. I have a work Macbook and a personal Macbook. According to the subjects, my computer setup is the worst. I have been put on blast on multiple occasions for my setup. They (mostly Daniel) have run the numbers on how much money has been put into my setup, and then spent a considerable amount of time mock-building a PC that would cost a fraction of the price. Due to their frugality, they think I should sell one of my Macbooks and replace it with a PC and then pocket the money I would potentially save. It seems computer scientists take pride in their desktops.

Nerds in the Midst

THE LIVING ROOM

The front door that also doubles as the biggest source of light in the apartment.

The trash TV that has been banished to the corner and never used.

The nerds ride skateboards from room to room. Tripping on one is imminent. 26

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

The living room is the room the subjects are in the least. Since all of their computers are in the master bedroom, the living room is free most of the time. The only time they are all in the living room is to either play video games together or illegally stream movies. Outside of those instances, it is a nice place to get some solace when the three of them are giving each other lessons on math in the Gamer Station.

Chris’s 3D printer

Nerds in the Midst

THE TV STAND I was given a dresser that I couldn’t use in my room, so I asked the nerds what they think it would be useful for. Due to the subjects’ frugal nature, Daniel and Chris took it outside, where they proceeded to break off the top decorative railing with a hammer. They brought it back inside and wanted to use it as a television stand. Upon placing the tv on the dresser, they realized that the stand was too narrow, and the television would not be able to balance. Daniel then took a plank of wood that would have otherwise been used to expand the dinner table and placed it on top of the dresser, effectively widening the top of the dresser. The TV now sits firmly on top of the dresser, resting on a plank of wood. When deciding where to put the television station, the boys believed that a monster or ghost would crawl out of the “definitely haunted” fireplace. The boys decided to place the TV stand in front of the opening of the fireplace to give the ghost a bit of a struggle to crawl out.

“If we block the fireplace, the ghosts can’t get out. Or it would be really funny to watch them try.” –Subject 2

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

Nerds in the Midst

THE 3D PRINTER After fixating on the idea of printing miniature figurines for Dungeons and Dragons, a tabletop roleplaying game made by and for nerds, for several weeks, Chris got a 3D resin printer and chemical bath. Concerned about the fumes, he wanted to be able to print safely in the apartment without gassing the entire complex. However, our apartment does not have very many windows, so figuring out ventilation was a project all on it’s own. He bought a carbon filter, an inline vent fan, tubing, a folding table, cleaning supplies, and a large plastic tarp to keep all of the equipment on. The resin printer itself is the machine that makes most of the fumes. Chris threw the thing in a cardboard box and cut out a circle for the tubing to feed in through. From there, he hooked up the inline fan and the carbon filter to the tubing and threw the whole configuration into the fireplace. There, it sits and sucks out all the resin fumes from the printer, pushes it through a filter, and sends it out of the chimney. Anytime anyone comes over for the first time, whether it be friends or maintenance, they always ask about the 3D printer station. The whole setup looks incredibly sketchy, and it would be easy to draw a drug-related conclusion. However, the people I live with are nerds and have no desire to do anything of the sort. We always have to open the box and point to the printer, explaining how it is just a resin printer that makes tiny little figures for fun. I can’t really blame them either, but it has become a regular enough occurrence that I have to say “Oh, no! No, that’s a nerd thing. Not drugs.”

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

Nerds in the Midst

Some details about the nonsense that is the resin setup.

Carbon filter to not gas out the entire complex.

Inline fan to suck up all the fumes.

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

3D printer, outgases toxic fumes.

Tubing punched into the cardboard fumehood.

Isopropol cleaning station.

Tubing ran into the haunted fireplace.

Nerds in the Midst

THE KITCHEN The subjects are, overall, very frugal about money. Chris worked a job for one day at a meat packing facility. He was paid 100 dollars for his time, and came back to the apartment with a large cardboard box filled with about 80 pounds of free beef. He got all kinds of cuts, including steaks, ground, shanks, and the like. The meat did not fit in the freezer that came with the apartment, so Chris went out and spent his paycheck on a larger freezer to store the meat in. It was so much meat that there was no way he’d be able to eat it all without it going bad, so he shared it with the rest of the apartment. Josh took an interest in the job, and while Chris only had time to work that one shift, Josh essentially took over his position. About every two weeks or so, Josh was coming back to the apartment with a new shipment of beef. This began the boys’ obsession with food frugality. Every time we would go grocery shopping together it became a competition as to who could spend the least amount of money for food for the week. According to the subjects, this was the most cost-effective course of action and they outright refused to buy any other meat until we were out of beef. We ate nothing but beef for five months.

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

The most popular dish each person individually made was spaghetti with meat sauce. Due to the apartment cooking at least 3 pounds beef every day, we began pouring grease into empty glass jars that once held the spaghetti sauce. It was believed that we would, one day, use the grease for something. That day never came. At one point, we had about six 24 ounce jars filled with beef grease sitting on the kitchen counter. After Daniel suggested that we had enough grease to make a sizable bomb, we decided to throw away all the grease. After a couple of months, Josh’s job finally came to a climactic end: 50 pounds of frozen pork, seperated into 10 pound packages. The subjects were afraid to chisel into the pork, as they are frozen bricks of meat that would have to be consumed in one course once it thaws before it goes bad. We have tried literally chiselling into the meat to no avail. I don’t know what the overall outcome of all this pork will be, but the frugality of the subjects is finally meeting a head. Will they ever eat it, or will it go bad?

Nerds in the Midst

While taking the trash out, Chris and I spotted a 42” TV next to the dumpster. It was face down in the dirt, but Chris had the bright idea of bringing it back to the apartment to see if it works. After cleaning it on the kitchen floor, we tried to see if it worked by stealing the only power cord from the back of the television in the living room. It did, but we only had one cord to turn a TV on with. Now, we have a trash television that has been sitting on the floor because we can’t use it, but Chris refuses to toss it due its “potential” use.

“Maybe Josh can use it as a monitor.” –Subject 3

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

The apartment itself is tragically dark. There are no ceiling lights in any of the bedrooms or in the living room, and the windows are small due to the apartment being half underground. We had to buy lamps to fill these rooms with light, otherwise we would be living in the dark. That being said, the ceiling lights in the kitchen have been out for months. The subjects and I are all under agreement that the lights should be on in the kitchen, yet none of them are brave enough to make the push and get them fixed. Due to their “fix-it-themselves” nature, they refuse to call for help. Instead, the subjects rearranged the lamps in the house and put one in the kitchen. The subjects often reinforce the belief that they can handle problems themselves, even when everyone would benefit if one of them just asked for help. It’s very ambient in the kitchen now.

These are the lamps we got for the apartment. They were ten bucks and not very bright.

Nerds in the Midst

The dining room table is never cleared. It is constantly covered in Dungeons & Dragons (D&D) books, maps, figurines, dice, and the like. Since the nerds are constantly talking about D&D, either making characters, building storylines, or expanding on the current lore of their current characters, they don’t see a reason to put it away. Only two people can eat comfortably at a time on the table, otherwise someone will have to start moving stuff around just to fit. We all get hungry at different times, so we usually don’t have a problem sitting alone and eating by ourselves and essentially take turns at the dining table.

A 3-D print of one of the D&D characters, Nukas.

Tour of the Thieves’ Den

Nerds in the Midst

Subjects 1 and 2 talking about something that is only hilarious to them.

Social Solidarity

SOCIAL SOLIDARITY The subjects, while often at ends with the rest of the world, support each other and themselves through the struggles of being a computer scientist. As a normal person looking in, they often talk to each other in ways only they can understand. This unity between them has been cultivated both inside and outside the standard classroom, seeping into daily conversations and activities.

“I swear, if this doesn’t work I’m going to effing rage.” –Subject 1 41

Nerds in the Midst

CURRICULUM CONUNDRUMS The entire computer science department is on a singular track, meaning everyone in the major is required to do the same work to earn their degree. This means that many of the major projects are the same, and each of the subjects have expressed their distress when one of them hits a major, department wide project. The two projects I have heard the most about are called the “Bomb” and the “Shell”. From what I can gather, the Bomb is a series of puzzles where failure to accurately solve them leads to an explosion– and an incremental decrease in the final grade. Each phase gets more difficult as one solves each problem. Chris was the first subject to tackle the bomb, and has expressed that he was able to diffuse it in a week, but it was difficult. Daniel was the second person to diffuse it, and while Chris was on and off with the bomb over a week, Daniel sat down and one-shot the whole thing over the course of two days. Josh is the last of the subjects to tackle the bomb, and claims to be “extremely lucky” with his solutions. The boys have been the most supportive of each other when one of them is going through the bomb. It is seen as a rite of passage to becoming a full computer scientist. The Shell project entails connecting to the school’s servers and building what Daniel calls “a baby computer terminal”. Due to the nature of the project, a common occurrence is accidentally creating a never-ending, exponential loop, which quickly overwhelms the campus’s servers, leading to a crash. Everyone on campus is affected by this project, so the subjects have deemed this portion of the semester “Shell Season.”

Social Solidarity

“You don’t even have to be in the class to know when it’s Shell season. You’ll be working on something else and then the servers crash and you’ll know some idiot is responsible.” –Subject 1 Subject 2 working diligently on the bomb.

Nerds in the Midst

COMPSCI ANIMAL NOISES Every Friday night, we host a D&D session in the Thieves’ den. A couple of our friends come over around 7PM, and we all play until around 12-1AM. Daniel is the dungeon master, and has been carefully weaving the narrative our characters are playing in since day one. One of our friends who plays with us mentioned that he wanted a pet bear in the campaign. Since then, every single time the word “bear” is said, everyone, in unison, let’s out a bear roar that is as whiny and groany as possible. The volume and duration can be anything from a quick “ruh” to a loud, unadulterated “RUUOOOOOOOH!” Outside of the session, the nerds continue this chant during the working hours of the day. The roars are often unprompted, and sometimes one of the subjects roars just to roar, and everyone else roars back in solidarity. Another common noise made by the nerds is dog barks, which started when Josh made eye contact with a large dog that lives in our complex. He named him “Scoobert of House Doobert,” and said that he and the dog respected each other as “Big Dogs.” This quickly turned into a philosophy about people being either a Big Dog or a Little Dog. Josh asserts that he is a Big Dog by pounding on his chest, yelling “Big Dog!” and letting out deep, raspy “Boof!” While Chris has been quiet on his stance of Dog-dom, Daniel has claimed that he, like Josh, is a Big Dog, and the two of them have dubbed me a Little Dog. I have asked what it means to be a Little Dog, but the two of them always give me a vague answer, usually including phrases like “You can’t handle it”, “You don’t know”, and “See, this is why you’ll never be at the top of the food chain.”

Social Solidarity

Nerds in the Midst

“WE DON’T MAKE FRIENDS; WE MAKE ENEMIES” –Subject 3 Outside of the documented subjects of this book, the nerds have informed me about other, more chaotic nerds. I don’t know their real names, and I don’t know if the subjects even know their real names. All of these other chaotic nerds that roam the CS department have been given nicknames by the subjects and have only ever been referred to by those nicknames. These outside nerds fit archetypes not covered in this book, and therefore are enemies of the main subjects. The one nerd that the subjects loathe the most goes by the nickname Bubblesort. I don’t know how he got that nickname, but the subjects are all in consensus that he sucks. In the subjects’ words, Bubblesort is “a demon” and “thinks he knows everything, but doesn’t know shit.” They outwardly detest having to do anything with him, and actively refuse to work with him. If one of the subjects is forced to interact with him, the other subjects express deep concern and sympathy for having to deal with him. A deemed “lesser evil” in comparison to Bubblesort is this guy named Hatkid. From what I can gather, Hatkid is just a weird guy. He’s like Bubblesort, where he’s condescending and interrupts class, but to a much lesser degree. I’ve tried asking more about Hatkid, but it seems like the subjects just have very strong opinions about him for just those reasons.

Social Solidarity

An artistic rendition of Bubblesort. I’ve never seen him before, but I’ve been told he’s greasy.

An artistic rendition of Hatkid. The boys overheard him say “Zinc!” really loud once, and now it’s an ongoing joke.

Nerds in the Midst

A CONVERSATION ABOUT CAREERS I overheard the subjects discussing their preparations for job hunting. At first, everything they were saying sounded pretty standard: updating resumes, writing cover letters, wearing something nice to the interview, but there was one thing that was brought up towards the tail end of their conversation that I had to ask about: interview problems. Apparently, computer scientists have to do a math test mid-interview to get a job. This involves writing code in front of the interviewer. I can understand why companies would ask potential employees to do this, but the equivalent for an artist would be like asking them to draw something mid-interview. Considering I have never been asked to draw anything in any interview, and I’ve never heard of another artist having to draw for an interview, the idea of having to prove yourself every interview sounds stressful. They also told me about coding competitions held by companies. Huge companies will post riddles and coding problems, and anyone who can solve it can potentially get a job. Sometimes, winners won’t even get a job, just a prize for solving a problem the company has been having. While none of them compete in coding competitions anymore, they did at one point, and empathize with each other about the thankless grind they have all been through.

Social Solidarity

Subject 3 dressed up for his first of several interviews with the same potential employer. He got the job, but his employer teased him about dressing up.

Nerds in the Midst

CONCLUSION The subjects have been, overall, hilarious to observe. They are laid-back and drama-free for the most part, and show each other compassion and empathy through their shared struggles of being a computer scientist. They’re all different from each other, and bring their own special flavors to the apartment. All three of them are weird in their own right. They cheer each other on in a manner only computer scientists could do– which is talk about things that make no sense whatsoever.

Discoveries

Subject 2 working out. Everyone knows when he’s working out because he grunts very loudly.