|
|
|
|
|
|
|
bigotry in particular. Many enjoy 'parody' religions such as Discordianism and the Church of the SubGenius. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Also, many hackers are influenced to varying degrees by Zen Buddhism or (less commonly) Taoism, and blend them easily with their 'native' religions. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
There is a definite strain of mystical, almost Gnostic sensibility that shows up even among those hackers not actively involved with neopaganism, Discordianism, or Zen. Hacker folklore that pays homage to 'wizards' and speaks of incantations and demons has too much psychological truthfulness about it to be entirely a joke. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Most hackers don't smoke tobacco, and use alcohol in moderation if at all (though there is a visible contingent of exotic-beer fanciers, and a few hackers are serious oenophiles). Limited use of non-addictive psychedelic drugs, such as cannabis, LSD, psilocybin, and nitrous oxide, etc., used to be relatively common and is still regarded with more tolerance than in the mainstream culture. Use of 'downers' and opiates, on the other hand, appears to be particularly rare; hackers seem in general to dislike drugs that make them stupid. On the third hand, many hackers regularly wire up on caffeine and/or sugar for all-night hacking runs. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
See the discussions of speech and writing styles near the beginning of this File. Though hackers often have poor person-to-person communication skills, they are as a rule quite sensitive to nuances of language and very precise in their use of it. They are often better at writing than at speaking. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Geographical Distribution |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
In the United States, hackerdom revolves on a Bay Area-to-Boston axis; about half of the hard core seems to live within a hundred miles of Cambridge (Massachusetts) or Berkeley (California), although there are significant contingents in Los Angeles, in the Pacific Northwest, and around Washington DC. Hackers tend to cluster around large cities, especially 'university towns' such as the Raleigh-Durham area in North Carolina or Princeton, |
|
|
|
|
|