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[-] user134450@feddit.de 162 points 10 months ago

What makes them think that the library of Alexandria did it any other way? Nerds have existed long before the internet…

[-] Potatos_are_not_friends@lemmy.world 79 points 10 months ago

Nerds were invented by Charles Nerd, when in 1948, separated from the Poindexters and the eggheads after disagreement.

[-] rockerface@lemm.ee 51 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

You can only call then Nerds if they're from the Nerdeaux region of France. Otherwise they're just sparkling smartasses

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 19 points 10 months ago

umm ackshually this is false, the concept of nerd originates from a viking ship that docked at Lübeck in 873, whereupon the crew got into an extended argument about the precise value of their cargo, leading to the Lübeck merchants exclaiming "Fücking Nörds!" and that quickly caught on and eventually the term started generally referring to anyone that was annoyingly pedantic but technically correct.

[-] nilloc@discuss.tchncs.de 9 points 10 months ago

Can I cite this on Wikipedia?

[-] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 10 months ago

absolutely. I am a tyrant that you should trust, and you should let me run your life. I know what is best for you.

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[-] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 111 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

That's literally what the library of Alexandria was all about.

They told all of the nerds that the best nerd paper would get into their nerd building, and nerds traveled there from around the world and dedicated their lives to correcting and one-upping the other nerds.

I love the fallibility of humans and our consistency, it makes me much more comfortable to live in a world that seems comprehensible, because I know underneath all of it are like three dumb existential complacencies that any human part of the species can't deny.

[-] IsThisAnAI@lemmy.world 90 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Just ignore the 150M a year they spend managing finances, contributors, tech, moderation, etc. Takes a lot to maintain an accurate library.

[-] underisk@lemmy.ml 71 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

i dont think anyone is ignoring that. the meme is talking about how it was built, not how it's currently maintained. it definitely didn't start off spending that much. all that spending is a consequence of it's popularity, not the reason for it.

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[-] gwildors_gill_slits@lemmy.ca 34 points 10 months ago

150m a year doesn't seem that much, honestly. I know people think "oh, it's just a website" but it takes a lot of work and money in salaries and infrastructure hosting to keep a web application as popular as Wikipedia up and running.

[-] nik9000@programming.dev 56 points 10 months ago

I used to work for them. It was weird and wonderful and I miss it and I don't. Lots of mission driven folks working hard to keep things going getting very little respect. But a lot of respect. But sometimes none.

Iirc a lot of their budget is spent doing charity stuff. Encouraging contributions for tiny languages. Trying not to cave to Russia or the US or France. Trying to make it less of a boys club. Trying to get local organizations going.

I remember once they sent an email that said "if the French government asks you to delete this page please just delete it. It's not worth going to jail. Someone outside of France will revert the delete."

I wasn't qualified for the work. No one was. But it was honest work.

[-] lledrtx@lemmy.world 10 points 10 months ago

Thank you for your work, though!

Very curious about the page French govt wanted deleted.

[-] No_Ones_Slick_Like_Gaston@lemmy.world 16 points 10 months ago
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[-] RegalPotoo@lemmy.world 20 points 10 months ago

150m a year for one of the most trafficked websites on the internet is a bargin

[-] Kolanaki@yiffit.net 75 points 10 months ago

It's not the real Library at Alexandria until it burns down. Twice.

[-] someguy3@lemmy.ca 63 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

Dammit he correctly used the apostrophe.

[-] JackGreenEarth@lemm.ee 15 points 10 months ago

Why damn it? That's a good thing.

[-] bobs_monkey@lemm.ee 45 points 10 months ago

Nerds needing to correct each other lol

[-] TheImpressiveX@lemmy.ml 8 points 10 months ago

They said it as an interjection, in this case to express astonishment.

[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

Here: it’s nerd’s, not nerds’.

You’re welcome.

[-] remotedev@lemmy.ca 23 points 10 months ago
[-] user224@lemmy.sdf.org 10 points 10 months ago

But... it's plural, it already ends in s.

[-] drengbarazi@lemmy.world 5 points 10 months ago
[-] dohpaz42@lemmy.world 6 points 10 months ago

They’re is no way your write about this.

[-] Blackmist@feddit.uk 42 points 10 months ago

"The best way to get a correct answer online is not to post a question. It is to post the wrong answer."

[-] turkishdelight@lemmy.ml 18 points 10 months ago

I've done it at times. It works!

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[-] bruhduh@lemmy.world 29 points 10 months ago
[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 26 points 10 months ago

All human advancement was created by nerds. Spears were invented by weaklings too slow to kill with their bare hands. Fire was tamed by the people who were scared of the dark

[-] meliaesc@lemmy.world 14 points 10 months ago

I think fire was tamed because the food poisoning killed those without it. We are supposed to just sleep at night.

[-] Dagwood222@lemm.ee 8 points 10 months ago

Assuming primitive people would make the connection between gross food and people dying.

https://ebookslib.org/sf/12898-eurema-s-dam.html

Fun little story that makes my point.

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[-] REEEEvolution@lemmygrad.ml 10 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

At least that is the PR.

It all goes out of the window as soon as politcal events are concerned, then it is just western naratives all over. With things as sources, good sources, multiple viewpoints all forgotten. What the west says is treated as gospel. While paid editors up to and including state actors rule the site. The system of nerds correcting each other is then used to prevent corrections.

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[-] mindbleach@sh.itjust.works 8 points 10 months ago

Yes, I do, every time there's seventeen exceptions on a statement that used to be simple. 'This was their last album with this drummer, until he came back, except for this other time, before he left again.' Just rewrite the damn sentence.

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[-] littlebluespark@lemmy.world 7 points 10 months ago

And still, even with a do-over, somehow failed to call it "M'akshually". 🤷🏼‍♂️

[-] pewgar_seemsimandroid@lemmy.blahaj.zone 6 points 10 months ago* (last edited 10 months ago)

it better not get burned down again

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this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2024
1805 points (98.9% liked)

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