Five Geek Social Fallacies is an influential sociology article by Michael Suileabhain-Wilson, written December 2nd, 2003. It explains many of the differences between regular and geek social circles and how the latter invites unnecessary drama through over-inclusiveness. The five fallacies are:
- Ostracizers Are Evil: most geeks come from a background of ostracism and to inflict that upon another, for any reason, is inherently wrong. See Ostracism is evil for uses of this fallacy to silence geek feminist activism.
- Friends Accept Me As I Am: any criticism of another's behavior, for any reason, is inherently wrong and a sign that they must not be true friends.
- Friendship Before All: the circle of friends is king and to prioritize anything above it, for any reason, is inherently wrong. This often leads to people sacrificing work, family, and romantic obligations to appease their friends.
- Friendship Is Transitive: all your friends can and should be friends with each other. Any idea of incompatibility due to conflicting interests, subcultures, and/or politics is inherently wrong.
- Friends Do Everything Together: everybody should be invited and included in every gathering. To not attend an event or suggest somebody shouldn't be invited due to logistics or conflicting interests is inherently wrong.
All of these create an unhealthy social climate that protects anti-social behavior and silences those who want to censure or remove the worst behaved members. This becomes especially problematic when sexual assault occurs, usually with the result of the victim being forced to give up most of their friends in order to escape interaction with their abuser.
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