I don’t think I ever heard anyone use the phrase “hard-core EAs” or if I did it just passed by without note, but now that I bother to think about it I actually think it’s really apt!
The etymology of hardcore has been a bit lost over the years. Here’s what etymonline says:
also hard-core; 1936 (n.); 1951 (adj.); from hard (adj.) + core (n.). Original use seems to be among economists and sociologists, in reference to unemployables. Extension to pornography is attested by 1966. Also the name of a surfacing material.
Merriam-Webster seem to think it’s a bit older, dating back at least to 1841:
So the earliest sense in which hard core was used was in reference to a sort of foundation on which something substantial was built. In the early 20th century the word broadened its sense to refer to serving as the foundation, or central element, of things aside of man-made structures, such as groups or organizations.
And in its perhaps better known application to pornography, the idea of a hard core that was irredeemable by virtue of how committed it was to immorality (or at least the morality of the time).
So actually I really like the idea of hardcore EAs. They’re the bedrock, the foundation, the EAs who are still going to be there if EA becomes uncool or gets canceled or whatever. It makes me think of people like Peter Singer who would just keep on being an EA even if no one had come up with the label or built a movement. It has the metaphor of being so EA that even if someone brought in a jackhammer you wouldn’t crack.
I don’t know if I am or want to be a hardcore EA, but I’m sure as hell glad they exist!
I don’t think I ever heard anyone use the phrase “hard-core EAs” or if I did it just passed by without note, but now that I bother to think about it I actually think it’s really apt!
The etymology of hardcore has been a bit lost over the years. Here’s what etymonline says:
Merriam-Webster seem to think it’s a bit older, dating back at least to 1841:
And in its perhaps better known application to pornography, the idea of a hard core that was irredeemable by virtue of how committed it was to immorality (or at least the morality of the time).
So actually I really like the idea of hardcore EAs. They’re the bedrock, the foundation, the EAs who are still going to be there if EA becomes uncool or gets canceled or whatever. It makes me think of people like Peter Singer who would just keep on being an EA even if no one had come up with the label or built a movement. It has the metaphor of being so EA that even if someone brought in a jackhammer you wouldn’t crack.
I don’t know if I am or want to be a hardcore EA, but I’m sure as hell glad they exist!