Look at the other extreme: the idea that I might be discouraged (or disallowed) from  bonding with my coworkers over shared interests sounds dystopian.<p>You might argue that workplaces shouldn&#x27;t endorse one particular subculture over another: that&#x27;s fine. But unless you take stern measures to ban fraternization, you&#x27;re going to get coworkers forming friendships based on shared interests, and we&#x27;re lying to ourselves if we think that interests of software people tend not to cluster around what we think of as &quot;geek&quot; culture.