There's an entire generation of Internet nerds that were raised on snark and sarcasm. That's how early Reddit felt, and you can still see it in action in this forum. I guess that's what happens when you discover the Internet in your "it's cool to hate" teenage phase.

It's like nerd catnip when you mix a deeply scientific expert, say in astrophysics, with sarcasm and cynicism. "They are so cocky it must be true. Also they're a physicist!"