I think you can extend this argument beyond hackers to scientists in general.
When you live in a "black and white" world, there's much less need to tolerate gray areas. Ask 100 politicians, writers, or clergypeople a question and get 100 answers. Much less so for us scientists. Sure we debate a little, but in the end 2 plus 2 still equals 4 (most of the time), and it's often easy to see if something works or doesn't.
Libertarianism is probably the most "black and white" of the political ideaologies, so the transfer is pretty natural for us.
When you live in a "black and white" world, there's much less need to tolerate gray areas. Ask 100 politicians, writers, or clergypeople a question and get 100 answers. Much less so for us scientists. Sure we debate a little, but in the end 2 plus 2 still equals 4 (most of the time), and it's often easy to see if something works or doesn't.
Libertarianism is probably the most "black and white" of the political ideaologies, so the transfer is pretty natural for us.