Carmack is literally a legend from a completely meritocratic perspective. His respect is 100% something he’s earned by being a master at his craft and a deeply knowledgeable person who has continually pushed his field forward for decades while being an accessible and mentoring individual.

In short, he’s a “nerd’s nerd”.

It’s hard not to be enraptured by someone like that. It would be like listening to DaVinci discuss theoretical aerodynamics for three hours.