I read the whole article, and he didn't say "peers," he said "friends." And he didn't explain anything beyond that.
People do not passively participate in a culture. We collectively create a culture by forming relationships with everyone around us, not just our friends. You have to get along with your coworkers if you want to succeed in any field, and if you are a software engineer, that's probably going to involve geeking out about programming.
He was definitely talking about other people at his job, or at least in his profession. He was explaining why he didn't leave the profession. I would quote the article but it's down.
People do not passively participate in a culture. We collectively create a culture by forming relationships with everyone around us, not just our friends. You have to get along with your coworkers if you want to succeed in any field, and if you are a software engineer, that's probably going to involve geeking out about programming.