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We Are All Nerds Now
Anonymous Slob Nerd. writes "The Guardian has a good review of something close to all of our hearts. We are all nerds now discusses how the popularity of the internet, video gaming, comic-book movies (Spider-Man, Hulk), the sci-fi epics (The Matrix, Star Wars) and the wizard fantasy (Harry Potter), not to mention The Lord of the Rings has made nerds, and nerdish behaviour, cool."
If the "Nerd" moniker is now the baseline for the general populace then the True Nerds will have to come up with something to differentiate us from Them. Maybe it's time to go back to black glasses with tape, flood pants and pocket protectors. Perhaps a secret handshake too!
Trolling is a art,
What is the default level on the geek hierarchy that the new trendy nerds enter at?
Resistance is futile ..
No. We just feel better about being nerds.
All Your Memory Are Belong To Java
And the nerds that will be looked down on are the ones who still like Star Trek.
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Liking all of those things doesn't make you a geek. Getting in depth on those things makes you a geek. I like cars, but I couldn't flush a radiator. Does that make me a Gearhead? ... Yes I liked Star Wars, but when I turn into my friend who can play 6 vs. 1 at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit and beat us in two turns(all 6 pies and the center).... thats a damn Star Wars geek.
No, because pop gaming nerds think The Matrix was a good game, while real gaming nerds know that most of the world will miss out on gems like Viewtiful Joe.
Same goes for any of the other formats available. Trying to convince 'cool nerds' of the hidden treasures in each medium only make them easily identifyable as the uncool nerds again.
Nerds will always be around. They arn't identifiable by what mediums they like, only the great lengths they will go to discuss or aquire specific works.
"Old man yells at systemd"
I somewhat fail to see what's so nerdish about Lord of the Rings. Sure,
alot of nerds have read the book. The books seems to have a cult status among nerds, though I really cannot find many nerds or why anyone would think of nerds while reading the books or watching the movies.
I've never worn glasses, or pocket protectors, and I think I'm as nerdy as you can get to an extent without being stereotypical. You on the other hand I believe are an nerd impostor who's probably never even seen the TV show "PI the final frontier" so I've reported you
MoFscker
Yeah, I'm a nerd, but you still have to grovel at my feet if you want your computer fixed or upgraded.
You have a problem with your DSL/Cable modem connection? Well, kiss my ass then.
You need to remove those pop-up adds? Kiss my ass then.
Yes, I am you overlord, so be happy about it.
Nothing can make nerdish behaviour cool. That's one of the fundumental axioms of social psychology.
-- MarkusQ
P.S. If you doubt this distinction, spend a few minutes and I'll bet you can easily think of two other things that have allways been popular but have never been cool, and at least one thing (YMMV) that is cool but has never been popular. Do this when there is no one within earshot so you won't have to explain your laughter.
...in one way or another. Most of the Slashdot crowd are computer/natural science/LOTR nerds whereas Germans, for example, might all be David Hasselhoff nerds. ;)
-- Power corrupts, but PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.
> start by turning the computer off you fat ass lazy "nerds"
... HOW??
To avoid the easy charge of hypocricy, I realize you posted while you were outside, and your computer was off (presumably indoors.)
The real question is
"Old man yells at systemd"
Comment removed based on user account deletion
I always wanted to be a demographic! Yay!!
When we remember we are all mad, the mysteries disappear and life stands explained.
Mark Twain
I think it was the .com bubble, the millions of dollars and the fancy cars that did that.
All this means is that there is more evident stratification in geekdom. Once upon a time, you were either a geek or you weren't. Now, there are levels of geeks. There are wannabe geeks, plain-old geeks, gamer geeks, alpha geeks, BOFHs, etc. Think of it as a multi-level geeking scheme. Geekdom with middle-management. A pecking order. In other words, associating yourself as a geek has become akin to associating yourself with any other group: gotta work your way up.
Where the hell is my hot cheerleader girlfriend?? And where are the disgruntled upended jocks?!
;-)
Sheesh... you all can be "nerds"... I'm happy being "geek".
I-P (Its geordi laforge... as a smiley!)
This is my sig. Its pathetic.
We aren't all nerds.
How many of us couldn't get a date in high school?
How many of us were better in math than phys ed?
How many read Ender's Game and really, really felt it deep in their heart?
How many know and enjoy a joke that makes a pun on ergs?
Even today, how many of us stand out immediately in a room as the nerd?
I was a nerd before it was cool.
I was a nerd while it was cool.
And I am a nerd now that it is becoming less cool after the dot com crash.
--xPhase
The following sentence is TRUE. The previous sentence is FALSE.
Great...now no one will get laid.
I joined the New Enterprise Regarding Destroying Sociability (NERDS) specifically to avoid the masses. Nerd stuff was sure to keep 99% of the population away. Now what? I don't want to join the cannibal cult, I'm not interested in trepanation. What do I do?
geeks are. Nerds are just geek wannabees. One is born into nerdness, but it takes an effort to become a geek.
Appraising the film's cast, he dismisses them as "preppy Ivy League nerds. Not real ordinary slob nerds like us".
Yup, "Booger" was definitely a Harvard man.Gamingmuseum.com: Give your 3D accelerator a rest.
why then are most slashdot members still not getting any action...
:P
Speak for yourself, pizza-face.
What a dork.
Karma: Chameleon (mostly due to the fact that you come and go).
Honestly, how long did it take them to figure out being a nerd was cool? Even in popular culture...
The second that LOTR and Harry Potter were released to astonishing success, I knew it was real. Suddenly, i was the in crowd, Suddenly, All that knowledge that everyone deemed useless could get me a date. "Speak elvish to me again, Raleel...it makes me wet!"
Of course, I got married a while back, before it was cool, so now only one woman gets to listen to it, but still, she thinks its' cool, and she wouldn't ever read the books. It's spawned us watching all sorts of shows that I wouldn't have expected her to like, and brought out a new part of her personality. Hell, I might even do the dishes now...
-- Who is the bigger fool? The fool or the fool who follows him? --
While we might be consuming the same media, there are still some things that distinguish a true nerd:
1)Superiority complex
Don't worry, you're still smarter than everyone. You knew about Spider-Man back when it was a crappy 80's cartoon!
2)Poor hygiene
"I don't want to waste my time primping and preening," says the nerd. "It's societal bullshit!" You're like Rosa Parks, except the bus is the underwear you've been wearing for the last 3 days. Keep it up, faithful nerd...you shall overcome!
3)Passive aggressiveness
You'd rather take crap from your boss and call him a "PHB" on some internet message board than to straighten him out once and for all! Instead of suggesting your own methods of getting work done, you sulk and try to invent ways to sabotage his ideas.
4)Fanatical Collecting!
You can't relate to most people, but things...things are easy. Whether it's Battlefield Earth action figures or indie rock 12 inches, don't kid yourself-you're still a fucking nerd.
And the rest of us will be waiting patiently for you outside the boy's bathroom, ready to deal out the wedgies, score with the ladies, or become transparently evil characters in your 800-page self published web fanfic about Dracula meeting the Ninja Turtles. Rest easy, nerds. Your position in history is safe.
(-1, Raw and Uncut is the only way to read)
it's not really a secret and it's called 'masturbation'
It's more than the Guardian caught. Lok at the "classic" B-movies from the late 70s/early 80s, that featured the nerds, and the jocks/cheerleaders... In the post computer (and NASA, modern pharmacuticals, chemical advances, and the general explosion in engineering and technology) and wall street (80s greed is good, smart people making millions on wallstreet, etc.) and the cheesy comedies that were still appealing to the (now older) baby boomers feature 30 and 40 somethings.
Al Bundy is the classic stereotype... High school athlete and popular kid, now sells shoes. How many movies can you remember from the 90s that had people going to their high school reunion, terrified of seeing their tormentors, and their tormentor jock/cheerleader classmates worked in dead end jobs and their cheerleader wives got fat and miserable. And our hero, the high school nerd, impresses everyone with their accomplishments in business, engineering, etc.
The post-WW2 economy was about manufacturing jobs and the middle-class careers came from there.
The Information age jobs stemmed from math, science, or general intellectual pursuits. Sure Jobs/Gates made billions with computers, but Wall Street traders made millions in the 80s, and those weren't the football washouts.
There was a cultural change that followed the baby boomers aging. Manufacturing was replaced with the service sector, and the service sector is divided into minimum wage temps and high paid managers, with less and less middle management every year.
The good looking and popular football player that excelled in the factory because he was worshipped is gone, and the stereotype is now that he works as an automechanic or car salesman. The geek is seen as a high paid engineer or a successful executive.
That's been the see of change.
Alex
We're geeks, dammit!
Some of us are - what differentiates nerds and geeks is that geeks have social skills.
For an example of the difference, watch Wargames - specifically the part where Matthew Broderick goes to the computer lab to get help from Jim and Malvin. Jim was a geek, Malvin was a nerd.
you name one of your D&D characters after a character in the movie, or as a Dungeon Master you make a rule that nobody can name their characters after a LOTR character.
Onward to the Aether Sphere!
My favorite nerds were the pink and purple ones. Mmm nerds.
You know, I bought it until:
"you won't ever see me at a star trek convention with spock ears (or whatever his name is)."
Everyone knows who Spock is. You tried too hard, the veil has been pierced, I brand thee: NERD!
evil adrian
And none of these lines will cut it:
"hey, I'm running linux 2.6-pre8"
"wanna be the trinity to my neo?"
"I read on slashdot about..." (notice the sentence doesn't even finish before she's dumped your sorry ass!)
KARMA Attemts to Repress Meaningless Assholes
or something like that
Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
The casual moviegoer sees LOTR and The Matrix as just action movies. A lot of my friends just say "I saw the Matrix, cool kung-fu but I didn't get it".
LOTR is also another movie simply loved by the masses because it's so hyped up. I flipped through one of those popular culture mags and found all sort of Return of the King promotional stuff for sale or contests you can enter, with posters etc. Do you think they'd have John Howe paintings as posters in those magazines if LOTR was simply a dusty old book instead of never being made into a movie franchise?
"Backups are for wimps. Real men upload their data to an FTP site and have everyone else mirror it." -- Linus Torvalds
We've now got lots more products that cater to the female market. There's the Goth section, with the Living Dead Dolls...
Something I've noticed is that about 80-90% of the goth-type people I meet can be described as geeky-- most are into sci-fi, graphic novels, have web pages, are proficient with computers, etc. My theory is that they were nerds first and then migrated to a subculture baroque enough to accomodate the intensity of their interests (which was channeled into the whole 'black' aesthetic). Alot of geek girls have goth tendencies, which is another attraction for the social outcast male.
I get beat up a lot less now that I wear 16 hole doc martins, anyway. Though I'm still a 130 pound weakling.
iopha
I am a nerd. I am also a dork and a geek. I think of these as three separate but related identities and have spent way too much of my free time developing discrete definitions of the three.
Nerds are defined by what they know. We tend to stick to societally acceptable topics, but dive in much deeper or cover a wider variety of subjects than most. We are the grad students of the world, the academics, researchers and general know-it-alls.
Dorks are defined by what they like. Similar to the nerd, we dive in much deeper than the average person, but the topics we pursue tend to be much more nontraditional. We learn to speak Klingon or Elvish or know the plot lines, writers, and artists of all the major comic books and most of the minor ones.
Geeks are defined by what they can do. We may not know as much as the nerd on any given topic, but we can do more with what we know. We can hook up a home theater, fix a computer, or super-charge a lawnmower. We are the tinkerers, programmers, and garage inventors.
Some broad examples of my taxonomy: Nerds get A's in AP classes. Dorks play D&D. Geeks set up LANs.
All of our incarnations have spent more time learning about stuff than we have interacting with other people, hence our reputation for social awkwardness. We are handy, interesting, and often downright annoying to have around when our specialty areas come up, but are otherwise generally avoided.
I'm a nerd/dork/geek, but that's not the entirety of my identity. I like myself and my life, and against all odds, I've managed to find a life partner who feels the same. Of course, she's a bit nerdy/dorky/geeky herself, but aren't we all?
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.
On to the point. I happened to be doing some computer/photo work over at my inlaws, where the reality show 'Average Joe' was on. It was the 'big, final, show', where the chick is picking between a rich nerd, and the sterotypical 'handsome guy'.
As I was in the same room as this, I witnessed the ending where the chick picks the 'handsome guy' (who actually lives in his parent's basement) over the rich nerd (who was not unattractive, but slightly goofy)
I had predicted that 'whoever was the biggest assole will be chosen' - the nerd seemed sensitive and not an asshole at all - but the money was throwing off the equation. 'Handsome guy' was actually more average from what I saw; by the definite lack of personality.
Somewhere I lost the point, but I haven't had enough coffee. Needless to say, the show left me with a sour feeeling.
The moral of the story: Rich nerds still don't get the girl, if they're competing against generic 'handsome guys'.
I'm married, but I'm stunningly handsome;) , and rich some of the time, and a nerd. I met my wife at a rock show I was playing, so go figure.
now if only they'd make being fat and addicted to caffeine cool i'd be james dean!
Spiderman, Hulk, and Harry Potter...these are targeted at *kids*. Sure, the Harry Potter books are good (I've read the first four), but we're really talking about fantasy books that sell the most among preteens. And who buys Spideman and Hulk *toys*? Kids! Duh! Sure, adults have fond memories of superheroes, but we don't obssess about them. The movies are more feel-good nostalgia than anything else. But none of this has anything to go with the general populace being nerds.
Now the rise of the PC, that's unsettling. You hear middle aged women talking about firewalls and WiFi, and it takes some getting used to. But realize that PCs are completely mainstream now, so this shouldn't be a big shock. The catch is that such people use their computers to do their work, or to browse the web, or whatever, and don't just obssess about computers for computers' sake.
whut about the legions on heavy metal nerds..the DIO fans and hordes of power metal , dungeons and dragons , elves and dragons power metal bands like Iced Earth , Hammerfall, Rhapsody...those guys are the nerd crowd in the scene as opposed to say.. pantera or something
Here in Colorado, after Columbine - an interesting thing happened. Instead of reaching out to the geeky kids, and vilifying the jocks who oppressed them - the opposite happened. Adults went out of their way to demonstrate why jocks beating up geeks was the ACCEPTED reality, and it actually reinforced itself. The Columbine football team went on to win the local high School league, and all the major news outlets covered it like the Super Bowl. The jocks got endorsements, they were worshiped for their ability to "overcome" the tragedy, although it was quite clear they were the driving force behind Klebold and Harris behavior.
It was very strange. Colorado high schools have the very worst case of hating the smart kids, promoting mediocrity, and pumping jock culture. That is one reason I intend to leave before my kids become school age and move to a state that actually understand what a magnet school is, and what it is for.
From the book: "And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It- Kutch a Preep and a Proo a Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!"
Yet more mastery from one of my favorite 20th century authors....(go read the Lorax now, dammit)
Peter Bagge has a funny comic on this theme.
Some broad examples of my taxonomy: Nerds get A's in AP classes. Dorks play D&D. Geeks set up LANs
all these year's I've been calling myself a geek, when now I finally realize I'm a dork. That's both scary and depressing. We'll at least all the money I spent on Magic cards wasn't in vain.
Excellent breakdown there. I wonder, though, if all these tendencies flow from the same source; is it really possible to have one or two, but not the other? Have you ever seen a geek who never had any really, really wacky personality quirks, aka dorkiness? Maybe there's a reason so many geeks are in SCA, fencing, LARPs, etc.
--grendel drago
Laws do not persuade just because they threaten. --Seneca
Internet/Electronics:
:)
Just because us nerds made technology easy enough for the general population to use does not mean that the general population is nerds. Technology has always progressed and there have always been people who push technological development and those who simply use the results. When the general population can design these technologies then you can talk.
Video Games:
This has never been limited to nerds. When the nintendo came out, all the kids wanted one not just the nerds. I have a friend that works at a game store and he says the worst part about it is that half the people that come in are the stupid jocks with the "this game is cool cause you kill people" mentality. The only video gaming that have been specific to nerds are MUDs, and for that matter, pen-and-paper roll playing as well. So the popularity of MMRPG's is a step in that direction, although the potential for creativity is much less than MUDs and other role-playing games. Fantasy goes along the same lines. Everyone likes a good adventure, only geeks build entire worlds in their imagination.
Comic Books:
Again, in my dad's time, all the boys liked comic books. What makes you a comic book geek is knowing every single aspect of every single comic, to the point where you are more in touch with the comic book universe and more capable of spotting plot inconsistencies than the creator himself. Diddo for star wars, star trek. Plenty of non-geeks watch those shows. Only the geeks worshiped them
The whole bit about how nerds are succesfull after high school has also always been true. And nerds are still treated the same way in high school as they have always been. The only change in that dynamic, which he barely mentioned, is the new goth, freak, punk groups that have grown staring around the late 70's. They tend to be more nerd-friendly than the popular people.
But yeah nothing he said indicated any sort of signicicant change.
Seriously folks, does anyone else feel this way? I don't mind at all being called a geek. I fit the profile. That's cool. But "nerd"? I dunno, I've just never liked the sound of that. It seems more negative somehow. Thoughts?
It was always said that the geeks shall inherit the earth!!! Or did I hear it wrong?
For an example of the difference, watch Wargames - specifically the part where Matthew Broderick goes to the computer lab to get help from Jim and Malvin. Jim was a geek, Malvin was a nerd.
... like by never repeating it while a girl's present.
Nerd Trivia: Eddie Deezen, who played Malvin, is the voice of Mandark on Dexter's Laboratory.
TIP: If you want to get laid, use this information wisely
Les Miserables Volume 1 now up with my reading of
You're still a big nerd if you like those things. And you're definitely not cool.
I hate to be the one to say this, but this is such a load. I see a story like this every few months. It's the product of nerds trying to validate their existence.
I am a nerd myself. I'm a programmer, computer enthusiast, video gamer, star trek fan, and lanky white guy whose social skills are always in question.
However, I have no illusions about what I am.
Nerds are relative to non-nerds. You can call them Jocks, but that's not the whole of it - Nerds are compared against anyone who is not a nerd. Yes, Geeks count. You are not special just because you change the word.
I'm sure everyone is wondering what a non-nerd is. It's easy to say someone who is jock-ish, works out and is well built, good with the ladies, has some fashion and hygiene sense, works a blue-collar job that makes them dirty every day, and doesn't flinch at loud noises. Add a general lack of intelligence, and you've got yourself a non-nerd, right?
That is an insufficient description of a non-nerd, however. Some nerds work out (usually in a martial arts class) and have good fashion sense. It's simpler to define it as someone who exhibits fewer nerd-like properties than the nerd they are comparing themselves against.
Take two seemingly identical nerds. When they argue, whoever wins by pounding the other with logic and refusing to stop arguing is the bigger nerd. Whichever one has less muscle, and/or is less tan than the other guy is the bigger nerd. Whichever one likes Star Trek more is the bigger nerd. See how simple it is?
And the funny thing is, whichever one considers himself "less" nerdy than the other guy, no matter how nerdy he is, is still a big nerd - however, he does get bragging rights to call the other guy a nerd and proclaim that he is not one himself.
So let's just stop already. We're all nerds, if you want to get technical about it (and if you do, you're a big nerd) but some of us are far less nerdy than others. Those people have every right to call the nerds nerds, beat them up, laugh at them, and assault their self-esteem.
It's your job as a nerd to either accept your place in the pecking order as a nerd and forget about it, dealing with the occasional wedgie or insult now and then, or try to make as many other people as possible look more nerdy than you.
# Erik
Just because a little fantasy and sci-fi is popular, don't think for a minute nerds are accepted into society.
25 years ago we had STAR WARS, WILLOW, etc. THey were hits for Nerds and non-nerds alike.
And today you have the same crap going on.
I felt embarrassed for about 25 people at the Matrix Revolution that wore their black leather and sunglasses and walked around like some freak-show. How about the Star Wars fans that dress up and go about the foolishness. LOTR has theirs too.
NERDS ARE STILL OUT THERE AND STILL MOCKED. The problem so many of you have to learn to deal with is YOU ARE NOT THE NERD YOU THINK YOU ARE!
The days of a computer person = NERD is over, however the Nerd gene pool still exists and will still be mocked.
Razzious Domini
I could be a GREAT KARMA WHORE if I could just shed the few morals I have left.
I still can't get a date!!!!
I've got a Green Lantern cover as my desktop wallpaper at work, and one of our architects came by and saw it, and she said "Ooooh, Green Lantern! Bruce Lee was so cool in that."
"That was Green Hornet, not Green Lantern," I said with mock disdain.
Then she asked me what Green Lantern's origin was. Before I knew it, I had launched into a detailed explanation of Hal Jordan's beginnings. It was surreal. I've never said the words "Abin Sur", "power ring", or "Guardians of Oa" out loud before.
When the story was over we switched back to talking about our firm's marketing materials, but then I paused in mid-sentence and said "I can't believe I just told you Green Lantern's origin". It was so weird, because usually the geekness is kept pretty private. I don't have any like-minded people to talk about comics with. But now when I'm stoned with my girlfriend, I tell her to ask me about the origins of superheroes so I can go off on a long, rambling, tanget-laden story about the Flash(es), or Cyclops & Havok, or how Aquaman lost his hand, etc. It's a lot of fun, and it feels good to share. And my girlfriend is very amused.
The Lord of the Rings has made nerds, and nerdish behaviour, cool."
Watching the LOTR movies is definatley cool, but if you ever say "I've read those books at least 5 times, and the Battle at (whereever) was better in the book" then that is definately NOT "cool."
We already have that something to differentiate Us from Them. It's called virginity.
The good looking and popular football player that excelled in the factory because he was worshipped is gone, and the stereotype is now that he works as an automechanic or car salesman. The geek is seen as a high paid engineer or a successful executive.
No the "good looking and popular football player" goes on to becomes a salesman or marketing exec making a nice 6 figure salary (probably getting a nice Christmas bonus as well). While the geek/nerd works a dead end system admin job or script writer for a measily 65k a year (probably getting a mug or mousepad with the corp logo as a Christmas bonus).
Yeah there are exceptions to the rule, but the bottom line is on average the good looking charismatic salesman lives in the pseudo-luxo mansion making money off the products produced by the tech monkey.
cat and girl explain it all
They're so much easier than thinking or considering individuals.
--- Ban humanity.
nerdish behavior is not even becoming -popular-. what's becoming popular is merely -part- of the content that used to be exclusively in the domain of the nerdish. it's being coopted and de-geeked. as acceptance of parts of our domain grow, some of those parts are merely breaking out of our social stigma.
watching a scifi or fantasy movie may not be nerdy anymore, but reading a scifi/fantasy book, or discussing the technology/philosophy still is.
having a collection of comic-based movies may be cool, but having an actual comic book collection will still get the derogatory labels applied.
no friend-geeks, this is not 'our' time. this is merely a time of acceptance of some of the content and media we embraced long ago.
those who lead can never be part of the pack.
// "Can't clowns and pirates just -try- to get along?"
When you start trying to do things with technology that arn't mainstream, like using linux or even just making a webserver on your mom's computer, then I'd say you are getting there.
I'd say that this isn't even enough. "Geek" or "Nerd" isn't about achieving a milestone...it's a process - a way of life that is focused on technology, technical skill, and forward thinking. It is a passion, not an event. People who are geeks EARN that distinction....not by installing the latest uber-cool Linux distro, for example, but by knowing why one distro might be better than another within a given set of circumstances. HUGE difference.
Do we also get to bang the cheerleaders?
! the cheerleaders
ducks
Yes, its an aberration because it is actually a great series of movies. Possibly the best I have ever seen. They did justice to a complicated, beautifully written story, which has never been told properly in the cinema before.
I'm not a fantasy nerd, but I can't wait for The Return of the King to come out. You can spot the true fantasy nerds as they will arrive in costume at the midnight showing on the release date.
There is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come.
In referring to LotR, I was speaking not of the books, but of the movies, which, in addition to being a fairly-faithful, well-realized version of the story, also have "blockbuster" written all over them. Sure, Jackson was working from great source material, but he was also shooting a big-budget movie trilogy. And that's what's gone mainstream, not the original Tolkien.
;P I read The Silmarillion before I read Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, and loved it. Can I have my Nerd Card back now?
Sorry I didn't make that clear; I was relying on parallelism with the Matrix reference.
The origins (and the circumstances/motivation under which they were written) of these disparate trilogies are completely different and no self-respecting nerd would lump them together.
Oh, get out.
As a proud nerd, I feel it's my obligation to point this out. LOTR is an icon of nerd'ness, but the Matrix is today's FX flavor of the week.
I always figured the writers of The Matrix had just played a bunch of CP2020 or Shadowrun before starting on the script. The main characters are so Solos/Street Samurai in the Matrix scenes, and so Deckers outside. That's pretty nerdy.
Or maybe I'm just projecting.
-Carolyn
Like Daddy always said: if you can't dazzle 'em with brilliance, baffle 'em with bullshit.
Anyone who is truly passionate about something can be a "nerd."
Not really...you wouldn't call a rabid football fan a nerd even though they are truly passionate about the game to the point of it interfering with a "normal" social life.... It requires passion for some abnormally complex interest to be a nerd...passion for something that requires thought to comprehend...or passion for learning new things "just because".
If God had had a computer it would have taken him 7 months to create the earth...if he even bothered to do it at all.
That's where we differ.
Bravo for you for overcoming it, but I'm betting it wasn't really that bad in the first place. If it was just physical abuse, you didn't get shit for being a nerd. You can fight back and stop that. Insults aren't that bad, either, unless you start believing them. I started lifting weights when I was a sophomore in HS and that made most of these guys too afraid of me to mess with me. I only had to get in one fight to make the whole school stop.
It's the calculated conspiratorial bullying that comes from all angles, that takes advantage of your lack of social skills, that really breaks you. It points out both your faults and their strengths and lowers your status at the same time it raises theirs.
I didn't survive everything they threw at me. I'm still affected by it every day in some way. I'm a nervous wreck in crowds, I have serious issues with trusting anyone who wants to do anything for me (a favorite mindfuck of the people where I'm from is to set you up with a generous act and pull it out from under you when you're most visible) and I can barely function in a situation where I interact with an authority figure, because where I'm from the teachers and school admin were in on the persecution, too. The first of the school shooting cases of the 90s (Scott Pennington) happened in a school district in the same area.
Damn. It's been a long time since I talked about all of this.
So, you'll have to forgive me if I don't think that it's cute or a fair turnaround to call myself a nerd or a geek.
Absolutely some 'nerd' things age becoming more mainstream. But most of those thing's weren't nerd exclusive. And most of the things the article refers to are entertainment, and a casual interest in it.
I'm guessing there are two things that make a nerd. It's not the object of interest, but the intensity of interest. Star Trek is fun. Lots of people like Star Trek. Not everyone that likes it knows the design specs of all of the Enterprises, or has seen every episode over 20 times, or any of a number of things that say "obsessive".
The Japanese have a great word. Otaku. It's not a good word. Otaku are the people that everyone lokos down on as having no life. And they don't. Not all people labled Nerds are Otaku though. A lot of people with that label are simply interested in the same things as Otaku. Now someone is saying that interest in something that a Nerd is interested in, makes them a Nerd.
I'm thnking that the other thing that makes a nerd a nerd, is a certain type of intelligence. It seems to be a combination of classical thought, with a scoop of imagination. You might say that Nerds are smarter than the average person, but that isn't always true. They just think a little differently. And seem to be alot more prone to sarcasm.
Being a Nerd will always be who you are, not what you like. And chances are, I'll always be a Nerd. And that's a social group I don't mind being a part of.
Two Rules For Success:
1) Never tell people everything you know.
It was meant for it to say "Blessed are the geek for they shall inherit the earth."
Don't some of you folks in this thread feel a bit silly for identifying yourself with a particular group whether it's nerd, dork, geek, jock or whatever?
Group names are what *other* people might use to categorize you. They need to do this to make sense of their world, keeping everything / everyone in it's place, so they don't become confused.
I find it rather demeaning, limiting, and usually phony, when a person classifies him/herself. Very "fraternity-ish." Don't you feel a bit limited in scope when you pigeonhole yourself into a artificial/imaginary group?
Perhaps it is more wise to just be yourself, do what you want, and let others worry about name-calling if they need to. Be proud of being such a well rounded and complex individual that you defy categorization.
To paraphrase Lester Bangs: No, I know you. You're not cool.
This 'nerds are cool now' thing is very very old, if incorrect culturally... er, imho
/. posts are often evidence of this.
The issue these days I'm a thinkin' is how mean 'geek culture' has become. I seem to remember back in the day how fellow 'geeks' were inclusive of each others obsessions. Now, it has degenerated into name calling, bashing, and outright hatred.
The best quote in the whole article, which I'm surprised hasn't been remarked on here:
Over at Marvel studios, there is a similar respect for the web user. "I used to hate the internet," studio chief Ari Avad recently confessed to USA Today. "I thought it was just a place where people stole our ideas. But I see how influential the fans can be in building a consensus. I now consider them as film-making partners."
I mean, did you catch that? A movie studio head who *doesn't* think the Internet is just a place for having his IP stolen. Good gosh, what's next, actually *using* the Internet to make money? Maybe there's hope yet...
I think a lot of people are missing the point here. People aren't becoming "nerds" because it is cool. People always were nerds, but now expressing yourself is more acceptable. If you remember the end of "Revenge of the Nerds," the point was that everybody feels awkward and unpopular, but now we have the internet. No, I don't mean that just being on the internet makes you technically proficient enough to claim to be a nerd, but it means that you can find a support network no matter how "different" you are.
Let's assume that there are 1 billion people on the internet (I know I could look up the exact number, I just don't feel like it.), and that your particular obsession only appeals to 0.00001% of the population. That still means that there are ten thousand others out there that you can relate to!
Now, the things that define a stereotypical nerd are actually much more mainstream: Computers, math, science, engineering, science-fiction, fantasy, comics, animation, books, obsession with sex, etc. So, now that people can go out on the internet and find millions of like minded people, they don't feel so bad expressing themselves publicly by buying the toys and wearing the t-shirts. The nerds have been here all along, but now they don't mind being labeled.
Long live the Speaker Bracelet
Rolo D. Monkey