This problem is wider than Paul Graham realizes. I went to a rural small town high school, not a suburban high school, but Paul's description still fits completely. (And now I can be proud. I was a triple nerd thread in high school: chess team, marching band, and high school quiz bowl.)
Paul's analysis is 100% right: this society has nothing to do with hormones, and everything to do with the unnatural environment of junior high and high school.
But my lovely wife claims that her school experience was very different. She was certainly very smart and not at all interested in popularity contests, but she did not suffer from or even witness the games described here. She attended Catholic schools.
So are these popularity games a feature of public schools only? What about non-religious private schools? Does anyone have experiences to report? My interest in more than academic. I have three young girls who are already showing signs of nerd-like interest in obscure things.
Slashdot Mirror
This problem is wider than Paul Graham realizes. I went to a rural small town high school, not a suburban high school, but Paul's description still fits completely. (And now I can be proud. I was a triple nerd thread in high school: chess team, marching band, and high school quiz bowl.)
Paul's analysis is 100% right: this society has nothing to do with hormones, and everything to do with the unnatural environment of junior high and high school.
But my lovely wife claims that her school experience was very different. She was certainly very smart and not at all interested in popularity contests, but she did not suffer from or even witness the games described here. She attended Catholic schools.
So are these popularity games a feature of public schools only? What about non-religious private schools? Does anyone have experiences to report? My interest in more than academic. I have three young girls who are already showing signs of nerd-like interest in obscure things.