Decade of the Nerd

Dr Happypills

New member
Dec 21, 2009
15
0
0
The whole "nerd" stigma always confused me. I was never really a full part of any clique in school, I could fit in anywhere. I never really got shit for hanging out with the nerds, or reading during class or study hall, or for playing video games and talking about them. Maybe it's because I balanced it out with being good at sports and obsessing over Pantera or something, I don't know, but it wasn't just me; I barely even saw it in school. And where I did see it, I sort of felt it was almost justified. The nerds in my school weren't just socially inept, they were outright annoying and it seemed like they just recycled the same conversations. They were just as likely to have a go at the athletic kids as the athletic kids were to have one at them. A few of them smelled bad; no, I'm not exaggerating. They really did, I don't know why. They were unpleasant people to be around, and if it weren't for the lack of good information about games and me not having anyone else to talk comics with, even I probably wouldn't have wanted to bother. Really, they were just as big jerks as everyone else, they were just more socially inept and less athletic.

I don't know, maybe they got more bullying than I did because I wasn't fully a member of the crew or something and I just didn't notice. The thought makes me feel bad, if I turned a blind eye towards it, I didn't mean to.

On the other hand, I got a ton of shit during my straightedge days, so I guess I didn't come out unscathed either.

Also:
gim73" post="6.164672.4333650 said:
Well, you can also make this argument about anime. Anime in the US had for a long time been seen as just cartoons. Even today people try to lump it together with our sad pathetic american cartoons. Cartoons today don't even compare to what anime is in japan.

I take offense at this notion.

Huh. Failed quote. Oh well.
 

LewsTherin

New member
Jun 22, 2008
2,443
0
0
May the Emperor smile upon you, Bob, and let it be known that as long as people like you and I populate this world, Nerdom shall live on, and flourish.
 

gim73

New member
Jul 17, 2008
526
0
0
Well, nerd can come in many shapes and sizes, with various odors as well. As Dr Happypills noticed about smells, you sometimes get the very clean OCD nerds who are paranoid about germs and stuff like that. Then there are the ones who have been so beaten down they don't give a crap what they look like or smell like. Shampoo, soap or deoderant are all optional from day to day.

Music generally isn't as much as a social glue for the nerd genre as other things. Most enjoy some types of music, but unlike the hick or the gangbanger, we don't define our activities solely by the content of our music. I have found that most nerds don't listen to country or rap for this reason as well.

Recycled conversations? I find that certain quotes pop up very frequently in our group. Monty python is a big one. Of course star wars (original trilogy, since that was all there was back then) was another favorite. Any Mel Brooks film could do in a pinch. Starship troopers, army of darkness, evil dead, dead alive etc... One might say that nobody says anything original anymore. We also used to argue about the Wheel of Time. Other books might come up, but the wheel of time is almost universally read by nerds. I would say that more nerds have read it than have read Lord of the Rings.

Yeah, being an Otaku is fun, but don't go as far as I have and be a Hikikomori. I also had a buddy who dropped out of school and became one, but he was far worse than my summer of slacking.
 

Dr Happypills

New member
Dec 21, 2009
15
0
0
That was kind of a failed quote. I was trying to say that I take offense to the idea that "Western" cartoons are somehow bad and that anime is inherently superior, I'm not sure if that came across. There's plenty of great cartoons, and the animation styles themselves are so different that each type has a different appeal. I guess I do have to admit though, I really haven't found that much to be interested in right at the moment.

I love the Wheel of Time. I always will.

My problem with the conversations was that even if I took the effort to try and get a conversation going about, say, music or what was on Tv last night or which chicks were the most bangable or whatever, I could only keep it going for about a minute max before all of the sudden we were back to talking about where the hell Bruce Campbell is hiding and how awesome Kitty Pride would be for a girlfriend/friend. It just got so boring after a while.

We were probably just into different things when it comes down to it. Like, they were all over Star Trek, I never got into it and was more a Star Wars kind of guy, they were all into Marvel, I was more into DC, etc. It was wierd, they weren't very open minded to other geek culture, just the parts they liked. Maybe I just got a lousy bunch of nerds?
 

person427

New member
May 28, 2009
538
0
0
The "nerds" of this decade can never be real nerds. They have too much of a social life.
 

Kollega

New member
Jun 5, 2009
5,161
0
0
MovieBob said:
At this point, I'm looking around at a culture so thoroughly "geeked" that I'm actually given to ask myself if this Decade of The Nerd is - irony of ironies - the end of The Nerd. Or, at least, the end of The Nerd as a subculture unto itself.
No, it's not by any reasonable measure. Sure, many people nowadays play bowling or tennis on the Wii, but how many of them can tell how much exactly Sasha weights? They may enjoy comic-based movies, but true nerds are those knowing enough random trivia about said comic-book heroes to write a two-hour speech. And so on.

In short, true nerds - those for whom knowledge is more important than good looks, and pop-culture is more than "saw-and-forget" - are still not overall majority of people or ones with the highest social status. But i can't wait for the day when they will be. And they will, sooner or later.
 

qbanknight

New member
Apr 15, 2009
669
0
0
wow great article bob, i think we have passed the point of "nerdy-things" because practically everybody uses them. however, be wary, for fanboys has now supplanted what nerds were to people back then. Watch this: NINTENDO SUCKS (cue stones being thrown at me)
 

Noone From Nowhere

New member
Feb 20, 2009
568
0
0
Were there even 'nerds' before the 20th century, anyway? What happened to make Americans turn so anti-intellectual in that century, huh? That wasn't all because of the Manhattan Project, was it?

This is just some American cultural anomaly that is gradually correcting itself.
 

Elf Defiler Korgan

New member
Apr 15, 2009
981
0
0
Think Bob is on to something. I was an adolescent in the late 90s before the big successes he talks about. The mainstream fear, the looks, they are not like us etc etc. Yet, that can still be found if your culture and habits differ to those around you.

I like Sephiwinds leech idea. Dragging and taking pieces of the subcultures, the centre never entirely embracing or coopting what is external to it, but happy for new distractions.

Course we should worry far less about acceptance and all that trash from the mundanes, but years of troubles (times of troubles?) are difficult times to leave entirely behind.

Good piece. And to those nerds that have commented, and those that dared to play D&D growing up, I salute you. Onward with three days of Dragon age.
 

person427

New member
May 28, 2009
538
0
0
I say old chap said:
I like Sephiwinds leech idea. Dragging and taking pieces of the subcultures, the centre never entirely embracing or coopting what is external to it, but happy for new distractions.
I liked that idea too. I think I'll start calling Pop Culture "Leech Culture" instead. And if the "change every decade" part of that is true, Leech Culture will soon transform from Nerd form to something else. The only question I have about the theory is which cultures were "leeched" in the other decades last century?
 

ShadowsofHope

Outsider
Nov 1, 2009
2,623
0
0
Nerd-dom will always rule the world, its just a given fact.

Brains = Success in this modern civilization, and inventions created by nerds are what drive society/benefit it most.

I personally find myself one of the narcissistic cynical nerds, but I'm not flamboyant about it, either. I'm training to become a CGI animator, and Biologist. I have to be on my intellectual game to succeed in those, so.~

Social life is not really much either (though I have a girlfriend), but I don't really tend to care. Hang out with people on occasion, have some fun, and go back to being a loner on my computer and Xbox 360 to keep me company. Keeps me happy.
 

TitsMcGee1804

New member
Dec 24, 2008
244
0
0
nerds make the world go around

10 years ago, i used to hate the fact that i was good at school, and actually liked to go, now I love the fact that I am a nerd, I see it as my best strength!

I think that, there are not many more IP's left that can take up the next LOTR or spiderman for 2010-20, except maybe the emerging franchises like Iron Man, or yet more Batman sequels

Warcraft maybe?

I dunno, it could go either way, the world could get sick of us and decide that 'simple' is best, or we could explode into even greater power with the advancement of technology
 

lodo_bear

New member
Nov 15, 2009
380
0
0
My sisters use the words "nerd" and "geek" to differentiate between good and bad nerdiness (I forget which one is the bad one). Basically, the good kind is the one that's passionate about knowledge (often obscure knowledge), fond of fantasy and fond of thinking long and hard on any given subject, and generally willing to sacrifice any shreds of popularity for the sake of learning and accomplishing things. The bad kind is the kind that deliberately isolates himself (or herself, but it's usually guys) in obscure knowledge, who revels in learning useless trivia and accomplishing pointless tasks (achievement unlocked!), and who uses fantasy and deep thinking as drugs for avoiding the pain of reality.

A good nerd does not care if a piece of entertainment is popular or not; a good nerd will watch it if it's good and complain if its quality drops. A bad nerd takes pride in seeking out unpopular entertainment and considers it a deep personal insult if the quality drops. A good nerd will laughingly admit to having watched all of the Star Trek movies, even the one with Sybok in it. A bad nerd will write you off as a mundane gentile plebe if you haven't watched all of the Star Trek movies, but will still harbor vitriolic hatred against Star Trek V for having wrecked Spock's continuity.

These tendencies are hardly unique to nerd-dom. Indeed, isolationism and persecution complexes are defining factors in all kinds of organizations. Political parties, religions, and sports fans all exhibit these tendencies. Every group has its people who do it wrong, who base their identity on other people's inferiority, and every group always will.

So: how do we define ourselves, how do we let other people define us, and how do we let other people define themselves in relation to us?

The first one should be easy: we do what we love because we love it, and that doesn't make us all that different from those who love other things. We are NOT better than non-nerds, we just have different tastes. The second one is harder to do, but not impossible. If people mock you for being a nerd, don't mock them for being non-nerds, mock them for being bigots. They're bad because they're hateful, not because they play fantasy football instead of D&D. The third one can only be properly dealt with after we've dealt with the first two. After we stop defining ourselves as better because we're different, we can scold people for defining themselves as better because they're different from us.

Now, talking on the subject of the decade of the nerd: it's been nice seeing aspects of nerd culture filter into pop culture, but the core of nerd-dom has been left out, namely the love of learning. There is still a defiant love of ignorance everywhere in the world. People can play with the Wii all they please, and Marvel can make a trilogy for every superhero in the book, but as long as people don't see anything wrong with not educating themselves, it won't matter.

I think that the Decade of the Nerd has not succeeded. We have given people the outer trappings of our culture, but failed to teach them how to enjoy being smart. This decade was full of just as much willful stupidity as the last one. Worse yet, this self-inflicted brain death has persisted in the face of increasing demand for intelligence. Humanity has surrounded itself with computers it does not understand and devoted its efforts to sustaining an economy it does not comprehend. The Nerds failed us in the hour of the greatest need for them. Are we to blame for not responding? Is everyone else to blame for not listening? Will we ever know?

This post has gone on far too long, so let me wrap it up with a toast. To 2010; may the stewards of this decade succeed where we failed, and finally teach humanity how to think.
 

ccesarano

New member
Oct 3, 2007
523
0
0
I grew up in a small jock-town where everyone's parents had gone for education and never left. This means sports were important because it was all those parents knew. They never stepped into the greater world and discovered more. As such, my being bad at sports and a smart creative type (and having my own personality quirks) made me a great target for being poked fun at.

Towards the end of the millenium I had moved to a new school where everyone's family were from all walks of life. In high school I had expected "jocks vs. nerds and goths", but what I instead found was everyone getting along. It confused the Hell out of me.

After College I think I've learned enough to get a feel on where "nerds" and "geeks" stand in this seemingly nerdy popular culture.

Geeks and nerds don't merely like sci-fi, kung-fu, etc. Nor is a love of continuity and such in television unique. It's just most people don't go out looking for it. Nerds and geeks are people that get really into these forms of culture. Yes, they love Lord of the Rings, but they've also read Dragonlance, Song of Ice and Fire, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, and Magician's Apprentice, plus so many more I've forgotten to mention.

I've learned the mark of being a nerd and geek simply by speaking with my sister. I have NO CLUE how to discuss a film with her after we've seen it, because her thoughts are pretty much "I liked it". I sit there breaking down what I felt was done poorly and what could have been done better, or if I loved something why. Her eyes glaze over.

The mark of a nerd and geek isn't the escapism, or even the obsession with escapism. It's the analyzation. Some geeks and nerds SUCK at analyzation, but most do it because that's what thinking people do. Considering sci-fi and fantasy stories, the best ones at least, tend to be metaphors for modern existence or an attempt to analyze a separate cultural idea (just look at all of Robert Heinlein's novels. The guy can't tell a story for shit, but one minute he's got a super right-wing militaristic society in Starship Troopers, and then he's basically telling people how to properly rebel against an authority in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress).

I've known a lot of people that say "Gosh, I'm such a NERD!" just because they love Harry Potter or use Facebook too much, but once I start analyzing films each of us has seen and why it's great or why it's terrible the blank stares begin.

Nerd is just another clique these days that will become synonymous with pop culture. Give it another decade or so and we'll revert right back to where we were in the 80's and 90's.
 

Jiki

New member
Jan 21, 2008
53
0
0
It's quite cute how you call yourself (us?) & co more intelligent and then immediately start praising your lifestyle like there is no else. It's also quite arrogant since while the so-called "geek" culture can be a bit more intelligent than, say, your stereotypical American teen movie football gang, it's still a culture for itself and filled with flaws which will make any true intellectual (if there are or ever actually were any in human culture) facepalm in their grave.
 

twm1709

New member
Nov 19, 2009
477
0
0
you know bob, when you got to the TV part I was almost expecting you to metion shows like The big bang theory" to make your point
 

MovieBob

New member
Dec 31, 2008
11,495
0
0
I'm guilty of enjoying "The Big Bang Theory" more than I probably should, as in I know it's not "good" but it's kinda familiar and compelling. I watch and I wonder "okay, is THIS how otherwise-intelligent older women feel about Sex & The City?" ;)
 

orangeapples

New member
Aug 1, 2009
1,836
0
0
This is like Natural Selection, only those with the strongest traits will survive while the weaker ones fall out.

For the nerds, our culture is being taken up by popular culture. My level of nerd (casual nerd) will not last. I know enough about nerdy stuff to be classified as a nerd, but not enough to make it a lifestyle. Very soon most of my nerd knowledge will be taken up by popular culture that I will not be recognized as a nerd. I was a shallow nerd, and soon my level will no longer exist.

Other more deeply rooted nerds will survive, and they will have to carry on the name. Yes, Star Trek is a popular movie, yes we lost X-Men, Spiderman, Batman, Video Games, Computers, and Lord of the Rings to popular culture, as long as Klingon is not accepted as a legal language and other more extreme nerd hobbies remain ours, we will not have been lost.

No, I cannot speak Klingon.