The Big Picture: Brainiacs: The Once & Future Nerds

[Madman123456]

Since "Nerd" is now pretty much everyone, "We" aren't smarter then other people, we are the other people. "We" are the dumb brutish idiots now.
So "Nerd" is going for a full loop and turning into a derogatory term again. "Nerd" is everyone. "You are a nerd" will either totally lose all meaning or take on the meaning that you're the every man with no notable features what so ever.
"You are a nerd" makes you the greyest of the gray. Which may mean that you are one of the "Smokers" from the Michael Ende book "Momo" but that just means that you're a fan of some old franchise.
Like everyone else.

 

[thehorror2]

Around the end of the video, Bob started reminding me of a conversation in Mass Effect 3:

Bob/Shepard: Come on, Legion/internet, the geth/nerds are better than this!

internet/legion: No, evidently they are not.

 

[redknightalex]

That's...a lot of speculation there, Bob. I'm usually open to what you have to say but throwing around words like Autism Spectrum with a picture of the DSMV (which is a tad controversial atm) in the background can stir up a lot, either for good or for bad. I'm not sold on the idea of a link between autism related disorders and being a nerd/geek in the early days but it is interesting, although your main evidence being films at the time is weak. If anyone has studied this in peer-reviewed journals, I'd love to hear about it.

As for the etymology, it is interesting how it has morphed over the years. When I grew up it wasn't a good word thrown at you but I was in the middle of the movement to get it changed. Age wise at least as when nerd/geek became ok was when I was in High School, at least in my area/the internet.

Either way, I think the best message from this is label yourself the way you want to be labeled. If you think you're a geek, call yourself a geek. I considered myself a geek even though I haven't watched ST: TOS or even Babylon 5 but knowing the inner workings of a router gives me a strange sense of pride.

Wait...didn't you just address the changes in geek/nerd culture a few weeks ago? You can be down-right confusing.

 

[IndianaJonny]

Who or what on earth is a 'brogrammer'?

In short, a "frat boy" programmer. Like so [//www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-03-01/the-rise-of-the-brogrammer].

Now, would so enlightened individual kindly list the films that appear in MovieBob's video?

 

[Mahoshonen]

Good episode: touched on an interesting subject while not getting into the area of preachiness.

 

[Ukomba]

Hmm, I've been called a dork more than a nerd (mostly by my wife), you forgot that one.

 

[wizzy555]

Good episode: touched on an interesting subject while not getting into the area of preachiness.

Yes, praise where praise is due. I went into to this thinking "please don't be too preachy.. please don't be too preachy" and it was just fine.

 

[Lieju]

Back in School I was bullied for being a nerd.
Nowadays nerds bully me for being a girl.

Wellll I have Asbergers so that's probably true. Kinda thought the two were synonymous already.

Yeah, I even have an unsubstantiated theory that nerds and even early otaku in Japan all suffered from some form of Autism (i myself have Aspergers). All of the characteristics are evident: limited social interactivity, attachment to items and trends, and in extreme cases like otaku, lack of emotional intelligence in terms of identification and how to respond.

I also suspect a lot of people with Aspergers or those kinds of qualities are drawn to fantasy and scifi. That's certainly true for me. I can identify with trying to get along with an alien culture (which is what 'normal' social interaction is for me.) and I identify with characters like Spock or Data who aren't quite human. They kinda have the role of someone partially observing humanity from the outside, which is what I always felt like. As a kid I was convinced I wasn't human because I couldn't do things that everyone else seemed to, like recognise faces or emotions, or know when you were supposed to lie.

Also since I have problems with telling people apart, I prefer fantasy and scifi (or animation) where there are different-looking creatures.

 

[Darth_Payn]

Thanks for this video, Bob. When I found out I have Asperger's, it made so much make sense. I went full nerd, diving into sci-fi, comic books, anime, and science and computers. I still don't tell everyone I know I have Asperger's, because it's named after its funny-named discoverer.
But this is the first time I heard of a "brogrammer". Can we get a vid about this "bro" phenomenon, and what they mean to us nerds?

 

[MorganL4]

How to tell if you are a geek:

Did you watch The Big Picture today? Yes?
When the image of comic book guy showed up did you spend the rest of the episode going: "I WANT THAT SHIRT!!!" ? Yes?

Then you are a geek.

There ya go, problem solved.

 

[MetalMagpie]

I've never really self-identified as being a "nerd"/"geek". During the time I was a socially-awkward teenager I only heard it used as an insult. By the time I started coming across "proud nerd" stuff, I'd gained confidence, lost weight, started taking part in sports and had a boyfriend. So I didn't see myself as fitting that stereotype any more anyway.

I still occasionally get called a "nerd" by friends/family, but only in a teasing way.

Well its really only an insult once both parties intend it to be and takes it as one.
Sort of, not entirely but one does have some sort of a minor self responsibility to basically...not be offended so to speak. I mean if you go look for everything that could possibly offend autistic people or for example ones own social challange-condition then yeah you would very easily be offended and become a rather sad individual.

Instead i much more prefer to take it with a pinch of salt and bask in the fact that most people who would use said terms or any degrading term for that matter either has no understanding of knowledge of the definition or merits, and most likely are probably pushing down others to make themselves seem bigger and more powerful and the one winning move is not to play.

When it comes to being insulting or offensive, what really matters is what people intend, rather than the specific words they use. Calling someone "black" or "ginger" can be offensive if it's meant in that way.

When people at school called me "geek", what they meant was that I was ugly, dressed badly, tried too hard to please teachers, knew nothing about popular culture, and had the personality of a brick. And they would spell it out if the word wasn't enough. As a teenager with very little self-esteem, I believed them. Which is why advice to just "not be offended" (which I got plenty of from my well-meaning mother) never particularly helped.

I'm now in my mid twenties and perfectly happy in my own skin. So I don't feel the need to apply a label to myself. Especially not one originally given to me by people who wanted to be hurtful and for reasons that I really don't believe apply to me any more. These days I'm more confident, I have a broader range of hobbies, I take care of my appearance, and I'm in a relationship with a wonderful man.

I'm not a "geek", a "nerd", a "dweeb" or anything else. I'm just me.

 

[Grabehn]

I remember people here back at school that used to say "nerd" as an insult, but as it is a spanish speaking country, most were too retarded to pronounce it properly and said "nerf", I assumed back then that they were trying to insult people, but since saying "you're really intelligent" to someone never seemed like something to be offended by.

Although I was asked how it was to be a nerd back in highschool by a classmate, and when I said "what do you mean by nerd?" She just stood there staring like I asked her why we exist. I was kind of lost by her question though since I was never to the "devoted to study" kinda guy, although I've been always regarded as "intelligent" or "brilliant" as of a year or so ago.

 

[Toilet]

You merely adopted the term "Nerd". I was born it in, molded by it, I didn't talk to a girl until I was a man.

 

[Entitled]

An interesting part of the whole "autists can't participate in social interactions", aspect, is that this can have a very specific form of facial recognition and nonverbal comunication skills being stuck on an immature level.

Stereotypical nerdy hobbies, such as video games, anime, or comic books, are all associated with children, because the average non-nerdy adult seems to grow out of them.

Is it possible that these mediums' very presentation, with the simplified drawn/animated characters, is the reason why these got classified as nerd media?

 

[Mana Fiend]

I can see what you mean - though I very much class myself as a 'nerd' (maybe from my choice of activities growing up aired on the stereotype 'nerd' side, maybe because people at school used to call me so), I've never thought of myself as particularly smart. I mean, I'm not dumb by any stretch of the imagination, I've just been able to grasp and retain details and methods a lot better than others I've known... Granted, that stuff can vanish from my head if I don't use it for a while, but with a little jogging/light reading I tend to get it back pretty quickly.

It also seems to me that the whore nerd/geek debate (the former meaning smart, the latter meaning just weird) seems to have switched around, to where 'geek' seems to now mean an interest in tech, and 'nerd' means more interest in comics/movies/etc.

Finally, since it's in the title, is it just me who finds it funny that people who use the term 'brainiac' as an insult (I've come across it fairly often, usually by people I'm surprised can form words that long) are actually drawing on a word which wouldn't exist thanks to comics?

 

[ExtraDebit]

Com'on people! say it with me! NERD AND PROUD!

 

[Baresark]

A word with no definitive meaning had it's meaning expanded so far that it means even less. IE: people self identify with this in any area of interest. I took my girlfriend to see the movie Pitch Perfect when it came out in theaters. It had some pretty hot ladies in it who self identified as A Capella "nerds". That is is how far the meaning of this word has stretched. It now has hot girls and jocks identifying as this. So in the case where a words meaning expands so far that it has no meaning, it's effectively not a word. For a long time I identified as a nerd. I grew up reading comics, was very introverted and my perspective of enjoyment was skewed towards the more intellectual. So, in a lot of ways I was part of that original archetype as depicted in the movies of the 1980's. Now I still love comics, I go to the gym for 10 hours a week and powerlift for fun, boxed amateur heavyweight, am now way more outgoing, and still my interests are skewed towards the more intellectual. Since my life has changed thus, I identified (for fun of course) as an "alpha nerd". But now I have to seriously consider whether or not I want to identify as something that is essentially nothing. Good video, Bob.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

I wouldn't call myself a Nerd, but then again I am socialy bereft and sexually frustrated so maybe I am a nerd.

Spoiler: Reference

 

[Abomination]

Wish I could say the video held my interest at all. In the wake of the whole "girl gamer" debacles I really don't give a shit what label people give themselves or others.

You're a person who likes a thing that's different from the things some other people like... that's a preference.

The only thing I was able to take away from this thread is that a lot of you folks supposedly have Asbergers.

 

[aba1]

I think Bob puts a little to much value into the term Nerd. It is interesting where it came from and such but honestly just cause someone isn't a walking stereotype doesn't mean they can't enjoy geek culture or even be a nerd.