The Big Picture: Brainiacs: The Once & Future Nerds

[RJ Dalton]

If nothing else, I can attest to the word "nerd" being very difficult to trace. I spent some time trying to work out its history myself once. I came to a few different conclusions, but the word's history is nebulous enough that I'm not going to argue.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Interesting discussion, Bob, I never thought too much about the etymology of "nerd" and "geek".

Also, as a geek with Asperger's (diagnosed by a professional, thank you very much), I suppose there may be something to it... or maybe it's just a coincidence.

 

[MCerberus]

I know any brony reading this or well, furry too for that matter or anyone part of a stigmatized community. Sometimes, there is no smoke without fire and there CAN actually be a small hint of truth to the whole: Lol only autistic sexually frustrated manchild neckbeards watch this show for little girls.
Yes, yes they do and no its not inherently a bad thing.

In the words of Ice Cube
"Embrace yo stereotype" - 21 Jp St.

What I find really interesting is that, for all of the stereotypes, a lot of nerd culture is based around events or interests as a way to facilitate socializing. You ever play DnD alone? You enter a fandom as a way to talk to people and as a vehicle of expression. Sports geeks have their fantasy league, and there's some weird tumblr follower and facebook friend collection culture I'm just not a part of. Then there's the world of memes, which is weird. Hell gun culture has something that they describe as their Barbies.

So if nerds are associated with a spectrum disorder, then (and if you don't go completely insular) nerd culture is some grand-scale socialization therapy?

Also, hey Bob, I noticed that you just made a case that fake-geeks don't logically exist. Sneaky.

 

[Pink Gregory]

Who or what on earth is a 'brogrammer'?

 

[Ishal]

I know any brony reading this or well, furry too for that matter or anyone part of a stigmatized community. Sometimes, there is no smoke without fire and there CAN actually be a small hint of truth to the whole: Lol only autistic sexually frustrated manchild neckbeards watch this show for little girls.
Yes, yes they do and no its not inherently a bad thing.

In the words of Ice Cube
"Embrace yo stereotype" - 21 Jp St.

Fixation, obession, passion, enthusiasm and autism sometimes do go hand in hand, its not that hard to accept and like i said, neither is it a bad thing. Hell some of the most brilliant minds in history had hints of autism or social problems in their days.

I think the whole stigma around autism and aspergers comes from oversimplifying a lot of the traits.

Like when you just suddenly see someone enthusiastic about anything these days or someone wanting to be creative, most comments of anything new just screams: LOL THE AUTISM IS STRONG WITH THIS ONE.

First, Autism and Autist/Autistic is the new "******", "retard". It just rolls off the tongue.

There are quite a few of Autistic bronies and whovians, and other members of a fandom. But for MLP it makes sense on a certain level. Part of being autistic is having trouble picking up on social cues. Cartoon characters express what emotions they are feeling to the nth degree, because they are cartoons and animation allows for that. This allows them to follow what is happening and have an easier time doing so. MLP being the big explosion of recent years, coupled with the show being about friends and making/maintaining friendships is something someone with autism might find appealing. That is pretty much the heart of the matter.

 

[MB202]

Man, I would also tell people there IS a difference between "nerd" and "geek", but now I'm not even sure what they actually mean or meant... or which I'd rather be called.

 

[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?