The Big Picture: Brainiacs: The Once & Future Nerds

Vivi22

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Really Bob? It's been more than a year now. The horse is dead. How about you stop taking every dig you can at The Amazing Spider-Man already? Do you honestly have nothing better to do than to carry out some strange vendetta against a movie you didn't like?
 

Ihateregistering1

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Mar 30, 2011
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Watching this, I realized that Bob is sort of destroying the point that he himself made several weeks ago. Remember this video, where he basically says that geeks and nerds have this great responsibility towards promoting tolerance and social justice?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/the-big-picture/7645-With-Great-Power

Here's the problem: now he says that there is no classification for a geek or nerd besides "you think of yourself as one".

You can't tell a group "you need to do this" on one hand, but on the other hand admit that actually being considered a member of this "group" is just an arbitrary label that anyone can apply to themselves.
 

Tomster595

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So I go to RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and as I understand it, it's a pretty popular opinion the the word knurd was coined at RPI. The word appeared in an RPI publication (The RPI Bachelor), being used pretty much as we would use it today, as early as 1965. Additionally there's a picture I've seen, which I can't find for the life of me, that shows a Fraternity House on campus with a large banner advertising a party that says "No wimps, knurds, or deans. The picture seemed to be from the 60's but I can't actually confirm that one. If I find the pic, I'll edit this post.

As far as knurd being drunk spelled backwards, I'm told that came to be because it was a word used to describe people who would rather not be drunk and are therefore "backwards."

EDIT:

Hey I found it! Unfortunately no date attached, but I still think its a cool pic.

 

Camaranth

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canadamus_prime said:
I wouldn't call myself a Nerd, but then again I am socialy bereft and sexually frustrated so maybe I am a nerd.
Wow I had to wait till post 50 for that song to show up. Well I guess it's really just us canuks who jump to the worms for a song about anything.

More on topic - the more I learn about recent pop culture history the more cycles I see. If you watch Happy days now the Fonz (I've probably gotten that really wrong) who was the coolest character at the time comes across as being really geeky. I think we're almost looping back to the era where being really intelligent in one area is more appealing than being a Renaissance-man.

I'd say a nerd has an in-depth knowledge about 1 thing where as a geek has a greater than average knowledge about the same subject, be it hockey, the DC universe, photography or fashion.

I like being a geek, I know a little about a lot of things, it's just enough to make me dangerous ;)
 

Redd the Sock

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I think it's simpler than that Bob. "nerd" and activities have either been designed to be more cerebral or made to be so than the casual fare. They wanted to learn, not just absorb enough to pass a test. They read books instead of passively watching the game. They engaged the TV shows instead of using it to turn their brain off. They practically invented a game that's all numbers and imagination. Geek hatred has deep roots in anti-intellectualism, coupled with a binary mind that thnks anything not considered "manly" like sports, must be "girly" thus you're justified in the heckling.

Of course that's also why we took it as a badge of honor. It's one thing to quote Tyrion Lanister about taking the isult and making it your own so as not to be hurt by it, but the 80s and 90s gave us the tools for a really good superiority complex. The old joke was someone that couldn't set the VCR. It's hard not to feel superior when you figure something out on your own and keep it memorized against someone that can't follow printed step by step instructions. The computer age brought the nerd up, not only as someone that would be more in demand in the job market, but could get these funny computer things to work, and use it to find anything on anything. Even little things like the ability to remember decades of TV and comics next to the sports fan that couldn't remember a game they saw a month ago fed into the complex. We were nerds, which by definition made us smarter, more devoted, and more passionate than everyone else, so we were proud of it.

Today, well, the tech edge is dying with more user friendliness for devices designed to be cheaply replaced when broken. The passion's still there, but now comes with the "elitist" label by the people that for some reason want in on a label still steeped in insult. I have my issues with that. To paraphrase Genshiken, you don't try to be a nerd, you just realize you are one.
 

Gather

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There was an insult in Australia where people insulted the smarter ones by calling them a "Spock" when I was a kid in Highschool (About 10 years ago).

Back then, I would have taken offense (But I wasn't that bright so no-one called me that anyway) but now that I think about it; how is calling someone a profoundly logical and brilliant person an insult? Oh well, kids.
 

sammysoso

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Really good episode Bob, lots to think about here.

Definitely agree that "Nerd culture" has been looking at itself and its past with rose tinted glasses. We're not so much better, as we are different. Our level of discourse definitely proves we're not as enlightened as we like to think we are.
 

Hutzpah Chicken

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Mar 13, 2012
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Yes, I've often associated my intellect with this guy.
https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcTtIwIs0FygXMDoV_Hst_vCx9dC3Vun88QmnPriElKHNdgFl9-sSA
Nah, I can work my way through some differential calculus and thermodynamics.

This video brings about this song, however.
 

Ed130 The Vanguard

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Sep 10, 2008
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MorganL4 said:
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.
I thought it was correctly identifying which Enterprise schematic which was flashed for a fraction of a second without rewinding. (its the Enterprise B based of the Excelsior class if you are wondering).

But yeah the Comicbook Guy shirts are good.
 

pretzil

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Jan 30, 2010
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Glad he pointed out the original meaning of 'Geek'

I have always wanted to see a season of 'Beauty and the Geek' where one of them is covered in tattoos and sticks nails through his eyelids, that would be awesome.
 

pottyaboutpotter1

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Err... Bob you don't know many young people do you. Peter Parker was bullied in The Amazing Spider-Man yes. But bullying is not about looks. Peter was bullied, not because he was a nerd, but because he was an outsider. A loner. Someone who didn't really interact with anyone. Notice how Peter does not have any friends. We know Uncle Ben doesn't have a high paying job thus Peter comes from a working class background. Peter doesn't have any parents. Surprise surprise. All of these things make him a prime target for bullying. Also we know Flash is a genuinly nice guy in the film. But he's probably bullying Pete because of Peer Pressure. His bullying of Peter is an attempt to look "cool" in front of his friends and Peter is just an easy target. Perhaps you should understand Bob that you don't have to be ugly or a nerd. People just trying to make their way through high school normally also get bullied. Good looking people get bullied. It doesn't matter what you look like, bullying can still happen to you. And you can be bullied for any reason. Source? Me. I was bullied simply over the fact that my parents weren't together. Shocking right?
 

Eppy (Bored)

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Jan 7, 2009
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I am a nerd.

I am a geek.

I have Asperger's Disorder.*

And, Bob, I just want to say, thank you for picking my favorite version of the Enterprise EVER. YES. EXCELSIOR PRIDE REPRESENT.




*Me and half of the other people on the internet, it's nbd gaiz srsly
 

Elijah Newton

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Sep 17, 2008
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Love the etymology / history lesson. Very nice!

I don't have the time or inclination to chase down this theory, but given that it definitely came into full bloom in the nineteen sixties I wonder if the jock / nerd schism was in part due to the Vietnam War. It's my understanding that kids who could stay enrolled in college during that period weren't drafted. History seems intent on painting college students in the 60s with the broad brush of counterculture, and I'm thinking that this is where 'nerd' got its outsider connotation.

Not knocking the Asperger's Disorder interpretation, this just crossed my mind.
 

ChrowX

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Nov 11, 2009
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On the subject of Andrew Garfield's spidey being a handsome, stylish, good-looking normal guy, as opposed to an oppressed nerd, I'd like to at least offer the comparison that the original Peter Parker was by no means an ugly guy. He was always drawn to be a relatively clean-cut, normal looking, if overly bookish, average teen. He was never the pock-marked, fashion-challenged, buck-toothed caricature of a nerd that everyone seems to think he was, and in the past few decades, he hasn't been. In many incarnations, Peter has had his shit together for a long, long time, and the notion of him being a down-trodden geek who still gets stuffed into lockers is just anachronistic.

I think, for the same reason, they made Garfield's Spidey a more modern and average guy, instead of some out of place cliche of a nerd who tapes his thick rimmed glasses together, wears sweater-vests, and stays up all night working on his science project for the state fair, or something. So they made him a socially awkward loner who has trouble talking to girls and likes to do his own thing in private, which is pretty much what any sort of modern nerd could be considered.
 

6_Qubed

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I've heard that the word "geek" was originally a slang term in the armed forces for "specialist", i.e. communications geek, weapons geek, mechanics geek. This "specialist" recognition eventually got handed down, like many other terms, from military to civilian use, most relevantly the educational sector, i.e. history geek, math geek, science geek.

For those wishing to establish a pecking order, a "nerd" is one who is a geek in several areas, most notably math and science, and therefore "better" than an average geek.
 

Gamer_152

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Great episode Bob. There are too many baseless discussions about what a "nerd" is and too many times people are judged on whether they really "deserve" the "nerd" label, I think we need to face up to the fact that it's not a definition written in stone and that we should really be inclusive of all kinds of people in our communities.
 

Blackbird71

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A3sir said:
As long as you don't make the mistake of associating The Big Bang Theory with nerd culture. TBBT is to nerds as blackface is to African Americans.
I really don't get all the hatred for The Big Bang Theory; frankly some people just need to lighten up. Sitcoms are based off of caricature and exaggeration, it's how they work; no one is expected to take it seriously.

I am a self-identified nerd (credentials include: I competed in Science Olympiad grades 8-12, was a founding member of my high school's science club, took AP courses in math and science, wore a starfleet insignia on my graduation robe and letterman jacket (letter for the aforementioned Science Olympiad), need I go on?), and I find the show hilarious. Yes it pokes fun at geeks and nerds, yes it doesn't always get things right, but if you choose not to take things personally and laugh along with it instead, it's really quite enjoyable. It's all in good fun, there's nothing malicious about it, so what's the problem?

Here's the thing, in addition to being a nerd, I am also a conservative, religious, middle-class, married white male. If I chose to take offense at everything on TV that poked fun at me or my way of life, I'd have to throw my television out for a lack of anything to watch. If The Big Bang Theory's depiction of nerddomreally annoys you that much, all I can say is that you need to develop a better sense of humor or you're going to be going through life upset about a lot of trivial stuff, and that's not going to affect anyone but you.

(At least the responses here have been more well-reasoned than in the facebook comments; I'd have made my case there, if I actually bothered with facebook)
 

Geekeric

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Sep 8, 2010
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Hi, I guess I do self-identify with geeks/nerds (see my username), but I have to admit I don't have Aspergers. I like videogames, anime, computer & tech hardware, alien movies, Star Trek, sci-fi, comics etc... But I do wish I was a bigger geek, like the type that is good at programming and speaking Klingon. I used to play D&D, though, and I did have a Commodore 64, so my geek pedigree is pretty good. I'm married to a beautiful woman, though, but when I talk geek her eyes kind of glaze over.
The point I want to make is, however, that when I found the Escapist, I did feel like I belonged here. That's a good way to tell if you're a geek/nerd.