I mean, do you know anyone who's into gaming, comics, books, whatever, and is legitimately stupid? And by stupid I don't mean he believes in something you don't, or supports something you think is dumb, but doesn't know maths or who the current President of the United States is or their vocabulary is horrendous. If you do, he or she is the minority of your nerd friends, right? The stereotype of the smarty pants in a school setting being interested in gaming or comics or cosplay has been around for a long time, but looking at my group of friends (yeah I just called myself smart #NotHumbleBrag) it doesn't seem so far from the truth.
Why do the more intelligent people gravitate towards the "nerdy" stuff?
- Thread starter Bob_McMillan
- Start date
Most people are in a fairly narrow range of intelligence. In addition a huge number of people are in to gaming and comics, not just nerds.
Also I know tonnes of nerds that are stupid. They may be able to vomit up rote information but give them a problem to solve and they go completely to pieces.Being a nerd and being clever may be related but it's not a 1:1 by any means. In fact outside of school, with its rigid grading and predefined challenges, practically every nerd I know crashed and burned.
Also I know tonnes of nerds that are stupid. They may be able to vomit up rote information but give them a problem to solve and they go completely to pieces.Being a nerd and being clever may be related but it's not a 1:1 by any means. In fact outside of school, with its rigid grading and predefined challenges, practically every nerd I know crashed and burned.
I submit the shear volume of stupid stuff on the Internet as proof. Nerdy people aren't any smarter. Especially some of the fandoms.Bob_McMillan said:
Even Sports which is typically viewed as the anti-intellect crowd has a fair share of it's own intelligent people. I've met a lot of people who were really really into sports, who were vastly better at problem solving then, say... some Star Trek fans I've seen.
Also, on the flipside, when I applied to work at Brown Brothers Harriman, a banking/investment firm, I found myself in a building filled with super-smart jocks. I was like, "How am I supposed to compete with that?"
They don't. Nerdy people gravitate towards nerdy stuff, and being nerdy doesn't necessarily mean you're intelligent, just like being a jock and sports oriented doesn't necessarily mean you're dumb.
I don't even know any non-nerdy people who are this stupid, and I doubt they'd be that easy to find. And even if you did find one I'm sure he or she would be just as enthralled by the pretty pictures in a comic book or video game as you or me.Bob_McMillan said:
Seems a bit presumptuous to think nerds ingeneral aren't stupid. Just check out the Youtube comments section of any game related video, and tell me nerds can't be blithering idiots on regular occasions. Even mathematical geniuses can be retarded in some way.
I know quite a lot of nerds who think they're very intelligent, but that's not the same thing.
I dunno, I don't think it's true, I think it's just a stereotype.
It might have had some basis in truth somewhere, but it doesn't seem generally true in my experience.
I dunno, I don't think it's true, I think it's just a stereotype.
It might have had some basis in truth somewhere, but it doesn't seem generally true in my experience.
Back in my day, we called people nerds because they were intelligent ( usually a lot more than the average person) and the things they liked were nerdy. I think they op has it backwards, nerdy people don't gravitate to nerdy things, things are nerdy because that's what nerds like.Casual Shinji said:
But times have changed and the word no longer means anything. It's the new hip/coolcat/boss/swag/beesknees/bad and whatever word the generation uses to descrip the "in" thing.
Also i vote to call the new generation of kids the hashtags.
I think this entire line of questioning is loaded, especially since these aren't 'nerdy things'. Nerds just happen to like them.
I know so many idiot nerds. SOOOOO many. Some of the dumbest people I know are nerds.Bob_McMillan said:
However, I think there is a point on some level to what you say.
Nerds tend to gravitate to activities that are self selecting because they require a basic competency check to participate in. For example, you could not be a computer game nerd in the 90's without some fairly serious technical knowledge. (computers used to be WAY harder to use and understand. This is why computer nerds are always insisting that computers are super easy to build and all that. We remember when it used to be hard.)
Nerds tend to soak in information they find interesting or entertaining. From memorizing every word of a Monty Python sketch to taking special note about that obscure fact dealing with WWI tanks, nerds tend to know a lot of things.
Nerds tend to gravitate to activities where you engage the mind, not the body. Not nerds play pickup soccer. Nerds play pickup chess. These different activities attract different types.
These are traits we commonly associate with intelligence (technical skills, breadth and depth of knowledge, a focus on the mind over the body) because intelligence usually comes with these traits. But just because a person has these traits does not mean they are intelligent.
I don't think of comics, videogames, or SFF as particularly nerdy. 'Nerd' spaces have been co-opted by 'normies' for years now-- for better, and worse.
The smartest people I have ever met are massive sports fans. They will obsessively collect data, then find new and innovative ways to predict future performance. A couple of them have earned jobs with clubs in top-tier leagues. Others do it as a hobby, using their data for gambling purposes.skywolfblue said:
Probably because the "nerdy" hobbies that you have described, are the kinds of activities where being intelligent is beneficial, and thus, people who are intelligent are more likely to find those activities enjoyable. Maybe they can't play football, maybe they can't run a marathon, but damnit, they can figure out the best card combination for Hearthstone to win a tournament and be a champion in that.Bob_McMillan said:
It doesn't seem that strange of a concept really.
At the same time?!Casual Shinji said:Heck, I still work in a library AND I wear glasses. I got two pairs even.Baffle said:
OT: Yeah, I don't believe that being a nerd is an indicator that you're intelligent. I'm apparently a "geek to the core" (Thank you Escapist quiz!), and I'm not particularly intelligent. I mean, I'm hardly a majority, but there are plenty of stupid people in the world. It's a bit hard to imagine that none of them would be nerdy.
Like others have said, I think you got it the other way around.
Baffle said:Oh baby that's so kinky!Casual Shinji said:Heck, I still work in a library AND I wear glasses. I got two pairs even.
(I actually have four pairs, but only two are my current prescription; the other two are my DIY/climbing glasses (one prescription old) and my emergency keep-the-in-the-car-just-in-case glasses (two prescriptions old)).
Is it just me or is it getting hot in here?!
Relax... I'll be gentle...