Why nerds are unpopular

[IronFist]

Long read but very, very interesting.

Linkified (http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html).

[FuXnDajenariht]

"Presumably someone wanted to point out to us that we were savages, and that we had made ourselves a cruel and stupid world."

lol priceless :D thats exactly what i thought all through school.

coincidently i just saw Revenge of the Nerds for the first time. Nerds in Paradise....

"If you want to launch a lugie, you must not gather the flem from your throat....but from you soul" :D

viva la nerds!

[Merryprankster]

An interesting piece, but guilty of some over-analysis IMO. I don't think comparing schools to prisons is terribly appropriate and his discussion of teenagers of the past is somewhat airbrushed - most classic literature does paint young men and women as willful and bucking the status quo. I was certainly a nerd - albeit one who floated between social groups thanks to my athletic and music activities.

On the other hand, my questionable popularity might have had something to do with me being truly obnoxious and immature, with insecurity problems. :D I was pushed forward a grade in elementary school because I was creating environment problems.

By this, I mean that being bright coupled with ADHD (this was BEFORE they diagnosed every kid on the planet with it), led me to do things like...get bored learning my colors because I already knew them, climbing to the top of the bookcase and tossing books around the room. Even in the higher grade, school was so easy it was pointless to me. I was making C's...it took a great 4th grade teacher and medication to get my grades up to where they should have been.

One year difference makes a big impact on social awareness...and I was certainly not aware. I'm a lot better now, but I have to admit I'm frequently obnoxious just because it amuses me. I believe the correct term for this is "*******."

Based on my experiences, I don't think I'll ever bump a kid forward. I was disadvantaged athletically and socially and there were costs. For instance, my strength shot up nearly 50% between 17 and 18 and my social awareness became significantly greater.

On a side, but related note, this current trend I see, at least where I am, of putting all the kids in the same classes regardless of ability, is disturbing to me. I have a friend who is a new teacher and when she was going through her training, she was telling me what a great thing it was and how wonderful it all was. You could see the glassy-eyed, deep seated conditioning coming out. She was telling me all about these management techniques, like offering a range of assignments to choose from, and the kids would pick stuff commensurate with their abilities...right....

I looked at her and said that was bull****. First I told her that I would pick whatever assignment allowed me to get by with the minimum of work, and that the grade-concious would pick whatever was easiest so they could make a high grade. The smart kids would get bored, the dumb kids would get frustrated and they would collectively disrupt the class for the average students and make her life a living hell. We went out for coffee the other day and it turns out she's not so keen on integrated classrooms anymore. Shocker.

[HearWa]

More links for the geeky: http://www.quickfry.com/lore/index.shtml

[MoreMisfortune]

Cool, a nerd thread.
Here i fit in, lol :D

I wasnt put on a forward grade man, but when i realised that i could get by them classes without studying at all, i simply stopped studying. That must have been 1 year before highschool. And since that i went for the 7/10 (your C grade i believe) cos thats all that they required me.
Instead of studying i played video games and computer games and when i wanted to rest from that all i just watched tv and i ate.
This makes me offenly underated, specially to those new to my existance. Wich is cool and fine to me.
I never had problems with physical bullying cos i was to tall and heavy to be bullied by those wussies. Thats right, wussies... they used to tease me... until i grew 8 inches taller than them. Now where were those "tough guys"? Scared a bit, perhaps? ***s
Though i was never diagnosed with anything its my belief i might have had (or still have) Aspergers syndrome, though i cant confirm without a proper diagnosis you know.
My only very problem and regret for being this nerd i am and have been (and i cant change) - is the lack of wimmins.
Oh and btw, the world IS wrong :)

[anton]

I was one of the smarter kids in my year level and I never suffered because of it. I hung out with everyone and got along fine, went to parties got drunk, got stoned scored chicks just like everyone else. I think it's a case of correlation rather than causation. Being smart doesn't necessarily make you a nerd. and unlike the guy who wrote that article, I don't think there is a trade off between smartness and popularity. I just think some people fail to develop social skills for some reason, and suffer because of that.

The guy who wrote the article talks about acting popular as a form of conformity that takes a lot of effort and thought. Nothing could be further from the truth.. conformity requires no effort or thought... I never scoured magazines cataloguing what look is or isn't in. I never recorded figures of speech that were cool at teh time. Being socially adept means one doesn't have to think about these things. The people that did have problems were those that simply did not understand what was or wasn't appropriate in a particular social situation. It's as instinctive and subconscious as body language, but less tangible.

[joedoe]

I personally think the key at school was to get involved in stuff. Play music, play sport etc. You get to know people, you develop skills, and popularity just comes with it (as long as you aren't a complete arsehole).

[PHILBERT]

Intelligence doesn't factor in for popularity. One of the most popular girls in my Jr High (and voted Miss YJH) had an IQ of like 160. The girl had over a 120 average in almost all her classes. On the 100 point average, she made so much in extra credit questions she boosted her grade up another 20 points. I think its based on charisma and athletic ability, as well as looks. Not an ugly guy, I was very unpopular in Jr High because my lack of athletic ability, despite my high charisma. I think it's a factor of the 3 though. Maybe in elementary charisma is a key factor since sports really aren't prevailent in elementary as they are in Jr High and especially High School. And being as I wasn't popular in Elementary, it carried over to Jr. High despite charisma and physical looks.

Then again I also knew some butt ugly people, there were some twins who looked like frigging chipmunks, yet they were very popular.

[joedoe]

Originally posted by PHILBERT
Intelligence doesn't factor in for popularity. One of the most popular girls in my Jr High (and voted Miss YJH) had an IQ of like 160. The girl had over a 120 average in almost all her classes. On the 100 point average, she made so much in extra credit questions she boosted her grade up another 20 points. I think its based on charisma and athletic ability, as well as looks. Not an ugly guy, I was very unpopular in Jr High because my lack of athletic ability, despite my high charisma. I think it's a factor of the 3 though. Maybe in elementary charisma is a key factor since sports really aren't prevailent in elementary as they are in Jr High and especially High School. And being as I wasn't popular in Elementary, it carried over to Jr. High despite charisma and physical looks.

Then again I also knew some butt ugly people, there were some twins who looked like frigging chipmunks, yet they were very popular.

I think if you look at it all in terms of how young animals gain status and how young males work their way towards being an alpha-male it would shed a lot of light on the whole thing. It also explains why physical attributes and sporting prowess is so important.

[FuXnDajenariht]

Originally posted by Andy Miles
If your spending time on a kung fu forum, you're a nerd. Don't kid yourself.

lmao! :D

[FatherDog]

http://www.princeton.edu/~moraski2/nerds.gif

[MasterKiller]

The fact is, most nerds are either unattractive, either through nature or design, and/or physically under-developed.

You can be smart and play football and still be popular.

You can be dumb and play football and still be popular.

But if you are smart and not physically well-developed enough to excel in sports or attractive enough to not care about sports, then you are typically shunned by the larger group.

Hot geeky chicks are popular.

Unattractive geeky girls are not.

[PangQuan]

I think that looking into it this much is pretty nerdy. Deep down we are all nerds in one way or another. I never had friends in school, not due to the fact that I was a "unpopular", I was always the new kid. My parents moved every year or so. Being in that situation one year I may be mixed up with the most popular kids and the next moved to a school where my friends became the D&D kids. I never really applied myself in school, not stupid, just lazy. But I was always a good skater. For me it just depended on who I thought was "cool" sometimes those so called "popular" kids were actually just self obsessive idiots, who had the right parents. It all depends on what school your in and like Philbert said "charisma". Its about how you naturally act with others. I still to this day dont know if im a nerd or if im popular, I like to think that Im both. I could break your jaw, or fix your computer. "NERD" is just a label to be placed where one needs not be. I AM ME!! i like the term **** better anyhow, it suits my cowlicks.

[SPJ]

Nerds or Geeks are popular in a negative way.

If you join the math club, chess club, debate club, computer camp, science camp etc, you are N or G.

If you are in the cheer leading or foot ball team, you are popular.

I hanged out a lot in debate, Buddhist, Taoist and Kuo Shu clubs. I was called a Monk (He Shang) and doc (Po Shi).

Actually I bored everyone to death. Even Buddhist and Taoist monks fell asleep.

So N and G are actually talented and good at something.

Everyone else is not able to match up and feels threatened.

If you are in a school, you are good at something other than school work, then you are not N or G.

You study all the time and you get A's all the time. Yah, you are definately a Nerd. Because you do not know or do anything else.

[SPJ]

The word nerd first appears in 1950 in Dr. Seuss's If I ran the Zoo.

How do I know that?

Yah I am a nerd.

:D

[SPJ]

Geek is used in the circus to describe performers of bizarre acts for 200 years.

It is used to mean -- nowadays.

:D

[norther practitioner]

SPJ, dude, you've had some great posts, some funny posts, but none greater than this....



Actually I bored everyone to death. Even Buddhist and Taoist monks fell asleep.

[joedoe]

Originally posted by Andy Miles
If your spending time on a kung fu forum, you're a nerd. Don't kid yourself.

So true ... sadly

[bung bo]

NERDS RULE! I really mean that. Louis Skolnick rules.

[Ford Prefect]

Having only read the first part of the article, I'd have to say it runs on a false premise. That being smart will make you unpopular.

In elementary school (grade K-6), I was definately one of the most popular kids in my grade and in later grades, the school. I was also one of the few members in my grade in a program called "Sage" which was a special program for advanced learners. The catch-line was actually "for the gifted and talented". I was doing 10 page independent reports and class-long presentations complete with hand-outs and even movies on the reports in 4th grade. None of this seemed to hurt my popularity.

In middle school, I was a medium fish in a huge pond. The two grades at the school combined for about 800-900 kids/grade. The most popular kids were generally the toughest in the school. I was in the second or third tier out of many tiers because I was extremely skinny compared to a lot of these guys. I was scrappy and funny, but not one of the "guys". I was in the smart classes here too. It didn't effect my popularity.

In high school, I was again in a small pond. I was a member of the "in crowd" even though I was in many advanced, honors, and AP classes. I actually even tutored some of my friends in the in-crowd and some paid be in the way of cash or beer to do some work for them. All this aside, I remained popular and did pretty well with the ladies.

In my experience, the "nerds" are generally sheltered by parents and their intellectual side is nurtured while their physical side is not. Luckily, I was always athletic and my parents nurtured that more than my intellectual side. Being physically fit or even physically dominant (if you want to go there) I think is the key concept of popularity at young ages. The kids that can bully or stand up to bullies are looked at in a brighter light by classmates than the physically weak. This gives a kid confidence in dealing with peers which escalates the disparency between nerds and popular kids as they grow older. The physically strong kids grow into confident and strong people whereas the nerds grow to be physically weak and unconfident in social situations.

There were a couple other nerds including our valedictorian who were good at sports. They didn't get picked on much besides the normal amount the nearly everybody gets ragged on. The kids who did no sports and/or were weak were everybody's whipping boys. Even in the "in-crowd" the weaker/less athletic/less tough guys were treated noticeably different.

That's my experience anyway... ;)

[Water Dragon]

*gives this thread a wedgie and shoves it in it's locker*

[anton]

speaking of nerds is anyone else here a fan of Napoleon Dynamite? i thought that movie was f*ing hilarious.

heheh... Rex Kwan Do - BOW TO YOUR SENSEI!!

[SPJ]

Second that.

I have the DVD. It just makes me laugh in a weird way.

I laughed so hard on the time machine.

The uncle has the dream to be a football player.

However, he is a salesman and lives in the van.

I said to my brother, well, there is nothing wrong to have a dream.

Actually it is ok to have a dream.

But to turn back the time with the time machine that electroshocks your vital areas--

LAUGH again.

---

[wdl]

Nerds suck because they are wusses, but a geek will kick your arse immediately and if they can't find a way they will make your life a living hell for years.

-Will

[anton]

Originally posted by SPJ
Second that.
I laughed so hard on the time machine.
---

"Hold on... i forgot to put in the crystals" lol

[bung bo]

That movie rules. It's really, really funny. Last week I bought some 1% milk. Not because I think I'm fat, it was just less expensive than 2%. One of the girls in my class and I frequently quote that movie.

[IronFist]

What is the difference between a nerd and a geek?

Is "nerd" a measure of social standing and "geek" a measure of interests (like computers and stuff)? Or are they interchangable?

[FatherDog]

Originally posted by IronFist
What is the difference between a nerd and a geek?

Is "nerd" a measure of social standing and "geek" a measure of interests (like computers and stuff)? Or are they interchangable?

A nerd is someone who's just interested in academics and has limited social skills.

A geek is someone who's just obsessively interested in one subject. Like GDA says, martial artists are just athletic geeks. Except for the ones that aren't athletic.

You can be a martial arts geek, or a baseball geek, or an anime geek, or a roleplaying geek, or whatever.

[Ming Yue]

Originally posted by bung bo
That movie rules. It's really, really funny. Last week I bought some 1% milk. Not because I think I'm fat, it was just less expensive than 2%. One of the girls in my class and I frequently quote that movie.


"TINA! COME GET SOME HAM!"

:D

the movie is genius.

[bung bo]

"I would've gone pro, making millions of dollars, in some big ole mansion, livin' it up with my soul mate."

[IronFist]

Originally posted by FatherDog
A nerd is someone who's just interested in academics and has limited social skills.

A geek is someone who's just obsessively interested in one subject. Like GDA says, martial artists are just athletic geeks. Except for the ones that aren't athletic.

You can be a martial arts geek, or a baseball geek, or an anime geek, or a roleplaying geek, or whatever.

Thanks.

[GunnedDownAtrocity]

i was a freak ... go figure.

before the trench coat maffia we were the black mob.

[bung bo]

GDA--I was one of the kids wearing the big pants. My high school only had about 3 of you guys.