Is being a nerd still considered bad?

[kyrax12]

Is there still a stigma towards being a nerd?


From what I have noticed, being a nerd is considered "cool" nowadays. I know that nerds are the norm in countries like in China, Korea, and Japan. However, what about in the West?


I mean I am a nerd, but I am not that socially incompetent. I feel that there are only negative stigma only towards nerds that don't know how to behave socially. At least that is what I think.

What do you think?

 

[brianmanahan]

well i havent been on a date, ever, so

 

[zerocool84]

Of course it's still a bad stigma because nerds are still thought as being socially awkward, not outgoing, playing video games in their mom's basement, not getting laid etc etc. There are people out there that think wearing glasses makes them nerdy so they are trying to make it cool to be nerdy but it's obviously more than just wearing glasses.

 

[kyrax12]

Of course it's still a bad stigma because nerds are still thought as being socially awkward, not outgoing, playing video games in their mom's basement, not getting laid etc etc. There are people out there that think wearing glasses makes them nerdy so they are trying to make it cool to be nerdy but it's obviously more than just wearing glasses.

Well it is not really out of the norm to have decent social skills as a nerd. Not sure how the whole mom's basement got started.

 

[Thebobo]

Is there still a stigma towards being a nerd?


From what I have noticed, being a nerd is considered "cool" nowadays. I know that nerds are the norm in countries like in China, Korea, and Japan. However, what about in the West?


I mean I am a nerd, but I am not that socially incompetent. I feel that there are only negative stigma only towards nerds that don't know how to behave socially. At least that is what I think.

What do you think?

High school jock who loves to put down nerds ends up working in his daddy's car dealership.

Nerds end up running microsoft. Or a good tech job.

 

[Leros]

My super dense summary of geek vs nerd:
Nerds = Intellectuals
Geeks = Collectors

Or let this Simpsons pic guide you:

Being a geek (while also being socially normal and stuff) is considered cool these days. Being a nerd is still looked down up, which isn't surprising considering the anti-intellectual trend going around these days.

 

[Leros]

My super dense summary of geek vs nerd:
Nerds = Intellectuals
Geeks = Collectors

Or let this Simpsons pic guide you:

Being a geek (while also being socially normal and stuff) is considered cool these days. Being a nerd is still looked down up, which isn't surprising considering the anti-intellectual trend going around these days.

 

[pontifex]

I'm pretty sure everyone still makes fun of geeks, especially the kind in your picture.
that kind is not cool.

 

[MongGrel]

People still use the word Nerd ?

NM.

 

[mcurphy]

20 years ago when I was in high school, geeks and nerds were ridiculed to no end. Now, I look up to those guys, and have become a nerd/ geek myself. I think these guys are pretty cool.

I now have a daughter at age 13, and she thinks down on nerds in her class. I am trying to change her opinion, but peer pressure is pretty hard to overcome. Some things never change.

 

[zanejohnson]

ummm nerdcore?

conculture?

it's alive and well, it's kinda mixed with the raver/party/psychadelic scene nowadays, so nerds got sexy.

 

[theeedude]

I am a nerd and I hope my kids grows up to be nerds too. Going to let them read in bed so they get nearsightedness and need glasses like I did. Then they'll get in the nerd crowd in school instead of the jock and slut crowd, and that will put them on a track to success. It's a lot easier for a nerd go get LASIK and a gym membership than for a jock to get a brain transplant.

 

[Rakehellion]

Being good at science doesn't make you a nerd. Being bad at everything else does.

 

[Mixolydian]

I thought there was a whole "Nerd Pride" thing going on since the 90's.

 

[brianmanahan]

Being good at science doesn't make you a nerd. Being bad at everything else does.

says the nerd

 

[Babbles]

Being good at science doesn't make you a nerd. Being bad at everything else does.

Absolutely! But I'm also awesome at the science of gas chromatography and mass spectrometry, so I could be bias.

A co-worker of mine was recently talking crap about the super nerds working at Fry's. I pointed out to him that he has a PhD in chemistry and works for a high-end scientific company so he is arguably more 'nerdy' than the Fry's employees.

His argument - which I think is quite valid - is that 'nerdy' is a personality trait, not how one is good at at a technical field and gets an education in it.

 

[mmntech]

Well, we live in a country that values professional hand egg players and autotuned singers more than doctors and scientists, and where educational TV consists of rednecks souping up rat rods. I think there's your answer.

 

[zerocool84]

Well, we live in a country that values professional hand egg players and autotuned singers more than doctors and scientists, and where educational TV consists of rednecks souping up rat rods. I think there's your answer.

Well its not our fault that sports are more exciting to watch then someone doing math all day.

 

[Babbles]

Well, we live in a country that values professional hand egg players and autotuned singers more than doctors and scientists, and where educational TV consists of rednecks souping up rat rods. I think there's your answer.

To be fair, as a scientist for 15+ years in my experience with other scientists, engineers, and professors, most of "us" like beer and watching hand-egg-ball every Sunday and the occasional Mondays and Thursdays.

 

[Train]

Well, we live in a country that values professional hand egg players and autotuned singers more than doctors and scientists,

uhh, no we don't.

Give every american the choice between their iPhone/DVR/facebook, or the closure of their fave sports team. There won't be enough people left to support the pro sports. People want their fucking gadgets

Should I list all the nerds who OWN sports teams?

and where educational TV consists of rednecks souping up rat rods. I think there's your answer.

That's because the only people left watching TV to pass time are idiots.

 

[Fritzo]

Jocks learned that they'll be working for nerds one day

 

[HamburgerBoy]

My super dense summary of geek vs nerd:
Nerds = Intellectuals
Geeks = Collectors

Or let this Simpsons pic guide you:

http://i.imgur.com/QRDfBal.png

Being a geek (while also being socially normal and stuff) is considered cool these days. Being a nerd is still looked down up, which isn't surprising considering the anti-intellectual trend going around these days.

Got that backwards imo. Being a collector or obsessive over certain things isn't an automatic mark of social death, but the science nerds definitely get the ladies more so than the otakus. There are exceptions (an autistic math genius may be seen lower than an average geek that plays D&D or Magic on a regular basis), but in general geeks bring to mind acne, greasy hair, and encrusted semen stains more than nerds do.

 

[vbuggy]

uhh, no we don't.

Give every american the choice between their iPhone/DVR/facebook, or the closure of their fave sports team. There won't be enough people left to support the pro sports. People want their fucking gadgets

Curiously I don't think your average dumbfuck equates gadgets to science. Let's face it, if everyone thought this then the anti-vacciners / climate-change deniers / etc's heads would explode / be unable to post anything online.

 

[Thebobo]

Well, we live in a country that values professional hand egg players and autotuned singers more than doctors and scientists, and where educational TV consists of rednecks souping up rat rods. I think there's your answer.

 

[rsbennett00]

Words only have the power you give them.

No idea what hand-egg-ball is.