Is being a nerd still considered bad?

[amdhunter]

I think this sums up this thread.

 

[gorcorps]

BEING an actual nerd has not become cool. However, CALLING yourself a nerd just because you like video games and the new comic book movies has for some reason become a thing. Those kids who are playing Magic The Gathering in the cafeteria are not going to suddenly be rolling in pussy... so I doubt anything's really changed.

 

[Kaido]

Is there still a stigma towards being a nerd?

Yes, but not to the same extent as it was when I was in high school in the late 90's & early 2000's. For starters, there's a difference between nerds & geeks: geeks are now "cool" (ComicCon's, television shows, actually being useful since everyone uses technology to a huge extent now, etc.). It's okay to be a geek about things these days (re: Glee, Big Bang Theory, etc.). Nerds are still considered the anti-social ones.

I also wish that I was taught earlier that there are women who like "smart" men (not bragging here, just saying more of a nerd vs. jock standpoint). That little piece of information was mind-blowing. Some girls are attracted to the muscly/outgoing/jock-type of guys, but some girls like intellectuals, which I had no concept of in high school. I had pretty much zero confidence in regards to dating back then because I wasn't gifted genetically with being super good looking or having a strong frame or being competitive or whatever, but as it turns out, not all women are into that (thankfully, haha).

So I definitely think it's more accepted these days. If you grow a heavy beard & have trouble communicating with people, you're still going to be labeled as an anti-social nerd to avoid socially, but you can be into computers & whatnot and be a lot more socially accepted than in the past. I don't know if that's more because I'm older out & (mostly) out of school or what, but I don't see my friend's kids having as hard of a time as I did in school with being geeky. It's semi-cool now, or at least kind of "in" to some extent.

 

[soulcougher73]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZEdDMQZaCU

 

[Kaido]

I think this sums up this thread.

Yeah that's pretty much it :biggrin:

 

[IndyColtsFan]

I've always been considered a nerd and I couldn't possibly care less what other people think of me, and that included high school as well (I was in high school in the latter half of the 80s). I was into computers, science fiction, reading, model rockets, and other things considered nerdy. I wasn't one of those kids who could be peer pressured or forced to conform to what other kids thought was cool. Yeah, I was made fun of in school, but I was bigger and stronger than many/most kids so it wasn't as bad as it could've been. Had I been a 90 lb weaking, it would've been much worse. As it was, I graduated at the top of my class and went on to a top tier engineering school and have never looked back and regretted that I wasn't popular or that I was a nerd.

I don't plan on having kids, but if that changes and I do have kids, I'd encourage them to be themselves and not let anyone pressure them into being someone they're not. Success in life isn't about money or being "popular" IMO, it is about being happy with who you are, learning new things by exploration, and enjoying life.

 

[mirageracerx]

geek is chic, has come and gone. personally im glad. when it was in, everyone and their grandmother was getting an old school gameboy and telling me how they beat pokemon red. then you had the few trying to make geek PC, and yelling/hooting/hollering/complaining/whining that geek culture was sexist and evil when they didnt understand the culture to begin with. it isnt for everyone because not everyone has the mental capacity to find geeky things entertaining/enjoyable. So i've noticed a backlash back against geeks/nerds. and personally, im ok with it now.

 

[poofyhairguy]

Being good at science doesn't make you a nerd.

I hope not, I suck at science.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

Intelligent people who are passionate about socially acceptable hobbies are always cool.

Basement dwelling troll people with crippling social anxiety and no social skills will never be cool.

 

[vbuggy]

Intelligent people who are passionate about socially acceptable hobbies are always cool.

This.

You forgot 'interestingly pretty' at the front, but this.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Halt and Catch Fire (TV series) = Sexy nerds

 

[Aikouka]

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.

Just ask her this, "Who would you rather go to for notes when you miss a day of class... your friend who's too busy texting her BF and BFFs and doodling in her notebook, or the nerd whose notes are borderline textbook quality?"

 

[Scarpozzi]

21 Jump Street Movie.... "Look at the nerd...."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atAqrh8xSVA

 

[Rakehellion]

BEING an actual nerd has not become cool. However, CALLING yourself a nerd just because you like video games and the new comic book movies has for some reason become a thing. Those kids who are playing Magic The Gathering in the cafeteria are not going to suddenly be rolling in pussy... so I doubt anything's really changed.

Just like people who see a Youtube video of liquid nitrogen and think they like "science."

 

[poofyhairguy]

Just like people who see a Youtube video of liquid nitrogen and think they like "science."

Exactly!

That is the problem with all attempts "to make science fun!" Eventually the boring science will poke through.

Thanks to watching Mr. Wizard growing up I thought I loved science. Then I had to balance a chemistry equation in 7th grade and said "screw this! it sucks!" Was so upset I went down the liberal arts path and never came back.

What they need to do is show people driving fancy cars and going on fancy vacations with some sort of slogan:

"Forget the idea of doing what you love. Suffer through a STEM education and live the life you love!"

 

[vbuggy]

Halt and Catch Fire (TV series) = Sexy nerds

Whoa. I actually had a CRT monitor implode in front of my face once with a spark and also a bonus puff of smoke. And I had a haircut like Cameron once. Am I TV cool 1337 h4x0rs nerd now?

 

[zinfamous]

BEING an actual nerd has not become cool. However, CALLING yourself a nerd just because you like video games and the new comic book movies has for some reason become a thing. Those kids who are playing Magic The Gathering in the cafeteria are not going to suddenly be rolling in pussy... so I doubt anything's really changed.

we have a winner

 

[crownjules]

BEING an actual nerd has not become cool. However, CALLING yourself a nerd just because you like video games and the new comic book movies has for some reason become a thing. Those kids who are playing Magic The Gathering in the cafeteria are not going to suddenly be rolling in pussy... so I doubt anything's really changed.

You have to admit though, video games, comic books, and a few other things primarily identified as "nerd interests" in the past have become much more socially acceptable since the early 00s. But the true nerds still have their CCGs, painted miniature war games, and lightning bolts.

 

[poofyhairguy]

You have to admit though, video games, comic books, and a few other things primarily identified as "nerd interests" in the past have become much more socially acceptable since the early 00s.

Kinda. It seems like when anything "nerdy" becomes mainstream the nerd part is lost.

For example, reading actual comics is no cooler than it ever was. Comic book movies are cool, but are appreciated for their action not their nerdy elements (aka how close it is to the comic book).

Gaming is mainstream, while gamers are no cooler than they ever were. People have learned to appreciate the action of the games without appreciating the pimply nerd providing the action.

Mainstream Star Trek movies? Might as well be Star Wars movie for all the action it had.

Mainstream love of tech? The masses love mobile devices which take even LESS technical skill to operate than a PC. The nerdy parts of building a machine, overclocking it, hacking it, etc. are not mainstream at all. If anything we are losing ground there.

So I wouldn't say nerds or even nerdy activities have become more socially acceptable. As far as I would go is to say that the entertainment industry now uses nerds as the frame for the same old picture.



The biggest example I can think of is The Big Bang Theory. I know today it is vile nerd blackface, but early on in the show they actually discussed nerdy topics like collecting, computers, science, technology, etc. They had jokes that only made sense to people who understood WHAT an emulator was, or WHY Picard is the best Star Trek captain.

You watch TBBT today and all of that nerdiness is gone. No more in-jokes, no more jokes 90% of the population won't get. Now the show is about how socially awkward men deal with women-aka the modern equivalent to laughing at the circus freak.

The masses ruin everything...

 

[irishScott]

Kinda. It seems like when anything "nerdy" becomes mainstream the nerd part is lost.

For example, reading actual comics is no cooler than it ever was. Comic book movies are cool, but are appreciated for their action not their nerdy elements (aka how close it is to the comic book).

Gaming is mainstream, while gamers are no cooler than they ever were. People have learned to appreciate the action of the games without appreciating the pimply nerd providing the action.

Mainstream Star Trek movies? Might as well be Star Wars movie for all the action it had.

Mainstream love of tech? The masses love mobile devices which take even LESS technical skill to operate than a PC. The nerdy parts of building a machine, overclocking it, hacking it, etc. are not mainstream at all. If anything we are losing ground there.

So I wouldn't say nerds or even nerdy activities have become more socially acceptable. As far as I would go is to say that the entertainment industry now uses nerds as the frame for the same old picture.



The biggest example I can think of is The Big Bang Theory. I know today it is vile nerd blackface, but early on in the show they actually discussed nerdy topics like collecting, computers, science, technology, etc. They had jokes that only made sense to people who understood WHAT an emulator was, or WHY Picard is the best Star Trek captain.

You watch TBBT today and all of that nerdiness is gone. No more in-jokes, no more jokes 90% of the population won't get. Now the show is about how socially awkward men deal with women-aka the modern equivalent to laughing at the circus freak.

The masses ruin everything...

Pretty much this, although I'd also point out that nerds have gotten a lot more respect as technology has advanced into peoples' daily lives. If you can fix peoples' stuff and have decent social skills, you're practically on par with an auto-mechanic. Hell back in the dorms I made friends by opening up and fixing a bad connection on my neighbor's guitar hero controller.

Likewise more mainstream people are becoming interested in technology by exposure. I know a few ex-engineering majors who were in social frats and looked and acted like it.

 

[Ruptga]

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.

That reminds me of something I read about AI development.

Nick Bostrom explains "A lot of cutting edge AI has filtered into general applications, often without being called AI because once something becomes useful enough and common enough it's not labeled AI anymore."[38]
...
Technologies developed by AI researchers have achieved commercial success in a number of domains, such as machine translation, data mining, industrial robotics, logistics, speech recognition, banking software, medical diagnosis and Google's search engine.

 

[dave_the_nerd]

I am having trouble finding it, but a while back I saw a video on a cracked.com-type website where a female "nerd" travelled back in time to tell a bunch of D&D-playing nerds in the '80s that the nerds "won."

Exchanges like, "Oh, so you all build your own computers?" "No, we just buy iPods." She becomes increasingly uncomfortable and then leaves.

Of course, the joke is that they're all dumbfounded to find themselves talking to a female, and the nerds did not, in fact, win.