I know I've called myself a nerd before, but at the same time I'm not really sure if I am really am a nerd. For one thing my wife is was to hot. Which might not be a true test to see if you're a nerd or not, but I believe it is one thing that might make me less nerdy than other people. I've never really had any nerd friends either, all my friends have been normal with a punk here and there. Plus I try not to fly my nerd flag in "real life." That means I don't go around telling people I read comics and make comics. I don't jump into conversations about Star Wars and Star Trek with people, even people I know. It's been this way for a long time. Since high school really. I got rid of my Magic the Gathering Cards in Jr. High. Then my junior year I transformed my look to a 90's punk rocker. I shed as much nerdiness as I could. Sure I read comics here and there, but I didn't associate with people that did that kind of thing.
Fast-forward to 2013, everywhere on the internet people are claiming to be nerds. They're throwing on glasses and seeing superhero movies. They scream that they are nerds because they've seen all the "comic" movies, which I doubt, because that means seeing all these little film too. Yet, I still feel like being a nerd is a bad thing. Sure I can tell you almost complete history of most of Marvel Comics characters. I watch reruns of Babylon 5, Star Trekn (all series), Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica. I play with Lego bricks. I even draw my own webcomics, but don't call me a nerd. Most people I met don't know about any of those things. I try to tell people about them, but no one has ever been interested in my hobbies. I always keep them quite and try to blend in with other people at work. My shyness makes that hard too. Still even though I feel like maybe nerd culture is accepted on the internet, no one in the real world has heard.
So what do you guys think? Am I nerd? Should I be proud and fly the nerd flag even if it makes me an outcast? Plus what should my nerd flag look like? And what do you think a nerd is? Allison and I don't totally agree on what a nerd is. Allison thinks she's a nerd and I don't think she is. Once again, she's just to hot to be a nerd in my mind.
Now here's the song from Adam Warrock that made me think about all these deep nerdy thoughts.
I think anyone that passionately loves something is a nerd. But people who love sports are, for some (probably hunter-gatherer) reason, accorded superior status while people who love movies, comics, games, computers, books, etc are considered less than normal. My radio station had a call-in about Jocks and Nerds and the consensus was that Jocks are incredibly loud and annoying and don't understand why everyone else doesn't love sports. Nerds, on the other hand, understood that they were alone in their nerdness and much less likely to be open about their interests. For example: my son had a Field Trip at school and it was titled Sports Hero Day at BYU. We both groaned at the stupidity of the trip. Not everyone loves sports. But being athletic and sporty is considered the ideal. The internet has helped to change that, but there's still a long way to go. Are you a nerd? Technically because you don't like sports and you love the things you do, you are a nerd. You should open up a little bit about it with your friends, you might find a little common ground. And your wife is a book-nerd but just so you know, book-nerds can be super hot.
ReplyDeleteI think the word they're using these days is "Geekery". Not that I really know, Craig says I live under a rock. But on Pinterest that's what they call it, and it's my favorite section. Of course Donna is right, she's the oldest, but I'm second. So after you read her comment, hop over to mine and you will see the wisdom of all things good and great. You're the coolest geek I know...and you know who I'm married to!
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