It is such a common element of culture but when I look closely it doesn't make too much sense.
What are the general characteristics of a nerd?
- Smart and interested in academics.
- Physically underdeveloped and bad at sports.
- Socially awkward and unattractive.
Does this cluster make sense to you?
Sure, health problems can make you both unattractive (and subsequently awkward) and small/weak/uncoordinated. But what do smarts have to do with this? I'm guessing statistically a healthy kid is likely to do better at school than an unhealthy one.
So how do nerds come to be?
Is that because kids who don't do well socially are more motivated to excel academically?
Do smart cool athletic kids refrain from getting into nerd stuff because it's frowned upon in the cool circles?
Is being a nerd a sort of a "mild" autistic spectrum thing?
Also, a follow up question. Are nerds actually smarter on average by any measurement? Why or why not?
Uses of "nerd" that I've been exposed to over the years.
Nerd used as a label for somebody who spends more time doing something they enjoy that isn't enjoyed but the people they are around. So you'd be chastised for spending time alone or in small tight groups that formed around a particular hobby that keeps you from expanding your social circle. Example: spending all your free time playing sports - not a nerd. Society places value on sports, players, etc and there is a socially approved social environment that comes with being involved in sports. Spending all your time learning sports stats - a nerd.
Nerd used as an insult when somebody knows a lot about something and corrects a person who doesn't know as much. Sometimes its a more innocent thing (being the know it all of a group). Sometimes its showing that a person is offended or uncomfortable by the correction the "nerd" makes or how intense they were when issuing the correction or expounding on a topic they know/care a lot about.
I grew up in a household where athletics wasn't really that important but my mom read voraciously. My one attempt at doing sports, baseball for a few years, ended when my lack of confidence was met with a little league coach who REALLY wanted to win and just yelled at me for the better part of the season. (Pretty sure I was just following a few friends who were more into athletics that I was.) So I just defaulted into nerdom being a small, not terribly athletic person with zero confidence in my physical ability and no one around who would let me do athletic stuff in a way that me not being good would get in the way.
Ironically, late middle/early high school, I got into a sports day camp over the summer (basically poor kids being babysat at the local university on the government's dime) and it was kinda nice. There was some competition and occasionally shit talk, but for the most part everybody pretty much knew that everybody was going to suck and to just try your best and mostly have fun. There was very little pressure to be/get good.
And now nerds do the shitty "git gud" bullshit over online games. there's no escape :agony-minion:
Is that really a thing outside the dark souls community? Also gamers have been shits about gaming for decades. It's a major plot point in The Wizard in '89 and is probably just a continuation from people being shitty about Chess, which dates it back to like 800ad.
As soon as esports got popular, I recognized a marked increase in terrible attitudes
Competitive gaming and its consequences have been a disaster for video game culture.