Why We Need Nerds

Making fun of nerds and geeks is tolerated in our society because most people view this as harmless fun. But in his book, Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them, David Anderegg argues that this is bad for our children and even worse for our society.

Anderegg begins by inviting us to participate in an "alien visitor" exercise. If we look at our current culture with the fresh eyes of an alien visitor, what might we see?

If you were an alien visitor, you would learn one important thing about American culture: American earthlings come in two subgroups. There are beautiful people who appear to be hotly desired by everyone else for something called "sex" and there are ugly people who are not desired at all for the thing called "sex." And then there are intelligent people, who seem to know an awful lot, and stupid people, who seem to be, well, really stupid. And here's the really interesting part, if you're the alien visitor: All the really intelligent people are ugly, and all the beautiful people are dumber than a box of rocks. (2)

Anderegg then makes a powerful point:

But my point is not about those aliens. It is about the little terrestrial aliens already in our midst: our children. Children are just like those aliens; even the cultures they are born into are alien to them. They need to make sense of the adult world, the world of their own culture, and they approach this world with alien eyes. (2)

And if our children come to believe that their only two options are to be sexy and attractive or intelligent and ugly, there is little doubt which option they will pick - especially as their hormones kick in during their tweenage and teenage years. This does not bode well for academic achievement or respect of elders. Even worse are the social consequences of anti-intellectualism and underachievement.

What is a Nerd?

According to Wikipedia the term nerd "refers to somebody who passionately pursues intellectual or esoteric interests such as books and video games rather than having a social life, participating in organized sports or other mainstream activities" (20). The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a nerd as an "unstylish, unattractive, or socially inept person; especially: one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits" (20). The relationship between a "nerd" and a "geek" is not nearly as clear: "[M]any use the words synonymously. Some view the geek as a less technically skilled nerd. Others view the exact opposite" (23).[1]

Eggerich suggests that the reason some kids are labeled as nerds is because they

are the ones who are the last to develop the self-consciousness of adolescence or, in other words, the last to grow up. The weird enthusiasms, the willingness to cooperate with adults, the lack of social skills--all these things seem nerdy and pathetic to sophisticated, self-conscious teenagers. (5)

However one defines a nerd, one thing is sure: "Nerds and geeks are, by definition, not jocks. Jocks are self-conscious, socially skilled, attractive, popular, and, of course, athletic, and nerds and geeks are none of these things" (27).

Anti-Nerd and Anti-Geek Prejudices

Although these categories are not watertight and suffer from severe oversimplification, Eggerich is concerned that the way our popular culture presents the contrast between nerd and jock has a harmful effect on our children. Children are like alien visitors, attempting to understand their culture and their place in the world. A part of their personal development includes dividing the world into categories and then giving the categories value. Eggerich is concerned that children - especially when they reach their teenage years - will choose attractive sexpot over intellectual achievement.

For this reason, Eggerich encourages us to not tolerate antinerd and antigeek prejudices. "Indeed, antinerd and antigeek prejudices are fascinating precisely because they are tolerated" (41).

Antinerd and antigeek prejudices are tolerated because they are seen as harmless, but they are not. They are bad for children, and they might be bad for our society as a whole, because they are recent incarnations of a very old American disease: anti-intellectualism. And anti-intellectualism, as I will argue, is very bad for children and even worse for our society as a whole. (42)

His concern is valid:

We act like it's all in good fun to communicate to our kids that people who are smart and do well in school and like science fiction and computers are also people who smell bad and look ugly and are so repulsive that they are not allowed to have girlfriends. And then we wonder why it's so hard to motivate kids to do well in school. (33)

To add to the problem, our culture extensively markets the distinction between attractive sexpot and intellectual nerd, and the call to be cool, sexy, and hip starts earlier than ever - in the tweens. "The tween experience is, first and foremost, a marketing phenomenon. Along about the early 1990s, marketers figured out something that parents had known all along: Younger siblings are in a hurry to act like teenagers" (171).

Take it from an admitted geek who desperately tried to fit in (and self-destructed in the process) and has finally embraced his inner geekdom: The toleration of making fun of nerds and geeks is not harmless fun but has serious consequences for our children and for our society. We must bear this in mind in order to oppose the oppressive influence of our consumer and hyper-sexualized culture.

---

Quotes excerpted from Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them - David Anderegg

© Richard J. Vincent, 2009