

Why nerds are unpopular? - gcmalloc
http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html

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blasdel
Even now this is probably the single worst essay PG has ever published, and
he's written some stinkers.

Nerds weren't unpopular in school because _they were actually even cooler than
everyone else_ , and didn't want to waste their time stooping to everyone
else's debased level of communication and friendship. That's an absurd
fantasy.

Nerds are unpopular in forced social settings like secondary schools _because
they're huge assholes_ , the kind of people that even 25 years later write
essays about how really it was everybody else's fault that nobody got along
with them.

Very few nerds come to understand this, the only media I've seen that gets it
right was this: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reunion_(30_Rock)>

~~~
jamesaguilar
As one of those nerds who didn't get along with people as well as I wished in
high school, I am kind of dreading the reunion. I have had a few awkward get-
togethers with people I knew as a child before who remember me in ways I wish
they didn't, but high school reunions are on a different scale. On the other
hand, in some ways I relish the chance to show folks that I'm not the same as
I was.

~~~
arctangent
I'm assuming you're from the US and that attending a school reunion is a big
deal. But as a non-US person who didn't even attend his university graduation
ceremony I urge you not to go if the idea bothers you in the slightest. Who
gives a damn about those people you went to school with? Look forward to your
future and all the interesting people you will meet there.

~~~
jamesaguilar
I give a damn about the people I went to school with. Sometimes it's possible
for aspects of good experiences to be uncomfortable. C.f. the nervousness of a
groom on his wedding day, or the experience of a soon-to-be-mother as she goes
into labor.

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gte910h
People who self identify as nerds never nerded out on being likable and
sociable. They're skills that are easy to learn as anything is.

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uvTwitch
I'd wager it also has much to do with nerds not knowing how to be 'dumb', and
thus, not being able to forge meaningful connections with people of lesser
mental capacity.

Having interests and vocabularies that are alienating to people who struggle
to keep up can often do just that.

~~~
eropple
...or it has a great deal to do with "nerds" acting like what you posited has
any real basis in reality.

Even 'dumb' people can smell a douche from a mile away. Probably better than
the socially ill-equipped "nerds".

~~~
jamesaguilar
The other issue, at least at my school, was there were at least as many smart,
non-nerd people as nerds. And nerds could be real fools. But nerds definitely
have a habit of overestimating how smart they are compared to other people.

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benatkin
Repost of an old essay; Yahoo Answers style title. We can do better than this.

