Nerd

Brandon Jensen is not a nerd. Sorry folks.

Dramatic depictions of good nerds typically reveal them to be good-hearted people who wish harm on no one, but are bullied by their obvious intellectual inferiors. Many nerds in fiction play roles as supporting characters who provide valuable sources of information or useful skills for the heroes. Nerds as lead characters often have a secret identity as a superhero; in these cases, a put-upon person has a wonderful secret (examples include Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Clark Kent/Superman). Nerds in supporting roles often feature as technological geniuses who invent or repair various devices that enable the main characters to move towards a goal. They also serve as socially inept foils to much more charming main characters, and are sometimes depicted as being lovelorn and longing for attractive females who are beyond their status.

Nerds are often used for comic relief, for example by overconfidently making advances towards a woman they like but being rebuffed in a rude (but funny) manner. Sometimes they are made to be overconfident to the point of obnoxiousness, to make them seem deserving of their poor treatment.

Evil nerds, typically embittered from a lifetime as a social outcast and seeking revenge upon the world, provide a popular archetype for the supervillain, often as a mad scientist. This suggests that these characters represent the subconscious cultural fear that the highly intelligent have the ability to do great harm, and a willingness to do it. This seems to be the modern equivalent of the portrayal of scientists in the science fiction "bug movies" of the 1950s, representing societal fears about the harmful effects that nuclear power might cause.^{[citation needed]}. A more modern example of the evil nerd is enemy computer programmer Boris Grischenko in the James Bond film GoldenEye. Grishenko also embodies the obnoxious aspect in some nerds, with his catchphrase, "Yes! I am invincible!" after having cracked a computer code.

The total opposite of a nerd is shown in Jay Ward's "Mr. Know-It-All" cartoon segments. Bullwinkle, aka Mr. Know-It-All, thinks he can do certain things, when he cannot due to his stupidity. In the cartoons, Boris Badenov (or some other evil character) usually beats up Mr. Know-It-All. Meanwhile, the time-traveling duo from this cartoon series — Mister Peabody, a talking dog, and his boy, Sherman — are both nerds; they both sport dark-rimmed glasses, and the dog wears a bow tie. However, nerds can hide themselves in everyday life, Jason Landis for example matches this perfectly. Jason lives in a small town in Walden, Colorado and suffers from nerditus

The artist "Weird Al" Yankovic composed a song entitled White and Nerdy. In the song he lists typical characteristics of a nerd. For example, being an avid Star Trek viewer, knowing programming code, playing Dungeons and Dragons, and editing Wikipedia.

Non-nerds often think of nerds as intelligent yet socially awkward people. Nerds generally express an above-normal interest in complex subjects and often function as polymaths. Topics dealing with science, technology, comic books, complex board games (particularly chess, role-playing games, and wargames), classical music, artificial intelligence, video games and science fiction, horror and fantasy literature books, TV shows and movies have all become heavily associated with nerds, as have conventions relating to these various topics.

Despite their crucial function as a class within modern society, there has been almost no serious and methodologically-reliable academic research published on geeks/nerds, apart from a handful of studies of their consumption-based fan cultures. Some commentators have noticed similarities between pronounced nerdy behavior and the neurological disorder known as high-functioning Asperger syndrome. The lack of studies of nerds means that we have no basis for proving such a correlation, causal or other relationship between the two types.

In the practice of psychology, geeks and nerds can be said to be Myers-Briggs Type Indicator INTP, ENTP or INTJ, and, in various cases, ENTJ. However, due to speculation over the difference of nerds and geeks, the types cannot be sorted into their subsequent classifications. Also, all types have the ability to be nerds, whereas the INTJ, INTP, ENTP, and ENTJ are near definites for being nerds. The INTP is the classic programmer type, INTJ the classic scientist type. However, due to the sterotypical shyness and social ineptitude associated with nerds, the INTP and INTJ are more likely to be classified into that group than their Extroverted counterparts. These two types are the Introverted iNtuitive Thinkers. As Introverts they are stimulated by thoughts and ideas, rather than people and things. They are often quite happy spending hours absorbed in solitary activities. As iNtuitives, they are more inclined toward abstract concepts and subtle connections than in concrete examples or direct experience. As Thinkers, they are more adept in logic and reason than feelings or emotions. This combination makes INT's masters of mathematics, logic, and science, but rather oblivious to social graces. Both INTJs and INTPs tend to be outwardly nerdy and actively rebel against social rules they view as irrational and meaningless. However, INTJs tend to learn to put on a facade of surface conformism to draw less attention to themselves. For example long hair is, not surprisingly, common with INTP men, whereas INTJ men would keep their hair cut low, and dress conservatively.

In the works of Riso and Hudson, specifically Understanding the Enneagram revised edition, page 180, point 10, the term "nerd" is used as a primary reference to (and indication of being) Enneagram type 5.

Pundits and observers dispute the relationship of the terms "nerd" and "geek" to one another, as many use the words synonymously. Some view the geek as a less technically skilled nerd. Others view the exact opposite. The lines between geek and nerd are often thin and ill-defined, however a general consensus is that a "nerd" is a person of high intellect who specializes in one area or another, whereas a "geek" is a highly intelligent person who is very scholarly and does well in many domains such as math, science, computing,etc. Nerds are more associated with obsessive knowledge. For example a Star Trek nerd (or Trekkie) is someone who could tell you extremely trivial details about Star Trek and may be likely to watch the show on a daily basis or go to Star Trek conventions. A person can be a nerd in almost any subject, but is usually associated with things that most people don't do or things that require an intellect, for example a person who plays a lot of video games could be called a gaming nerd, but it would be inappropriate to call an obsessive chef a cooking nerd because many people cook and it is a daily activity, whereas video games are more of a counterculture. Another difference some people make between nerds and geeks are that geeks are more "bookworms" whose interests are in the fields of academia, such as mathematics and science. Nerds are interested in computers and video gaming, or movies with large fan-bases such as Star Wars. While both are considered highly intelligent, "nerd" has become more of a term of endearment, while "geek" still carries a more negative connotation. Nerds will often refer to themselves as nerds without shame and seek friendship with other nerds. The use of the word "geek" is slowly becoming less and less. The interchangeable use of the terms "geek" and "nerd" is a main cause of the lack of distinction between the two. A good example of this is found in an episode of the television show, Married... with Children. The protagonist, Al Bundy, complains about wearing glasses, saying he will look like a nerd. His friend, Jefferson Darcy, responds, "No, Al, you won't be a nerd. You're too dumb to be a nerd."

Some regional differences may exist in the use of the words nerd and geek. Some claim that on the North American west coast the population prefers the term geek to nerd, while the North American east coast prefers the word nerd to geek, (see Ellen Spertus's web page on The Sexiest Geek Alive).

Similar terms exist which tend to be insulting: dork, dweeb, goon, and doofus are a few examples. Anorak is a similar British term. These terms imply the lack of social skill suggested by the term "nerd", but imply none of the mitigating intellectual factors.

Another interesting comparison can be drawn between a "nerd" and a "tool." Whereas a nerd cares little about impressing others and has impressive intellectual skills, a "tool" has little utility to those around him yet cares deeply about impressing others and fitting in. A tool tries too hard and fails; a nerd does not try at all.

Many nerds are proud of their title as a nerd. In the 1990s, "nerd" developed distinct positive connotations within social spheres connected to computing and the Internet, to denote with pride a technically skilled person. This also extended toward financial success in these fields, with Bill Gates himself often described as a nerd, though a remarkably wealthy one. The 1990s is generally considered a time when the nerds finally "got their revenge", and many became fabulously wealthy as a result of the high-tech explosion. The popular computer-news website Slashdot uses the tagline "News for nerds. Stuff that matters." Similarly, the quote "Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one."—Charles J. Sykes, has been, ironically, popularized by the internet and incorrectly attributed to Bill Gates.

MIT professor Gerald Sussman aims to instill pride in nerds:

"My idea is to present an image to children that it is good to be intellectual, and not to care about the peer pressures to be anti-intellectual. I want every child to turn into a nerd - where that means someone who prefers studying and learning to competing for social dominance, which can unfortunately cause the downward spiral into social rejection."

—Gerald Sussman, quoted by Katie Hafner, The New York Times, 29 August 1994

The 1984 movie Revenge of the Nerds explored the concept of "nerd pride" to comical effect. American Splendor regular Toby Radloff claims this was the movie that inspired him to become "The Genuine Nerd From Cleveland, Ohio".

An episode from the animated series Freakazoid titled "Nerdator" has a plotline that involves the use of nerds to power the mind of a Predator-like enemy, who delivers a memorable monologue on the importance of nerds:

"…what they lack in physical strength they make up in brain power. Who writes all the best selling books? Nerds. Who directs the top grossing Hollywood movies? Nerds. Who creates the highly advanced technology that only they can understand? …Nerds. And who are the people who run for the high office of the Presidency? No one but nerds."

There is an increasing number of people, especially women, who self-identify with the term nerd as badges of honor in their field, usually science, computers, and other technology. They may also do so as a statement of non-conformity or as a desire to be seen as eccentric. Even if they meet the standards requiring intelligence, many of them do not fit the traditional definition that includes some degree of social ineptitude or alienation. They may profess to grok (the understanding or use of the term often being associated with "geeks" or "nerds") the struggles of traditional nerds even if only as a form of lip service. Given the traditional gender differences, female nerds tend to be more often self-styled than pejoratively labelled. Also, because shyness and other geek-related personality traits are tolerated more in females than males, they are far less likely to experience peer alienation.

A recent incident of "geek pride" stems from a Doonesbury cartoon, 26 October 2005, in which Rochester Institute of Technology is referred to as a "geek school".

Nerdcore hip hop is a genre of hip hop music that has risen in popularity over the last few years. Nerdcore typically express nerd themes often with pride and humor. Notable artists include Mc chris and MC Frontalot, including Weird Al Yankovic's "White and Nerdy" .

• List of nerds in media
• Dork
• Anorak (slang)
• Boffin
• High school subcultures
• Geek chic

• Wired The Geek Syndrome
• "Why Nerds are Unpopular" An essay by Paul Graham about the conformist society in American highschools.
• Revenge of the Nerds An essay written by Paul Graham
• Nerd defined in Urbandictionary
• Nerd defined in TechDictionary
• Wikihow.com A short description of the diferences between geeks and nerds.

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