Please disregard my username for the duration of this question.
We have a new guy here at work who has caused me to think about the nature of the common “dork” and “nerd” stereotypes, and whether there may in fact be any genetic or physiological or non-social components.
This guy conforms to EVERY negative nerd stereotype I can think of. He’s obnoxious, wears wrinkled clothes and dirty glasses, has a loud nasal mumbling voice with nearly random emphasis on certain words (think Professor Frink). He’s short, out of shape, brays and snorts like a donkey, interrupts people, constantly makes weird movements with his head (looks like an iguana trying to swallow peanut butter or something), chews with his mouth open, and is generally clumsy.
Now, while I cannot claim to like him, and he does annoy me, I do respect him as a person, and have no doubt as to his qualifications for the job. He’s not arrogant or rude, merely incredibly annoying. But the way he acts has me seriously wondering if there’s some neurological condition that prevents him from displaying normal behaviour. Perhaps some sort of inability to mediate actions, which would explain his clumsiness, halting and jarring speech, and his driving (I am NEVER getting into his car again).
So, does anyone know of any genetic or neurological conditions which cause the sort of behaviours/symptoms commonly associated with nerdity?
I would just ask him “what is WRONG with you?”, but that may be taken the wrong way.
Well I would say that most likely he is a little depressed, suffers from some sort of anti-social personality disorder that lacks self criticism and his sense of self may be skewed from inherent non-social behaviors fostered in his youth.
I would venture to say he has no girlfriend, does not like going out, and his behaviors in the office stem from his anxiety caused from simply being in a place that is not nurturing to his personal self. his anxiety most likely manifests itself through obnoxious behavior, poor composure and general ilk.
I bet a girlfriend (or maybe boyfriend :eek: ) and a high dose of social-self-gratifying behavior he’d probably change. Why don’t you take him out and get him all cocked one night maybe he’ll open up a bit and you can find out what makes him tick… Only if you want to I suppose…
Well, you’d think so. But it seems he does have a girlfriend. And he doesn’t seem to be depressed at all. He’s quite talkative and friendly, to a fault sometimes.
In other words, he seems like a normal enough guy, except for his physical behaviour. I’m quite willing to accept that his fashion sense may be completely unrelated to the other stuff (we are programmers after all).
So basicaly, it seems he is simply not aware of himself and that he annoy’s people. Does he annoy others as well? If a random person off the street entered your office would they peg him as a dork right off the bat…
*incidently I do not like even using the word ‘dork’ but in this instance I see no way out of it…
An article in a recent Time magazine featured Asperger’s Syndrome, a disorder related to autism that manifests in social and behavioral impairment that looks a lot like what we culturally code as nerdy or geeky behavior. An article in Time that I think the link below links to calls Asperger’s Syndrome The Geek Syndrome. Google on Asperger’s Syndrome for other articles.
Absolutely. Then after hearing the stuff we talk about in the office, they’d label the rest of us too.
That Asperger’s syndrome was actually what I had in mind when I thought to start this thread, but I was focussing more on the physical than the social. It may be that he’s simply unaware of himself and surroundings and has developed weird behaviours on his own.
Oh well, I don’t like objectifying this particular case when I wanted to talk about the phenomenon of geekiness in general, specifically the traits so often exaggerated in portrayals of geeks in popular culture. Imagine Steve Urkel, or any of the nerdy kids from the Simpsons, or even the Revenge of the Nerds. Why is it that we associate particular physical characteristics with a social phenomenon, and why is it that it seems that there is sometimes a basis for this in reality?
Wow, I was just thinking about this a few weeks ago. My husband and I saw a guy walking down the sidewalk and he just screamed “geek” in so many ways. Being semi-geeky ourselves, my husband and I wondered why it is that some things just seem to crop up again and again amonsgt geeks.
My current harebrained theory about this is that a component of geekdom is a lack of body awareness. They are not in tune with how their body feels and looks. They just aren’t aware that they may walk and move differently, that their clothes fit differently, and so on. They don’t care about it because it’s just not really on their radar screen. So then we have to ask if geeks who take martial arts or work out lose this trait. Hmm. well, it’s my theory.
Actually, Cranky, lack of body awareness may be a big part of it.
Given that geeks tended to get stomped on a lot while growing up, we–er, I mean, ‘they’–would associate the body with pain and shame, and would try to ‘forget’ about it. And this would make them even less successful when puberty rolled around.
Me, I’ve been working out in various ways (physically, through therapy, etc) to compensate. So far, it seems to be working, so this seems in no way to be cast in stone… at least for the milder cases.
There are a number of physical traits described in the DSM on Asperger’s that certainly fit your description of your co-worker, like repetitive body movements, clumsiness, and impaired social skills. These physical behaviors most definitely have social ramifications: the perception that he’s a geek, dork, or nerd. I think you’re onto something more interesting, though, with wanting to draw connections between the real world geeks and their popular cultural representations. I was trying to discuss this with my father and did a piss-poor job, but I was trying to say that the two might reinforce each other.
It sounds a lot like what used to be called spasmodia. There were geeks, and then there were spazes. Spazes were rangy and hyperkinetic, spoke loudly and often through their upper teeth. Their mouths hung open, their arms swung more than was really necessary when they walked. They were sulky when their own feelings were hurt, but were often brusque and off putting with others, often casting around to see who else could be dismissed as a retardo. Some of them were very bright, and were often defended by the more understanding children on those grounds. Sadly, most of them were average to stupid, as were most of everybody.
Weird, you had to go to the web archive? Damnit I remember when it was new! LOL.
Annnyways.
Point By Point Rebuttal Time! Yaah!
<quote>Agenda For Change What to do if you’re perceived as a nerd and want to improve you social situation.
</quote>
Nope, proud of it! Yah!
Especially when I was in middle / high school. I was perceived as being a kind polite <i>respectful</i> human, and not just one of them dang kids.
<quote>Nerds and Intelligence Nerds put way too much stock in IQ.</quote>
Moved away from IQ awhile back, passe.
<quote> Attitude Toward Berms Some comments on how to look upon berms as a class.</quote>
Sure they are a class;
and so are cockroaches.
Quite frankly I have more respect for my Dog. . . .
Bleh. Jocks suck. Pure extroverts suck. Down with the Exos!
(odd how exoverts are the ones who are the most selfish and self centered. . . . . weird. )
<quote>Parents A few helpful hints about dealing with your parents, particularly your mom.</quote>
Luckily for me had times been different when she was growing up my mother likely would have been a Nerd or at least a Geek, so while she did not understand all that I was doing she at least understood why I wanted to do it.
<quote> Nerds and Denial Many nerds are in a state of denial that precludes progress.
</quote>
Admit you are a Nerd! More potential then the rest, get up off your ass and study!
(hey more potential does NOT mean anything unless you work with it! )
<quote> Women This probably won’t be easy.
</quote>
I <b>ALWAYS</b> hated it when non-Nerds tried to psychoanalyze us on this point.
They never seemed to realize that the reason most Nerds didn’t get laid was that;
::drum roll please::
<size=4>WE HAD BETTER THINGS TO DO IN SCHOOL THEN GET NOOKIE IN THE BATHROOM</SIZE>
Like, uh, oooh, say, ATTENDING CLASS.
Yeesh.
Or reading a book.
Or hell ANYTHING that does not involve potential STDs, unwanted pregnancy, and pissing of the Diety Of Your Choice (if applicable)
<quote> Fashions Dress to fit in. A key area.
</quote>
If you don’t care how some fuck faced group of jocks thinks about you, why should you bother with fashion?
You wouldn’t believe how much more I was able to learn in that extra hour or two a day I had freed up thanks to not caring so damn much about the physical world.
<quote> High School and Bullies Surviving high school is tough for a nerd, particularly because of bullies.
</quote>
Strangely enough only a few people where interested in f*cking with a ~6ft African American / Native American / Italian crossbreed.
Heh wonder why.
<quote> Judging Society Nerds tend to be quick to condemn society, and thus miss out on an awareness of its good points.
</quote>
Yes, like err, uh;
pop music.
Oh wait no, that doesn’t work.
Corporate corruption!
Aah, uh. No.
Corrupt Political Regimes!
Waaaaaait, defintly NOT a good thing.
Rape.
Nix that, BAD. What happens when ya give a hoot about the physical world. People unconcerned with carnal pleasures are FAR less likely to commit rape. Especially if they are at home studying. Seriously. Hard to rape somebody while you are reading a book.
Movies.
HehehehehahhahahohohohohOLOL!!!
Ok so RHPS was kick ass, but. . . .
-_-
Flowers.
Ah now there we go. Nice to know that so many of my fellow males where able to admit that they liked gardening.
Ah, what is that you say? Gardening is not and never has been a popular activity for high school aged males?
Too bad, don’t know what they are missing out on.
Poetry.
The Girls liked it. . . . ::sighs::
<quote> Enemies of Nerds We have enemies, who are they, and what are they like?
</quote>
Doesn’t really matter, Nerds have chemistry, and Chemistry has found SOOO many creative ways to make people suffer. . . .
Without getting caught. . . .
<quote> Ego and Growth A little amateur psychology.
</quote>
I am sorry, I was to busy putting in volunteer service hours and helping disabled children, could you repeat the question?
:rolleyes:
Seriously, after some point or another, damnit, I AM going to just fess up and admit that hell, I <i>am a better person then some loser who wastes his life on drugs and sex</i>.
Period.
He sucks.
I may still suck, <i>but at least it is to a lesser degree</i>.
<quote> Parties and Conversation Dealing with parties is a very difficult art form.
</quote>
Says who?
Nerds have no problem with parties with NERDS at them.
I am sure that a jock would have serious difficulties finding anything to do at a LAN party.
Heck I would even betcha that they wouldn’t bother going. . . .
Same way.
Since was never interested in listening to crappy Pop music or having premarital sex, I skipped the partying thing.
And any psychologists who say that is abnormal (or anybody else who says such for that matter) can go screw themselves.
<quote> History of Nerds What were we doing 100 years ago, and how did we get where we are now?
</quote>
Once again, do not confuse lack of interest with lack of skill.
Some Nerds do indeed TRY for a brief period of time to be cool;
but it is hard to be something that involves shutting down most cognitive functions of your brain and buying useless shit on impulse when you are used to thinking about things before you do them and spending your money wisely.
<quote> Fairness and Objectivity An important distinction.
</quote>
In all fairness the jocks should be round up in shot;
but because I am objective I’d let’em work in the slave mines instead. . . .
***DISCLAIMER
I am NOT really <b>quite</b> that extremist, but I have always gotten annoyed with people who do not recognize that the ONLY reasons that I <i>do not</i> participate in their foolish little games are that:
A: Horribly predictable. My dog has more originality of action then most people tend to.
B: Common Sense. Spending exorbitant amounts of money on something just because I am supposed to because society says so is, err;
uh;
<size=100>STUPID AS {censored}</size>
C: Better things to do with my time. Things to learn. For some of us it is diseased to cure, others mathematical quandaries to solve, for yet some again new secrets of the universe to discover.
Seems to me to be a damned lot more important then the superbowl. . . . or other minor sports events.
About sums it up, albeit with arseloads of swearing.
Not the most eloquent way to get my point across, but at least this way I am sure that everybody got it.
I don’t remember the concept of “nerd” being common back when I was in HS, but I was definitely within the parameters. I didn’t have any trouble with bullies, primarily because I used to help one of the football jocks with his math homework. Anyone who wanted to mess with me had to deal with “Tenth-Ton Tony” first.
