# Nerds are Smothering American Culture!! **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 11, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977 "2019-03-11T23:30:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/1 "2019-03-11T23:30:39Z")
For those of us who like Superhero movies too much: > [@](#): > > …a crucial general point about nerds: they are not happy people. There were good reasons why there was a stigma around being a nerd; those who loved stories about dragons and superheroes into adulthood tended to be nebbish, poorly-tailored and sexually inadequate. They needed to escape into fantasy worlds because the real world was brutal, cruel and completely uninterested in playing tabletop wargames. [https://spectator.us/nerds-american-culture/](https://spectator.us/nerds-american-culture/) “It is a morbid sign for a democracy when the electorate chooses superheroes to do its bidding, rather than politicians” > [@](#): > > The nerds have taken over Hollywood, America and the world. It wasn’t just superheroes either. Zombies, androids, vampires, wizards, aliens, werewolves, intergalactic sagas, Lego, H.P. Lovecraft, Tolkien, board games based on TV shows – though these things were never unpopular per se, they always belonged to children, or to people at the lonelier fringes of the culture. Now they are the culture. Will Lloyd is clearly not of the Body. He must be Absorbed. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/2 "2019-03-11T23:36:49Z")
> [@](#): > > Nerds are Smothering American Culture!! Well, we’re trying. A bigger pillow and a steadier hand would help, but I think if we act positively we can get there in no time at all! ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/3 "2019-03-11T23:40:04Z")
[I’m the One That’s Cool](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-qDYU92WuZ0) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2019, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/4 "2019-03-11T23:57:50Z")
> [@](#): > > The wholesale nerdification of America began when the certainties and comforts of the 1990s gave way to the pessimism and paranoia of the post-9/11 world. > [@](#): > > The bleak worldview of the traditional nerd – quietly seething, victimized, powerless, friendless, obsessed and solaced by trivia, disenchanted with the authorities and institutions that fail to protect them from predatory bullies – has become the worldview of many Americans. How old is this guy? “Pessimism and paranoia” have been around for decades. “Disenchantment with authorities and institutions” has been around since the Revolution. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/5 "2019-03-12T00:59:48Z")
I’ll take a WAG that fantasy football, pro wrestling fandom, and obsession with baseball statistics don’t count as the same kind of sad nerd culture to this writer. (And if nerds weren’t happy people at school it might have had something to do with certain sociopathic effers who felt that the nerd’s activities were worthless.) ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/6 "2019-03-12T01:35:32Z")
> [@](#): > > …a crucial general point about nerds: they are not happy people. There were good reasons why there was a stigma around being a nerd; those who loved stories about dragons and superheroes into adulthood tended to be nebbish, poorly-tailored and sexually inadequate. They needed to escape into fantasy worlds because the real world was brutal, cruel and completely uninterested in playing tabletop wargames. I resent that. I’ve been told I’m adequate. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/7 "2019-03-12T01:49:12Z")
> [@](#): > > …a crucial general point about nerds: they are not happy people. Historically in the US, the only happy people have been evil people. The bullies, the bigots, the thugs, the fanatics, the rapists, the slaveowners, the plutocrats. So I’ll take that as a compliment. And what’s actually “smothering” American culture is copyright law, as it’s rendered the great majority of it inaccessible as it falls into a legally mandated memory hole and vanishes. If you don’t like modern culture and wish you could see something else, the reason you can’t is because most things not recently published have been crushed under the steamroller of copyright and effectively erased. Not “nerds”. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/8 "2019-03-12T01:54:25Z")
Clearly he’s totally off base. I’m nebbish, poorly-tailored and sexually inadequate and I don’t care about stories about dragons and superheroes. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/9 "2019-03-12T01:59:26Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > I’ll take a WAG that fantasy football, pro wrestling fandom, and obsession with baseball statistics don’t count as the same kind of sad nerd culture to this writer. Heck, throw in NASCAR fandom. I’m unclear why _fictional_ victories (i.e. of a superhero over a villain) are “smothering” while _meaningless_ victories (i.e. of a sports-ball team over another) are somehow… not. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/10 "2019-03-12T02:03:20Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > I’ll take a WAG that fantasy football, pro wrestling fandom, and obsession with baseball statistics don’t count as the same kind of sad nerd culture to this writer. > > (And if nerds weren’t happy people at school it might have had something to do with certain sociopathic effers who felt that the nerd’s activities were worthless.) Hear, hear! Well spoken, Bruce! ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/11 "2019-03-12T02:11:18Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Heck, throw in NASCAR fandom. I’m unclear why _fictional_ victories (i.e. of a superhero over a villain) are “smothering” while _meaningless_ victories (i.e. of a sports-ball team over another) are somehow… not. It’s the same principle as how rock and roll leads to Satanism & drugs, but country music is beyond reproach; it’s all about who listens to it. ---
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/12 "2019-03-12T02:29:16Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > How old is this guy? “Pessimism and paranoia” have been around for decades. “Disenchantment with authorities and institutions” has been around since the Revolution. I guess it’s only OK when counter-culture types do it. Man. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/13 "2019-03-12T02:31:00Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Clearly he’s totally off base. I’m nebbish, poorly-tailored and sexually inadequate and I don’t care about stories about dragons and superheroes. And I care intensely about dragons and superheroes, and I’m a goddamned sexual dynamo. Still nebbish and poorly dressed, though. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/14 "2019-03-12T03:11:42Z")
this is pretty much the bill maher argument just more broadly applied … ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/15 "2019-03-12T03:20:28Z")
Jocks play sports. Old jocks watch young jocks play sports. Nerds create. Old nerds still create while helping young nerds create. Of course nerds dominate American culture. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/16 "2019-03-12T04:17:08Z")
> [@](#): > > Obama, with typical glibness, had forgotten a crucial general point about nerds: they are not happy people. None of the guys I pushed into the mud or threw their books in the creek laughed even once! ---
**Author:** ![Royal\_Nonesutch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecb155/32.png) [@Royal\_Nonesutch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Royal_Nonesutch)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/17 "2019-03-12T04:23:02Z")
> [@Der\_Trihs](#): > > Historically in the US, the only happy people have been evil people. Huh, go figure, as your contributions here strike me as coming from a happy, well-adjusted, balanced person, doubtless with a wealth of close, supportive friends and a thriving, fulfilling professional career and personal life. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/18 "2019-03-12T04:26:55Z")
I thought the “nerds” could still be serious scholars, whereas the “geeks” are the ones obsessed with cars, video games, comics, or anything not sufficiently mainstream or important. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/19 "2019-03-12T05:13:43Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > How old is this guy? “Pessimism and paranoia” have been around for decades. “Disenchantment with authorities and institutions” has been around since the Revolution. Aren’t those among the biggest factors in “people moving from the UK to what would eventually become the US”, as well? Did the people who invented the stories of St George and the Dragon, or of the Dragon of Aralar, play tabletop games? ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2019, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/20 "2019-03-12T09:14:52Z")
Nerds are not happy people? I rarely see Bill Gates without a huge smile. Professional journalists, now _those_ are some unhappy people. And no wonder, with nerds making more of them redundant! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977.md?page=2)