# 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:** 14\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/61 "2019-03-14T23:29:35Z")
> [@Alessan](#): > > People who found multi-billion dollar companies are rarely nice guys. Remember, while Gates, Jobs and Zuckerberg may have their issues, at least they’re not Henry Ford. Yes, but then again as Henry Ford would himself say, at least he’s not a Jew. What ? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2019, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/62 "2019-03-14T23:39:40Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > I’ve always felt that the distinction between “nerd” and “geek” is that nerds possess specialized, esoteric knowledge that’s actually useful. If you can write your own OS in Unix, you’re a nerd. If you can name every guest star who ever appeared on any iteration of Star Trek, you’re a geek. To me, it’s the opposite. Nerds possess a trove of knowledge and references (and, these days, skills), none of which applies to anything that would ever make them money ever. Nerds know the stats ofa Greater Shadow by heart, they can quote Vizzini’s logic to the letter, they’d know how to build a non-threatening robot using Asimov laws if only they knew thing one about electronics. Geeks on the other hand can jot down the Mendelbrot set by heart and know Pi to the 457th decimal. They can recite all 20 amino-acids and they never even went to med school, they just learned them for fun or because they were vaguely interested. It’s much less glamorous, and _really_ much less likely to get anyone interested at parties (_déjà que_…). OTOH, it might let them drive a rover on Mars or somesuch. The useless gits. Did any of the fuckers at NASA platinum _Dark Souls_, that’s what I wanna know. ---
**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 14, 2019, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/63 "2019-03-14T23:43:21Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > To me, it’s the opposite. Nerds possess a trove of knowledge and references (and, these days, skills), none of which applies to anything that would ever make them money ever. Nerds know the stats ofa Greater Shadow by heart, they can quote Vizzini’s logic to the letter, they’d know how to build a non-threatening robot using Asimov laws if only they knew thing one about electronics. > > Geeks on the other hand can jot down the Mendelbrot set by heart and know Pi to the 457th decimal. They can recite all 40 amino-acids and they never even went to med school, they just learned them for fun or because they were vaguely interested. It’s much less glamorous, and _really_ much less likely to get anyone interested at parties (_déjà que_…). OTOH, it might let them drive a rover on Mars or somesuch. The useless gits. Did any of the fuckers at NASA platinum _Dark Souls_, that’s what I wanna know. See, I think this is the wrong way around, because - as pointed out upthread - the origin of the term “geek” was the sideshow guys at travelling circuses who would bite the heads off live chickens. Which is a skill with only marginally more utility than knowing the name of all the Star Destroyers that appear in a Star Wars film. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/64 "2019-03-15T01:18:11Z")
Nerds are social outcasts, geeks are obsessives. But the Venn Diagram on this is huge. ---
**Author:** ![Isamu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/7c8e57/32.png) [@Isamu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Isamu)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/65 "2019-03-15T01:25:40Z")
> [@Kobal2](#): > > They can recite all 20 amino-acids . 22 ---
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/66 "2019-03-15T02:24:39Z")
> [@Isamu](#): > > 22 I identify as a nerd. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2019, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/67 "2019-03-15T13:17:29Z")
Meanwhile, **msmith537** is Poe-ing me hard in this thread. Is he being sincere, or making fun of the anti-nerd attitudes of others? ---
**Author:** ![Haldurson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/51bf81/32.png) [@Haldurson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haldurson)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/68 "2019-03-16T14:34:55Z")
I was a math and science nerd throughout grade school – later, when computers were readily available, I did become a computer nerd. I had one young woman in my neighborhood punch me because her mom would bug her and say things like ‘why can’t you be more like that kid down the block’ (meaning me). Later, I was bullied relentlessly in Jr. High, which did wonders for my happiness. It’s not being a nerd that makes nerds unhappy. It’s not being a nerd that makes nerds lack in social skills. It’s being forced to keep ones head down so that you aren’t noticed that does that. Fortunately, I got my revenge by getting a great job making a more than comfortable salary, and being treated with respect when I got older. On the other hand, the bullying and bad genes contribute to me to eventually have a complete breakdown later in life, so there’s that… And btw, I didn’t get into comic books until I was in college, and only because our campus coffeehouse (which was actually a large living room in a house converted into a coffeehouse) had tons of comic books all over the place. Sometimes you had to move the comics to find a place to sit down and eat. Also, they had these old pinball games, that if you dropped them just right, would give you free games, and an intellivision with all the games. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/69 "2019-03-16T15:20:20Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > So here’s a question - what’s the deal with the stereotypical “Silicon Valley tech startup office culture”? I have a phone interview tomorrow with an analytics company and to prepare, they asked me to watch a couple videos about their office. It was the typical mix of goofy 20-somethings dressed like slobs in T-shirts with the foosball tables and beer in the office and all of them jammed together surrounded by white boards covered in Post-it notes (Kanban I presume). > > Like why does every company that deal with computers or data adopt that style? Like they are trying to ease everyone into the working world by making their office look like the weird “quiet dorm” in college that all the frat guys used to throw eggs at. Other industries have smart people. They don’t dress like that. Well, aside from the fact that nerds seem to bother you way too much… I interviewed at ad agencies (in Seattle, though not sure that’s relevant), and noticed that as I moved up the ladder of talking to better and better agencies, and interviewing with Art Directors, then Creative Directors, VPs and owners, those higher on the food chain dressed sloppier (well, okay, more comfortably). If I could dress any way I wanted to, that’d be a big plus in choosing a workplace. Hmmm, if almost everyone is more comfortable in jeans, why are so many people willing to wear tight three-piece suits and clunky wingtips (oh, and ties constricting blood flow to their brains)? **msmith** , which ones are the “smart people” again? ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/70 "2019-03-16T16:21:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Meanwhile, **msmith537** is Poe-ing me hard in this thread. Is he being sincere, or making fun of the anti-nerd attitudes of others? Backslapping consulting bros and other linear warriors can eventually become bitter when they compare themselves to quadratic mages. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/71 "2019-03-16T19:55:34Z")
I’m not a nerd, Bart. Nerds are smart. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2019, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/72 "2019-03-16T20:22:19Z")
Cause and effect is wrong. If people are making their superheroes do what they want, but not their politicians, then it’s not because they only care about superheroes. It’s because they don’t have the power to change the politicians, so they instead change their fantasy. Superheroes are popular because the average person feels powerless. Not because nerds are more common. The same thing has happened before. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2019, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/73 "2019-03-17T02:50:05Z")
> [@bump](#): > > Yep, that’s how I always understood it. Someone like a Joe Mangianello can be a total D&D geek, but not be a nerd in the least bit. Geekery is more about passion in a specialized field- there are woodworking geeks, auto mechanic geeks (gearheads), baking geeks, etc… and it’s not a… state of being like nerdiness is. And someone can be a nerd and not even be a geek. > > Nerdiness is more about being socially awkward, and unconcerned/unaware of how they don’t fit into “normal” life. Generally this takes the form of being an academic type whose interests are not mainstream, and who just doesn’t care, or has no idea that they aren’t in the mainstream. Hi, My name is guestchaz, and I am an “ultimate nerd”. I work at a physically demanding job, awash in a vast sea of manly macho jock testosterone, where I don’t fit quite right because I like reading books and scifi movies more than sports. I don’t care that I don’t fit completely, I love the physical nature of my job. ---
**Author:** ![Eonwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eonwe/32/240_2.png) [@Eonwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eonwe)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2019, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977/74 "2019-03-23T19:20:23Z")
> [@msmith537](#): > > It’s not really “nerds” that bother me. It’s companies that seem to juvenilize their work force. Dressing casual and creativity are fine. I don’t want to work in a frat house. We share a similar preference. However, I’d note that boozing, gaming, (and womanizing) have a long tradition in management/business culture. It’s prevalence in modern offices is not the fault of a geek culture infiltration, but rather a natural downward extension of executive culture. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/nerds-are-smothering-american-culture/830977.md?page=3)