Why Are Nerds Unpopular?

[MrM]

Here is an interesting article about the issue of being a ‘nerd’ in Middle and High School. It mostly focuses on ‘smart’ kids, but I suspect this holds partially true to Gay kids too.

 

http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html

Edited April 25, 2018 by MrM

[Comicality]

 

I think it's just a way for kids to learn how to look down on one another, honestly. Sad, but true. The culture changes, so the appeal changes. I'm an 80's kid myself, and I can remember when playing Nintendo, reading comic books, role playing D&D, and watching anime...made you a nerd. A geek. An outcast. "Go play some football or something!" Nowadays, people spend all day on their computers, video games are a regular past time, comic book movies are the highest grossing films of all time, fantasy RPG open world games literally REMOVE players from the rest of society for weeks at a time, and anime plays on television three or four times a day! So, in that sense, the 'nerds' have taken over and become the cool kids.

 

But that doesn't mean that kids won't just find other reasons to cut somebody else down in order to feel taller. They'll search for SOMETHING to complain about. They have to. Too bad. It sounds exhausting...

[MrM]

5 hours ago, Comicality said:

 

I think it's just a way for kids to learn how to look down on one another, honestly. Sad, but true. The culture changes, so the appeal changes. I'm an 80's kid myself, and I can remember when playing Nintendo, reading comic books, role playing D&D, and watching anime...made you a nerd. A geek. An outcast. "Go play some football or something!" Nowadays, people spend all day on their computers, video games are a regular past time, comic book movies are the highest grossing films of all time, fantasy RPG open world games literally REMOVE players from the rest of society for weeks at a time, and anime plays on television three or four times a day! So, in that sense, the 'nerds' have taken over and become the cool kids.

 

But that doesn't mean that kids won't just find other reasons to cut somebody else down in order to feel taller. They'll search for SOMETHING to complain about. They have to. Too bad. It sounds exhausting...

 

Indeed.The article conveys the dynamic of how this very thing plays out with some interesting observations. 

I particularly like the angle of suburban schools becoming interment camps for teenagers while mom and dad are at work. I think that is DEAD on to todays style of administration. This lackluster style of administration is now backfiring horribly, in my opinion, in that out of control bullying is driving some very unstable teens to suicide or even murder! It's the 'law of the jungle' idea that is a theme touched on in our teen dramas and seems to resonate powerfully with readers. 

Edited April 26, 2018 by MrM