James Franco article.. What is a nerd?

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http://www.vice.com/read/some-impressions-are-you-a-nerd



What is a nerd? Are nerds the new cool? That’s what people have been asking ever since video games started making more money than movies. But the reality of nerds is much different than how the media portrays it, as evidenced by American Nerd: The Story of My People. In the book, author Benjamin Nugent explores his own childhood of Dungeons & Dragons, video games, awkward interactions in the schoolyard, and confrontations with jocks to get to the bottom of nerdhood.

Nugent’s thesis is that nerds tend to resemble computers, meaning they are more comfortable with rules and systems they can depend on rather than tacit cues that transpire during social interactions between people. There is even a chapter that compares the general attributes of nerds with those of people with Asperger’s syndrome: an inability to understand body language and facial expressions, odd ticks, awkward behavior, a dependence on predefined conditions, etc.

The schoolyard, where the jocks are usually the most popular, is many times where nerdom is defined. This is the cult of the physical—the cult of sports—which is the cult of the primitive. When the American rural landscape shifted into clusters around cities, and the agrarian world gave way to the industrial world, there was a need for independence from the machinelike routines of the factory. Sports were a way to create spheres in which men could compete and prove their superiority to one another, even if their work lives were full of subjugation.

If the dichotomy of jocks versus nerds is the physical versus the mental, then are nerds the new cool in this information age when every teen worth his or her salt is social-network friendly? Of course we still revere and pay big money for our sports, but this seems a somewhat conservative obsession, a preoccupation with the earthly when we are already in a world that is posthuman. We spend half our days, half our lives, looking at screens, hooked up to the digital realm—the realm of the nerds.

One thing about high school that I realized after I was no longer in school was how much it resembled a gladiator’s arena. Unless you go to a specialized school where everyone is there because they want to learn a specific thing or in a specific way, you are more or less thrown into a pit with a bunch of people who often share little in common, other than age and hometown. I went to a very good public school, and although we didn’t practice hagiography on our athletes to the point that mothers were maiming rival daughters to ensure their daughters a place on the cheerleading squad, we came pretty close. Our basketball team won the state championship in ’93, and hell, Jeremy Lin attended my school (Palo Alto High School) a decade after me.

Jocks have all the confidence because they are the most visibly successful. Young creative types, or young scholars usually don’t have much to show for their labors as teenagers, and if they do, it is not as flashy as strutting across the playing field in front of the entire school.

If nerds can’t compete in the social scenes of the high school halls or weekend parties because they don’t understand the rules of such interactions, or don’t have the social capital to make any inroads with people of the opposite sex, it is no wonder that they escape to worlds of fantasy where rules are strictly codified: role-playing games, video games, television shows, etc. In such fantasies the outcasts who can’t compete in reality can engage in worlds where the playing field is evened; everyone is an avatar. Instead of living the reality of a five-foot-tall shrimp, you can suddenly transform into an alien-blasting warrior from the future with a gun as phallic as Michael Fassbender, or you can be an Orc-smashing warrior with the stature of Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson, and it’s all by the role of the die. These are enterprises with clear rules that can't or won’t be changed, unlike the social world where everything is relative and missed cues or false moves can leave one at the bottom of the popular ladder.

But doesn’t everyone play video games now? Isn’t everyone on a social network? And is the rise of the hipster actually the rise of the nerd? Hipsters, at least some kinds of hipsters, are defined by their love and pursuit of retro activities: old trends, old music, old movies, old art. This retreat to a former age is a way to pull out of the competitive race of the present. It is a way to say, “I don’t want to have to keep up with all the trends. I accept my uncoolness as cool. I have something I can depend on because it’s from the past and I’m not buying into mass-market trends.” So who, exactly, are the nerds now? The ones blazing the trail of new technology? The ones checking out and forming new subcultures of fantasy? In a world where everyone has an avatar on Facebook, what is now fantasy and what is real? We do all live with simulacra and the jocks who play local games on a field for friends and parents seem small compared with the worldwide competitions between World of Warcraft players on the international web.

There is also a racist underbelly to the jock-nerd dynamic that I don’t want to get into too much. All I’ll say is that the way that humanity is defined is in contrast either to animals (i.e., we have more intelligence and choice) or computers (i.e, we have more emotions and spontaneity) serves the purpose of maintaining Caucasian superiority. Even if the nerdy Jews or Asians clearly pave the way for the future of human interaction and existence, they will still be seen as socially inept in one way or another, because when the white race—the heteronormative race—sees itself lacking in one way or another, it will just shift the lens of perception so that it can both denigrate the competition and gain materially from the work of others.
 
He made some pretty good points.. Especially towards the end, that underbelly of racism, could be all that schools about.. Or life.. Raise these sheep nd see who comes out stronger or smarter, then they get the big bucks to keep the economy moving.. Like jcole said the chains invisible, we all slaves now.. Or something like that.. Good article READ
 
It's clear he wasn't a cool kid in Highschool. He makes some points, biggest being, you are who you were in Highschool, you were a "loser" then, now you're a "loser" with money and fame. Doesn't change the feelings of inferiority that emit from your very pores.

"you can try to change but thats just the top layer, man you was who you was 'fore you got here." - Jay z.
 
True.. But I wonder what reality society believes in.. We're the 'nerds' right? Or we're the 'cool' kids right? We gotta coexist eventually to keep he ball rolling, but I know of me I saw both sides of it.. From a kid with glasses who got no love, to basically superman when the glasses came off.. Kids are just following the footsteps of their parents, so the materialistic believe js, girls nd money is everything, while other kids just want to enjoy simple things.. There's always the social outcast that wants burn things up.. But we all bump heads because of the different realities we live in.. The perception of life in general should really be something we educate our kids in..
 
There is also a racist underbelly to the jock-nerd dynamic that I don’t want to get into too much. All I’ll say is that the way that humanity is defined is in contrast either to animals (i.e., we have more intelligence and choice) or computers (i.e, we have more emotions and spontaneity) serves the purpose of maintaining Caucasian superiority. Even if the nerdy Jews or Asians clearly pave the way for the future of human interaction and existence, they will still be seen as socially inept in one way or another, because when the white race—the heteronormative race—sees itself lacking in one way or another, it will just shift the lens of perception so that it can both denigrate the competition and gain materially from the work of others.There is also a racist underbelly to the jock-nerd dynamic that I don’t want to get into too much. All I’ll say is that the way that humanity is defined is in contrast either to animals (i.e., we have more intelligence and choice) or computers (i.e, we have more emotions and spontaneity) serves the purpose of maintaining Caucasian superiority. Even if the nerdy Jews or Asians clearly pave the way for the future of human interaction and existence, they will still be seen as socially inept in one way or another, because when the white race—the heteronormative race—sees itself lacking in one way or another, it will just shift the lens of perception so that it can both denigrate the competition and gain materially from the work of others.

Quoted for mother ******g TRUTH.
 
I always like reading the stuff Franco writes. Dude is very lucid and always has well-thought out arguments.
 
Yea, he's pretty open minded in the points he makes.. He sees things for what they are, tells you about it, then rides off to kill Spider-Man lol..
 
:lol:

Good article. When I was in high school, being nerdy or dorky was seen as a weakness. Not sure that still stands today. Just look at his bro's movie, 21 Jump Street, being different or nerdy is more acceptable today and Jonah/Channing didn't get that.
 
:lol:

Good article. When I was in high school, being nerdy or dorky was seen as a weakness. Not sure that still stands today. Just look at his bro's movie, 21 Jump Street, being different or nerdy is more acceptable today and Jonah/Channing didn't get that.

nah, nerds still exist, and are still shunned. The nerds were the kids in the chem lab tatum ran into. The other kids were still cool, but liked weird things. =/= nerd
 
nah, nerds still exist, and are still shunned. The nerds were the kids in the chem lab tatum ran into. The other kids were still cool, but liked weird things. =/= nerd

True but they were accepted later on in the movie, sorta. It's better than it used to be, or maybe I'm just older now and forgot. :nerd:
 
Well, what is a nerd, really?

I see nerds as intelligent individuals who lack style and social skills. They don't understand social cues, so conversations with them feel unnatural and awkward.
 
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Well, what is a nerd, really?

I see nerds as intelligent individuals who lack style and social skills. They don't understand social cues, so conversations with them feel unnatural and awkward.

the thing is, people are different. Its just that alot of people dont take the time to learn how to talk to different people. For example, I can talk sports with the guys, but I also dont feel lost if I have to talk about computers, gaming, etc. Those conversations get awkward when people dont have a broad view of alot of things.

its why you see a bunch of nerdy people acting perfectly normal when they are with each other. They dont lack social skills, its just hard to talk to somebody who doesnt share anything in common with you.

and the style thing is subjective. Everybody has their own style
 
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There's no shift in what's cool. A high school nerd with a 4.0 and a grip of AP courses on his transcript WITH SWAG has and will always be cool. If you have any game and can tell high school fillies you're headed to an Ivy it's a wrap. The quiet and shy beta nerds aren't social rejects because they're a nerd, they're social rejects because they don't know how to talk and or lack confidence so they have zero social status. OF COURSE the high school quarterback at a powerhouse or the slacker with the molly connect are gonna get buns, but the "nerd" with swag will be able to bag NHS slams down to football groupies and everything in between if he wanted. It's not like ONLY the popular jocks are smashing, there's a lot of NHS creepers knocking down fillies.
 
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There's no shift in what's cool. A high school nerd with a 4.0 and a grip of AP courses on his transcript WITH SWAG has and will always be cool. If you have any game and can tell high school fillies you're headed to an Ivy it's a wrap. The quiet and shy beta nerds aren't social rejects because they're a nerd, they're social rejects because they don't know how to talk and or lack confidence so they have zero social status. OF COURSE the high school quarterback at a powerhouse or the slacker with the molly connect are gonna get buns, but the "nerd" with swag will be able to bag NHS slams down to football groupies and everything in between if he wanted. It's not like ONLY the popular jocks are smashing, there's a lot of NHS creepers knocking down fillies.

but is the nerd with swag really a nerd? or just a cool person that happens to be smart ?

but I agree with the bolded. A very pretty girl with the same issues gets sort of a pass because shes pretty. She could be jsut as socially awkward.
 
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Good article and the last paragraph about racism is so on point but I can't help but think of Freaks & Geeks with Franco's character playing D&D when reading him talking about nerds.
 
Every idiot that read Harry Potter calls themselves a nerd these days. If you don't have a 3.8 GPA or higher, and like don't know how to code you're not a nerd. Nerd doesn't mean what it used to. "OMG I'm such a nerd with my hipster glasses and my Great Gatsby book." ...Has a 3.0 at school, plays on tumblr and twitter all day
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Nerd with a mouthpiece has never had trouble getting buns, believe that.
 
I don't know man, I doubt the nerds at my old HS were getting cheerleader buns :lol:

If nerds are getting buns, they're getting it from their fellow female nerds.

Honestly though, being a nerd will serve you much better throughout your life. What I've learned is that you'll get cooler as you get older and go through more experiences. It's possible to change, so I don't agree that if you're a nerd, you're a nerd forever.
 
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Franco wrote that??

Not bad.

Ohh...and you can change,people change all the time b.
 
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