Nerds

[guessing at the star rating / mining my old FB notes now that they are almost impossible to find]

I found a lot to like in this easy to read book.
In contrast to The Authenticity Hoax, the author has a premise and continually references it as he builds his evidence. his tone becomes a little too casual/hip towards the end (sort of emulating his disliked 'man of conversation') but i learned alot from this psychologist:

the nerd/geek stereotype is a luxury that is related to how long a culture has been literate

in 2004, the US graduated more sport-exercise majors than electrical engineers

a study asked kids what superpowers they'd like and categories appeared: aggressive kids wanting to blow things up, socially isolated (read nerdy) kids wanted to be invisible or fly, and popular kids wanted powers that were more like adolescent projections of themselves: to be the best at cheerleading, to have the power of the coolest car.

popular kids always have nicknames and it's a quick way to put someone else at ease. in fact this is how george bush got the press on side, he gave them all nicknames and made them feel a part of his inner circle

with the trend of older boys and men participating in beauty culture (the yoke of women for ages) the same sexism toward smart is NOT sexy is now reaching the males of society

America was founded on the premise of the rejection of Europe (seen as a 'man of thinking') for the new frontier and the 'man of action'. lately you could say America now values the 'man of conversation' because social skills seem to play such a dominant role in business, politics, entertainment

every decade has it's mental illness du jour and aspergers seems to be this one's. but the label is applied widely and falsely when someone doesn't meet arbitrary social requirements. look at bill gates who's been labelled aspergy: married with children, wide circle of friends, hugely successful, but unable to look into someone's eyes for long enough... that alone gives him the aspergy label

until 1973 homosexuality was seen as a mental illness for goodness sake. the decision of what is a disorder and what is normal changes as time goes on. labelling what threatens you as a mental illness is a passive aggressive act

more than ever, we are a visual society. most college students will identify Freud as an old man with a cigar (because that is the photo in the book) and (get this!) will discount his theories based on his decrepit age. meanwhile, Freud was a young man when he was most productive

and now the main thrust of the book: children.

children are being exposed to this word 'nerd' and nerd bashing and it's happening earlier and earlier every year. it will have consequences

children do see things are either/or, black or white. this is because categorical distinctions must be simple before they can more to the more complex. so the term nerd must be assigned a position - and it is a negative one

children give value to everything: think of how a child has positive or negative feelings about each number. very little is considered neutral. the term 'nerd' cannot live in a gray area. and once a child decides being a nerd is bad, they will avoid all nerd-stereotyped behaviors

children first perceive the 'nerd' insult as akin to being a baby - the biggest insult to budding autonomy. this is why being close to, or listening to your parents (and by extension - your teachers) is nerdy: a baby requires help and guidance from adults

as the superman/clark kent comics will attest, glasses are nerdy. and those glasses are such a strong indicator, they alone keep his secret identity intact

the deepest nerd anxiety occurs between the ages of 11 to 14

middle school kids label math and science as nerdy subjects and let them slide only to discover that doors they closed in middle school stay closed once they hit high school and university. maturity allows older teens to accept people different from themselves, but by then it is too late to catch up on math skills

nerds are simply less self conscious as individuals

* what about the anger? even adults participate in nerd-bashing (sometimes to make their own children feel better through comparison, sometimes to portray themselves as young and hip). where does this rage come from? the author proposed a brilliant theory: the self aware child/teen is forced to conform and then notices that guy didn't conform and gets to keep wearing track pants / playing with dolls / etc and it drives them batty. they lash out in frustration