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When did nerds become really shitty people?

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sn00zer

Member
What the hell is wrong with nerds today. Jeezus H.... I hung out with "the nerds" in highschool. You know what we talked about? Videogames, robotics, building PCs, anime, movies, debated what next gen console to get (Ps3/360/Wii) in college, and made fun of each others internet speeds. You know what we didnt talk about? Hating women, hating minorities, blaming women for our faults, pcmasterrace, or whatever the fuck is currently going on in the "nerd" sphere. Worst thing people did was pirate videogames.

So what the hell is going on? If anything I would have been THRILLED with all these dumb comic book movies, crazy videogames, and insane tech stuff. Its like nerd heaven. So why the hell is "nerd" culture now this horrible twisted real life 4chan thread.

Seriously though, what happened?
 

Angry Grimace

Two cannibals are eating a clown. One turns to the other and says "does something taste funny to you?"
Spending all of your time on the internet isn't good for you.
 

Mariolee

Member
People on the internet aren't always indicative of people in real life. Are you basing this off people you know in real life, because "nerds" in general don't seem to be as extreme as you've described.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Do you have the stats to back up what you've noticed, or just a bunch of useless anecdotes based off the fact that behaviour is now more visible?

From what I can tell, controversial topics draw more attention, and that simply makes those controversial issues more visible and sustained.

Just natural social dynamics at work.
 

HUELEN10

Member
To some, this explains it a bit, replace gamers with nerds.
hC3xXMw.jpg

Again, to some, not all.
 

Daingurse

Member
I don't see those nerds as representing nerds as a whole. I think these toxic individuals have always existed within nerdom.
 

Zeus Molecules

illegal immigrants are stealing our air
since the film revenge of the nerds when Lewis Skolnick showed the world you can get away with date rape if your smart enough and wear a darth vader mask...... That along with the other fuckery in that film basically laid the ground work for the nerds shall inherit the earth narrative we all live in now
 

ElTorro

I wanted to dominate the living room. Then I took an ESRAM in the knee.
It's not nerds per se, it's the anti-social dregs who, once in the anonymity of the internet, let go of the basic manners behind which they hide their unfiltered self the real world. They are everywhere and in every milieu.
 

PSqueak

Banned
The shitty nerds you describe have an identity crisis as the mainstream embraces nerd culture and they suddenly find themselves without a defined clique to belong to.

Before nerds stuck together, it was "them vs the rest, the enemy" but as nerd culture becomes "in" and videogames become accessible to everyone, comicbook movies are in, books like twilight and 50 shades reach the masses and the internet has exploded with everyone and their grandmas knowing the latests memes, nerds feel they lost their "secret club" and the lines of who is "us" and who is "them" to these shitty nerd people has been blurred, as a result they label everyone that is not like them an enemy, hence the sexism and overall bigotry.

And this, ladies and gentleman, is why you don't take a label and make it everything in your life.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
People realized they can reinforce their pent-up frustrations by cloistering themselves in an echo chamber where everyone agrees with them and gives their opinions the illusion and delusion of legitimacy.
 
Nerds have always been shitty people. Most people are shitty people.
People on the internet aren't always indicative of people in real life.
These two things really. If you get any group of people together a good portion, if not the majority are going to be kind of shitty.

That said, I mostly hang out with nerdy people and we hardly ever talk about social issues, much less anyone talking about hating women or minorities. The conversation almost always centers around what you and your nerdy friends talked about in high school.

If you're encountering these people in real life you just need to find new nerdy friends that don't suck.
 

Kwixotik

Member
since the film revenge of the nerds when Lewis Skolnick showed the world you can get away with date rape if your smart enough and wear a darth vader mask...... That along with the other fuckery in that film basically laid the ground work for the nerds shall inherit the earth narrative we all live in now

When I was a kid, my mom told me my dad was in a movie once. I asked her which one and she said "Revenge of the Nerds". I believed her for a long time.
 

Satch

Banned
if u were a part of any of those groups ur saying that nerds newly hate right now, u'd already know nerds have always been awful elitist shitters dude
 
To some, this explains it a bit, replace gamers with nerds.
[IG]http://i.imgur.com/hC3xXMw.jpg[/IMG]
Again, to some, not all.

The above is an issue of labels. Nerds/Geeks were enduring all of the shit that came with those labels, and nowadays it has become more acceptable to be one so many people are labeling themselves at it.

Nerds/geeks should be more inviting to the group, but instead they get defensive. But really who cares. Let them call themselves that.
 
When you're part of a culture that has to constantly reinforce itself to satisfy lacking social needs you solidify yourself and become very adverse to ideological threats. It doesn't help that that culture has also invented external mechanisms that help that solidification by literally removing any need to accept those with different lives and needs.

By far the most important thing in life when it comes to interpersonal intelligence is the constant challenging of established paradigms through forced experimentation and contact with alien experiences, which can be something as small as talking to different kinds of people (men/women, old/young, rich/poor) or something as big as cultural shocks (travel, different artistic cultures, different cultures sharing the same space e.g.).

Sadly not everyone is born to be an anthropologist.
 

stufte

Member
I hang out with nerds, work with nerds and what you are describing I've only ever run into online. Online isn't always representative of how things are IRL.
 

Yamauchi

Banned
To some, this explains it a bit, replace gamers with nerds.
hC3xXMw.jpg

Again, to some, not all.
This doesn't make sense to me. I have been playing videogames since 1989 and I don't think there has ever been a period when great games haven't been released.
 
Is there a definition of a nerd?

Because Vin Diesel loves to play D&D is he a nerd?
Or is that the people who have neckbeards?
Or is it defined by niche hobbies?

There have always been two distinct breeds of nerds: smart people into exactly what they like, and dumb people who are creepy obsessives over things they like.

The latter category just got more visible. "Nerd" barely has the connotation of being a category for the smart kids. And it makes sense why; smart kids used to be the only ones putting in effort to find all this obscure stuff in the pre-internet era. Now that it's just out there, the average maladjusted meathead is able to get really, really into harem anime.

I dont know if that is sarcasm, but if it isnt, that seems actual true judging from my experience in the anime/manga-community for about 15 years. Usually the people who obsess about everything Japanese, have their rooms plastered with cheap wallscrolls etc. are usually also the ones who dont really know much about the medium itself while well adjusted experts like me, that know about honor, actually are the knowledgable ones.
 

D4Danger

Unconfirmed Member
the internet isn't the nerd safe haven it used to be. You used to expect that the people you were interacting with had a minimum amount of technical knowledge to even get online let alone find all those weird forums and stuff but now it's not special. everyone is online and unfortunately that means the dregs of society have congealed together like some fat blob in a sewer system and that's what you're seeing.
 
What the hell is wrong with nerds today. Jeezus H.... I hung out with "the nerds" in highschool. You know what we talked about? Videogames, robotics, building PCs, anime, movies, debated what next gen console to get (Ps3/360/Wii) in college, and made fun of each others internet speeds. You know what we didnt talk about? Hating women, hating minorities, blaming women for our faults, pcmasterrace, or whatever the fuck is currently going on in the "nerd" sphere. Worst thing people did was pirate videogames.

So what the hell is going on? If anything I would have been THRILLED with all these dumb comic book movies, crazy videogames, and insane tech stuff. Its like nerd heaven. So why the hell is "nerd" culture now this horrible twisted real life 4chan thread.

Seriously though, what happened?

Are these nerd specific things?
 

Yamauchi

Banned
There have always been two distinct breeds of nerds: smart people into exactly what they like, and dumb people who are creepy obsessives over things they like.

The latter category just got more visible. "Nerd" barely has the connotation of being a category for the smart kids. And it makes sense why; smart kids used to be the only ones putting in effort to find all this obscure stuff in the pre-internet era. Now that it's just out there, the average maladjusted meathead is able to get really, really into harem anime.

the internet isn't the nerd safe haven it used to be. You used to expect that the people you were interacting with had a minimum amount of technical knowledge to even get online let alone find all those weird forums and stuff but now it's not special. everyone is online and unfortunately that means the dregs of society have congealed together like some fat blob in a sewer system and that's what you're seeing.
Two good points.
 
Sometimes you have to ask someone's opinion on something and have a discussion to see what they think. If you guys just talked about video games why not ask, "So, what are you thoughts on Becky playing Halo?"
 

PSqueak

Banned
Are these nerd specific things?

If you snoop around the net, you'll notice (for example) there is an anti women sentiment when it comes to nerd stuff like comics, Table top gaming, sci fi and videogames, like the ridiculous accusations of calling people in comicbook conventions "fake nerd girls".

This, however, doesn't apply to ALL sorts of nerd things, Anime and Fantasy literature are not as misogynistic as other nerd things.
 
It's like when someone's favorite band gets popular and then they hate it. A subset of people lash out at things that are no longer exclusively theirs. It doesn't matter if it ever was actually exclusive or they just perceived it to be.
 

Northeastmonk

Gold Member
It's a double edged sword anymore. You use to think of nerd stuff and enter this euphoric state. Now it's beyond what anyone could muster. One year everyone is a nerd because they watch movies. The nerd can feel okay with discussing nerdy things. Then the next year everyone fights to be the top nerd. Nerds have been treating people wrongfully. We get past that and we have people coming out saying they don't like being a nerd and people need to grow up. Now we either have new parents nerding out respectfully or we have parents shifting nerdy stuff back to their made up PR toy box.

It's been a struggle over power anyway you look at it. It's a struggle of power and respect. Sure we are all brought up in some similar ways, but some of us use our own hatred with being a nerd. They can be sexist, jaded, racist, and whatever they want while still being a nerd.

I get a bit of a headache at times when my mind becomes unhinged by it all. Of course I like nerdy things, but the stereotypes and various views still exist. You can't be a free bird all the time. I get the feeling it's separating itself with everything else after the popularity has gone up and down.

I'm sure we have people who hate game(s) or people who game in general. We have gamer(s) who give us all a bad image. We have people who don't understand what a nerd is. I read some reviews for Stephen King's comic N. and there were people giving it a 1 star because it was a comic book. They literally were telling people that they grew up in their review.

Of course you're right OP. I've met people who absolutely hated console, they play military or economic games because they think young people play other video games, and etc. Then you meet the person who likes what you like and they hate women, gender equality, and the like.

It takes me back to when you'd run into a buddy or pal at school and they'd start cussing and talking about having sex, doing drugs, and playing some games. I'd say being a nerd is more like who has the better defense and who can choose the best aesthetics for their hobby. I do well with selective items and watching who I share them with. I obviously can't talk about what I like with everyone. It's just never guaranteed to be the way you like it to be. Some people might quit being a nerd altogether because they feel like it's a constant struggle. I sure don't want someone thinking they have an edge on me because I enjoy video games, a comic, or a certain artist.
 

entremet

Member
Maybe if we stop defining people based on superficial stuff like hobbies and judge as individual persons and their individual actions, you'll have an answer.
 
You're hanging around the wrong people if those are the sorts of discussions you're having.

I am still talking about geeky shit like comics, video games, genre movies and robotics with all my friends.
 
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