What makes nerds cool

Am I right? And that passion can spill over into other areas of your life when you find someone who shares them, if you know what I mean. Comic-Con, anyone? You can profuse your love for Star Wars or Doctor Who and never have a fear of what people think of you. From Bill Gates to Mark Zuckerberg himself, nerds have been powerful movers and shakers in this world.

You were probably the weird one at school who was teased for playing Pokemon in the corner of the playground instead of playing football. In an odd book called The Lizzard of Ozz , an author named Dr. Rufus T. This spelling of dorque suggests a connection to Dorque , a s slang nickname for a solider. Dork went on to mean people who do silly, ridiculous things. Butthead , anyone? Could the s have anything to do with that?

The most frequently cited story is that Dr. Nerd had to have been around before Seuss, but the doc certainly made it more popular. Etymologists think nerd has a combination of influences , in addition to Dr. Seuss and possibly informing his own use. Technological prowess was never a requirement to be a nerd ; only that the nerd be extremely intelligent in any academic area to which they paid attention while ignoring the trivial social scene.

Despite being less cool, nerd has definitely achieved a trendier and more complimentary status than dork and dweeb. From the outset, then, nerd seems to operate like geek in that you can preface nerd with just about any subject in which you claim to have some sincere interest and expertise. Problems are seen as open-ended and subjective. Empathy and intellectual openness are likely to be key traits of Political Wonks. Being lovers of debate, they are also likely to be more extraverted at least among their peers than other types of nerd.

Mad Scientists represent yet another variation. While equally intellectually driven and attentive to detail, chemical engineers need a more concrete focus to solve specific, immediate problems. Helpful for a job involving potentially unconventional working hours and environments, Mad Scientists are often among the more introverted nerd types, and tend to prefer to work independently, in their own way, without excessive supervision.

Comic Book Geeks are perhaps the most stereotypical, widely known subspecies of the nerd genius. Like Mad Scientists, Comic Book Geeks are likely to be introverts who prefer working independently and relish unconventional hours. Kerry Schofield heads up the U. Skip Article Header. Skip to: Start of Article. Originally posted by:.