Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them - Introduction

David Anderegg is a psychologist affiliated with Bennington University in Vermont. In addition, he runs a private practice specializing in psychotherapy for children. He has written a fascinating book about nerds. Yes, nerds. In case it’s not obvious, I do have a bit of interest in this topic, if for no other reason than an obsession with fruitless self-examination.

I came across Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them by accident. I was looking for Bowling Alone at Borders. But the tantalizing title drew me in. I also take it as a sign from God that the shelf had “fuck vegitarians” [sic] on it, underscoring the decline of spelling skills among America’s young vandal community.

He had sold me at “Why Ashton Kutcher is your kids’ worst nightmare” (part of the title of the introductory chapter). But it’s not fluff reading – Anderegg uses humor at times to help us start to explore how the nerd identity is formed in children, and how it shapes our world. (Worth noting: I don’t think Anderegg is targeting Kutcher as such – he’s clearly a bright enough guy to be wildly successful and marry one of the most amazing women of modern times. He is specifically targeting his role in the reality TV show Beauty and the Geek.)

The hook is interesting. He encourages the reader to engage in a thought experiment. What would the world look like to an alien visitor? Such an alien visitor might conclude that there are aesthetically pleasing people who are really desired for something called “sex”, and really intelligent people who are less aesthetically pleasing who do not have “sex”. Such an alien visitor might see some egalitarianism at work – that it is somewhat fair that no one gets to be smart and attractive. Or, the author notes, that a less charitable alien might note that the smart ones want to mate with the dumb ones, meaning that human intelligence won’t increase, thereby making Earth easier to conquer.

Sex, aliens, AND class warfare – a great way to get me to read on.

The author does explain that the book is not intended to be preachy. However, he does make it clear that he feels the “nerd” label is negative.

“Stereotyping is a universal feature of human information-processing, probably derived from the need of our ancestors living on the grassy plains of Africa to reduce complex information relatively quickly when survival was at stake. So although I think nerd/geek stereotypes are not generally good, don’t worry; this book is not intended to be a sermon. All stereotypes reduce their bearers’ humanity, no matter what they are. But there you go: Being human isn’t all that pretty. (6)

The first thing Anderegg does is to make a case for why the “nerd” label is different from other labels kids learn. It’s not tied to something that is externally obvious like skin color or gender (though cues are eventually learned and used to differentiate between nerds and non-nerds).

“In this sense, nerds are like ‘gays’. Kids hear about them, but they don’t really know what they are, they don’t see them.“ (19)

Anderegg also compares “nerd” to other labels adults (but not kids) learn and apply to people, but whose membership can often be vague.

“So taking them down a peg now is only fair, or maybe just an expression of a not-so-unconscious envy…. In this sense nerds are very much like WASPs or “yuppies,” two other complicated stereotypes need to be instructed about if they are going to participate in grown-up American culture.” (6)

The vague nature of membership of groups like “nerds” and “yuppies” also makes it easier to attack them.

“Indeed, shame is part and parcel of what it is like to be a kid. Grown-ups are well insulated from shame, and because it is such an awful thing to feel, they avoid it at all costs. But to go one step beyond Art Linkletter, kids feel ashamed about the darnedest things. That, too, is what this book is about.” (7)

Anderegg notes that shame is one reason why it’s difficult to talk with kids about stereotypes. Such conversations can be harmful, both regarding observational study design and on a moral level. If one of the qualities of nerds is “unself-consciousness”, then talking about nerds with these children can destroy that. And that would be a shame, since that is one of the reasons that children in general are so endearing and inspiring. As a consequence, Anderegg limits most of his interviews on the subject for the book with older high school and college students.

The introduction closes with an overview of the organization of the book. The first four chapters look at the historical and contemporary versions of the nerd/geek stereotype, and how it differs from a child’s understanding of what nerds/geeks are. Chapters 5-9 look at the specifics of the stereotype, boiling it down to five properties, or as Anderegg calls it:

“the Five Foundations of Nerdiness: Nerds are, by definition, (a) unsexy, (b) interested in technology, (c) uninterested in their personal appearance, (d) enthusiastic about stuff that bores everybody else, and (e) persecuted by nonnerds who are sometimes known as jocks.” (13)

I will continue with the summary in subsequent posts.