Meta-Humanity: The Age of Nerd

It's Geek Pride Day, and speaking of a
geeky Day.... I love being a nerd.

Friday is May 25th, and in case you do not know, it is Nerd and Geek Pride Day. Nerds have come a long way over the past sixty years since the term first entered into popular use in the 1950's. The term nerd was coined by none other than Dr. Seuss in his book If I Ran a Zoo, (which Matt Damon just turned into a a major motion picture,) but in 1951 Newsweek reported that in Detroit Michigan the term was used to describe someone as "a drip," or "a square,". Being a nerd in 1951 Detroit meant wedgies, and probably not being able to go to the sock-hop on Friday nights or something like. Fortunately, it is now 2012 and the nerd population, along with its vibrancy and appeal is soaring, while, ironically, Detroit... not so much. My point: Nerds Rule.

Wikipedia defines Nerd as a derogatory slang term for a person typically described as socially-impaired, obsessive, or overly intellectual. They may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular or obscure activities, pursuits, or interests, which are generally either highly technical, or relating to topics of fiction or fantasy, to the exclusion of more mainstream activities. Other nerdy qualities include physical awkwardness, introversion, quirkiness, and unattractiveness. In the stereotypical high-school situation, they may be either considered loners by others, or they tend to associate with a small group of like-minded people.

Okay, maybe that is not the best definition to try and prove my point, but if you continue reading, the article goes on to say that the term "nerd" has been reappropriated by some as a term of pride and group identity. The article also talks about the evolution of the nerd from the stereotypical glasses-wearing social outcast to... well to people like Nathan Fillion. We are truly living in a Golden Age of Nerdom. Not only are nerds more respected than ever but society itself is developing nerd-like qualities. Think about the movies that everyone is watching this summer, like Avengers and Batman. These are comic book movies, but they will be the highest grossing movies of the year followed by movies like The Hunger Games and possibly (hopefully) Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Slayer, (but more likely by some other movie about vampires which I will leave unnamed.) Still, all these things have their roots in nerd culture, because suddenly being a nerd is cool. Granted, you will probably not see your high school quarterback rolling a D20 anytime soon, and the though the sightings of attractive females in comic book shops are starting to rise, I would not exactly call them a common occurrence. However, thanks to the internet and an explosion of nerd pride our subculture has never had it better.

Partially I believe the acceptance of nerd culture has a lot to do with the general malaise and cynicism that has come to be associated with mainstream culture, propagated mostly through grunge and emo music of the 90's and early 2000's. Yes, it is cool to sometimes pretend to be disinterested and aloof, but it is also boring. Nerds on the other hand seem to be the last people on the planet that are legitimately allowed to get spazzed-out excited over things. First of all, because we -by definition- are not cool, so we do not have to worry about appearing as such and secondly, because we have so much cool crap to get excited over. I mean really when was the last time anyone dressed in costume to go see a George Clooney Indie Film debut (unless you count hipsters, because in my opinion they are always in a costume.) Turn instead to the openings of Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Avengers, where you get a bevy of irrationally excited movie-goers dressed as everything from Jedi to Orcs. Even more to the point, a lot of these movie-goers are not the usual assortment of hard core fans but are people who would not usually claim themselves as nerds. The best example of this is Game of Thrones and Star Trek. Who would have ever thought that Star Trek would become a summer blockbuster or that non-nerds (we call you normies) would find themselves becoming so dedicated to a TV series based on high-fantasy.

We are seeing a transformation where nerd-stuff is becoming cool. I speak from experience as the modern and hip "Cool Nerd" (though I think actually writing that and using the word hip probably just knocked me out of that category and back down to "Lonely Poindexter.") Really people just want to get excited over things. Fantasy and imagination are not traits limited to a sub-culture of the population. Everyone has dreams, and hopes, and the desire to see laser guns blow up spaceships or awesome sword fights or even magic. Being a nerd is really nothing more than not forgetting that at one point you were a child. Everyone threw a towel over their shoulders and called it a cape or swung a stick around and called it a lightsaber, but the only difference between a nerd and everyone else is that for a nerd that time was last week. Its about having fun, having some passion, and most importantly not taking yourself too seriously. After all, I think that's an attitude we could all stand to adopt, a little bit more.