Talk Nerdy to Me

Why Intelligence is More Important Than the Color of Your Suspenders

Oxford dictionary defines a nerd as “a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious.” Nerds obsess over things like science, comic books and, the relatively new, manga and are constantly overlooked by glamorous people that don’t know their ass from their elbow. They are society’s rejects and, not because of any divine secret social order, but because they’re smart – and Americans have a bad habit of laughing at the intellectual.

We grew up laughing at the nerds on TV, forever putting an emphasis on the obscure idea that the overly intelligent are just people to mock. Characters like Steve Urkel and Pee Wee Herman — classic nerds — because they were goofy and different; but in reality, no one wanted to be Steve or Peewee. They wanted to be someone cool.

But the image of the nerd has transformed into a positive one over the years. We’ve reached a point in history in which being dorky is in style and the dorkier you are, the more fashionable you are. Suddenly it’s cool to wear thick Ray Bans and high-waisted pants. And while comics might not be as popular as they once were, everyone has a favorite superhero. Even graphic novels are becoming popularized — and let’s be real, a graphic novel is just a super long comic book.

However, why is it that we haven’t embraced the most important character trait of the nerd – the intelligence?  Sure it’s fun to dress up and collect superhero memorabilia, but that doesn’t automatically deem you a nerd. If I put on a lab coat, would that inherently make me a scientist?

Perhaps it was the dawning of the hipster that made nerd culture such a glamorous thing. Maybe hipsters are so concentrated on avoiding mainstream fashion trends that they went in the complete opposite direction. They chose the nerd because nerds are, among other things, the complete opposite of what everyone wants to be. Hipsters were so intent on creating their own style that they went backwards: retro —A style that had been dominated by the nerd since the 60s and 70s.

“Retro was cool, “ writes Matt Granfield in his book HipsterMattic, “the environment was precious and old was the new ‘new.’ Kids wanted to wear Sylvia Plath’s cardigans and Buddy Holly’s glasses – they reveled in the irony of making something so nerdy so cool.” Now the hipsters have a new problem. Nerdiness is becoming mainstream. It’s cute to wear pants that rest above your belly button, a tucked in button down and a bow tie. It’s no longer ironic to wear giant Ray Ban’s that cover your entire face in an effort to pull away from conformity, hipsters just created a new style that everyone wants to conform to. Because being nerdy is cool. Take superheroes, for instance. Years ago if you were into super heroes, you were usually a comic book nerd. Heroes like Superman, Spiderman and Ironman are now the subjects of some of Hollywood’s top grossing films and why? – Because retro is cool and with retro comes superhumans.

When it comes to superheroes it’s undeniable that their most important job is to save the world, but think about who the real people behind the masks are. For one, Clark Kent, or Superman, is kind of dorky. Kent is awkward, and slouchy, his voice is an octave higher than his alter ego’s and he wears suits that are two times too big. Or Spiderman for instance, Peter Parker is a goofy science nerd who was always bullied in school. And last, but certainly not least, Tony Stark — he might be Ironman but that’s only because he’s a genius. If he wasn’t, he wouldn’t have been able to build the suit, and without the suit, there’s no Ironman.

In theory, this age of the nerd should be a positive thing. Finally society is putting the nerd on a much-needed pedestal – making their clothing fashionable and their quirks endearing. However, are we shining light on the right traits? Sure, watching superhero movies and dressing like a nerd can be an expression of anti-mainstream culture – I guess – but is that really enough? Why not take the assumed intelligence we project on the nerd and put that on a pedestal? Why can’t being smart be the cool thing everyone struggles to behold?

While America is constantly falling behind the rest of the world in levels of intelligence, we are tricking ourselves into thinking that liking nerdy things inherently makes us a nerd. Well it doesn’t and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it’s just another example of humans focusing on the least important aspects of something greater —in this case, intelligence.

If Americans could find a way to make intelligence the most desirable trait about the nerd then we would be a more successful nation. Let’s make reading obscure 18th century literature and science textbooks cool.   Let’s stop obsessing about the super human aspect of superheroes and start embracing their genius. Let’s take a step away from the emphasis we put on fashion and celebrities and put all that effort towards making our country a better place, because if there’s one thing Americans forget about America it’s that we’re no longer the best.