The one where I don’t talk about Game of Thrones (because the world anyway is) and why nerds will dominate the world
In all the preceding hubbub about the brand new season of Game of Thrones, there were a few like me who were equally busy biting their nails for HBO’s lesser known geekfest- Silicon Valley. For the unfortunate lot who don’t know about it, Silicon Valley is a show encapsulating everything that comes with the tech start up universe (duh!) It most hilariously chronicles the euphoric wins and the soul-crushing lows of four Silicon Valley nerds and an occasionally likeable douchebag. The journey of these sporadically awkward but highly intelligent nerds and their misplaced cockiness had me at go. The show marries entertainment with intelligence in a breathtaking fashion. No prizes for guessing I was introduced to it by someone from the same league- A nerd. Not just any nerd- a coder at that. The blue blooded, the royals if you may, of all nerds.
This brings me to the point of this blog post- what is it about this often misunderstood species, which makes them top contenders for world domination? Before we move further, setting the stage with this little Venn diagram to get the semantics right
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| For today's debate, we will stick to Nerds- clear occupants of the sweet spot |
Move over the hot bodied, eyebrow plucking, clean shaved hotties in their V-necks, it’s the ones with the round glasses, 5’o clock shadow and canvas shoes who are winning the hearts of the opposite sex (and venture capitalists) across the world. If there is one clique that has marvelously benefitted from the social media and technology invasion, it’s the nerds. These are the guys (and girls) who believed in the power of machines and pointlessness of actual human interaction, way before anyone else did. And look how that turned out. We are currently living in the world that was practically built by nerds. (World we are living in = Facebook = built by Mark Zuckerberg = Nerd)
In fact the urban millennial dictionary would no longer call them nerds; they are our generation’s hipsters. Admit it, there is a much bigger chance of you getting ostracized for your limited knowledge of Star Wars universe than David Guetta’s latest song (is he still around btw?) Point being, this is the best time for being an erstwhile weirdo, who is passionate about things that were earlier written off as ‘uncool’- Science, Science Fiction, Technology, history, fantasy, movies, gaming, coins, stamps and the works. The nerds are at the top of modern popular culture pyramid where men like Elon Musk, Stephen Hawking and Neil DeGrasse Tyson are equally, if not more, celebrated as the other ‘mainstream’ youth icons. I mean the guy (Dr. Tyson) is literally responsible for ousting Pluto from the Planetdom of our galaxy.
It’s also mildly reassuring to see that the label itself has gone through an evolution. Being a nerd has moved away from the stereotypical image of a shabbily dressed male in 20-days old boxer shorts, making incoherent conversations and watching Star Trek reruns in his messy apartment. The new age nerds in a lot of cases are slick, full of wit and working their magic in massive corporates or running successful businesses. And if you’re not convinced, I have one word for you- James Goddamn Franco.
Now, I am no expert in social cliques or their psychology, but with my more than little experience of knowing nerds, I can definitely vouch for the amazing company they make. And they might be all different kinds but there is one thing that unites them and makes them incomprehensibly attractive, is their unending curiosity. Their love of knowledge is inspiring. You don’t have to be a coder or a comic book fanatic to be a nerd, the only credential you need to qualify as one, is your hunger to just know. Becoming an intellectual badass is just a perk.
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| Because an article on nerds needs a Star Wars reference |
