Nerds are Everywhere....

I was listening to a podcast the other day and they brought up an interesting subject about nerds. Now when most people think of the term “Nerd” they are most likely going to see one of two things in their heads. First, they see a secluded, intelligent “bookworm”, maybe skinny with glasses that knows the first 500 numbers in Pi. They think of someone who can solve a Rubik’s cube in less than a minute while blindfolded and simultaneously playing Fur Elise with their feet. Whatever. Another person is going to see a tech nerd. Maybe someone more commonly referred to as a geek. This is someone who can put together a computer in an hour, devotes a copious amount of time isolating themselves and playing videogames in their parents’ basement and can list off all of the major space bearing vessels in the entire Star Trek legacy. I fall under the latter of these two. What most people don’t notice is how they are surrounded by them every time they go down to the local watering hole on a Sunday evening.

Wikipedia defines a “Nerd” as “a term that refers to a social perception of a person who avidly pursues intellectual activities, technical or scientific endeavors, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests, rather than engaging in more social or conventional activities.”. Now I don’t entirely agree with that as I, simply put, would couple “Nerd” with “Obsession”.
Think about the last time you went to dinner at a bar and a football game comes on. You might observe a group of people sporting all their favorite jerseys, team colors, face paints and arguing over a player’s touchdown ratio or dissecting the last season of games trying to predict who is going to win. How is this any different than any stereotyped “Nerds” you see talking about the latest game releases or how fast the new GPU is in their new computer? I don’t see it. While gaming and geek culture is becoming more prominent than almost anything (1 out of 8 households in North America has a copy of the new Call of Duty), it is still looked upon as a negative thing. A group of avid hockey fans will make fun of a group of Sony fans all dressed up as their favorite characters waiting in line for a new console. Then they go back to their buddies and pound out fantasy leagues. What about that is so much “cooler” than obsessing over anything else?
Things are starting to change though. Nintendo has pretty much put a game console in every damn household with the massive success of the Wii. You be hard pressed to find any mother in North America that doesn’t know what it is. You could barely find them for more than a year because they were getting snatched up off of shelves so quickly. A game like Black Ops has the largest entertainment launch in history, making Activision over 550 million dollars in the first five days of release. Although I must say there is a large gap between the Halo and Call of Duty players and the average gamer, but that’s another topic.
I feel like the bridge is getting smaller, and the whole “nerd” perception is becoming less of a negative term. But when the hell am I going to be able to watch a Halo or Starcraft 2 competition on my TV every few weeks? The whole scene is blowing up fast, and I can’t wait till the perception is gone and the media starts realizing that not only do we have just as much passion as a sports fanatic, but there are mad amounts of cash to be made.

This has gone on much longer than intended and I still have lots to say but I’ll leave it at that. Leave a comment, whether it is to ask a question or to demean my writing. Both are encouraged.
Expect more content soon, maybe a review?
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