In the past being a nerd was often seen in a negative light. Nerds were bullied and were the punch line of jokes from sitcoms to locker rooms around the world. These days, though, embracing and unlocking the potential of your Inner Nerd is a very positive thing and nerds should be enthusiastic about who they/you are. And enthusiastically sharing your nerdly interests and passions is a great way to find, grow and sustain a happy and healthy community.
Nerds Should be Enthusiastic!
Here’s the hypothesis: nerds are nerds because they combine thinking ability with genuine enthusiasm for something. Examples of potential areas where people typically “nerd-out” include, but are not limited to board games, science fiction, science non-fiction, literature, history, and (I would argue) sports.
Oxford (the dictionary, not the town or university) defines nerds in the following way:
Pronunciation: /nəːd/
noun
informal
a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious: I was a serious nerd until I discovered girls and cars
a single-minded expert in a particular technical field: a computer nerd
And here is what Facebook said when I crowd-sourced the question:
Over the years, term “nerd” has evolved into a positive term (no matter what the great Alex Samuel says).
A few weeks ago I was listening to The Nerdist Podcast, and the host, Chris Hardwick, was engaged in witty dialogue with one of my favourites, co-host John Hodgman. They were speaking about the subject of nerds. Their banter was funny, smart and thoroughly interesting.
Hardwick and Hodgman not only defined Nerdism in an interesting and accurate way, but showed where it stands in terms of Hipsterism. I’ve paraphrased both definitions below.
Hardwick: “I get just as frustrated with people who won’t watch or like something because it’s popular. That makes you an anti-trend chaser. It’s just as bad as being a trend chaser.
Hodgman: “That is what I would call Hipsterism. Which is to say gaining cache and social credibility through your taste.”
Hardwick: “You should like stuff because you like it because it’s good. And sometimes those things are popular and sometimes those things are not. But you should have the conviction to stand behind the things you love no matter what.”
Hodgman: “You have just outlined – in the Buddhist sense – the big vehicle definition of nerdism. Which is to say that it’s not tied to a specific piece of culture or a specific pursuit, but that it is an expression of enthusiasm for a thing. Nerdism is the expression of enthusiasm for the thing that you love.”
Notwithstanding that they fail to acknowledge sports nerds – a most notable community evidenced by the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference – I do appreciate H&H’s simple argument that nerds are people who really, really, really care about a really, really, really specific thing.
Look, whatever nerdism is, it is defined by enthusiasm and wanting to share that enthusiasm with other people. Historically speaking, nerdism was equally defined by being socially marginal, where nerds found solace in the community of people that shared enthusiasm for that specific thing.
Hardwick argues that Nerdism has actually evolved into our dominant cultural trope – it’s a fair point, as even the jocks are building incredibly complex systems of statistical analyses to better inform their decision making process for fantasy league competitions. Put in another way, these days now even jocks have a version of Dungeons and Dragons.
Research shows that enthusiasm is not only great for personal well-being, but people who are excited about basketball, Magic the Gathering, Settlers of Catan, Star Wars, and other nerdly pursuits will harness and espouse positive energy that is contagious.
The Harvard Business Review recently argued that “Olympic Nerds” were a key element of the contagious enthusiasm of the London Olympics last summer. And it’s this genuine enthusiasm that contributes to a community’s well-being.
Whatever the case, nerds are awesome and you should absolutely explore the enthusiasm that you have for one or two particular interests and then share your interests and excitement with others. At the end of the day, people are drawn to interesting people who are interested in things. Especially nerdish things.
So, as you strive to build community – and/or enhance well-being within your community – be sure to enthusiastically embrace your interests. Be a huge and fantastic nerd about it, too.
Michelle and I are as enthusiastic about being nerds as we are about love!
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This article was originally published on March 27, 2013