I despise modern "nerd culture".

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Am I the only person on this site who hates modern "nerd culture"? It sucks and I hate it.

I've noticed that most people who self-identify as "nerds" nowadays are obsessed with video games, popular culture and nerdy fandoms. I find it to be rather immature. Video games are just games. They aren't supposed to be taken seriously.

Do you know what should be taken seriously? History. Politics. Science. Topics that are actually educational should be taken seriously. "Nerd culture" has a massive Peter Pan complex nowadays. Modern "nerd culture" is for grown adults who have no life outside of their toys.

Lately, there has been a lot of controversy regarding sexism and racism within nerd culture. Of course there is! What did you expect? Modern "gamer culture" is full of losers who think that video games are serious business. It's all embarrassing. Of course immature manchildren are sexist and racist! Why are feminists trying to tame the nerd bros? Are they trying to prove that women can by adult children too? Susan B. Anthony would be so proud!

A nerd is supposed by someone who loves educational content. The word has been ruined by adult children. It's absolutely disgraceful.

I'm not saying that games and shows are inherently bad. I'm saying that any adult who takes games, shows and toys seriously is a loser.

I'll agree with you that "nerds" have become associated almost exclusively with video games and films to an unnecessarily large degree, but the thing about nerds is that they choose to involve themselves in those activities as a form of escapism. Especially when life gets hard, those activities work as a stress reliever. And calling them "adult children" or "losers" for that sole reason is degrading to say the least.

Oh, really?
Well, maybe I'm just too nerdy to notice
I consider myself a nerd, which means wearing for comfort, doing science for life, not giving a damn about social expectations and searching for topics for casual small talk with friends at sciencedaily.com

I don't play video games much and I'm totally blank about popular culture.

I'm a geek. Nerd used to mean a studious person, not terribly fashion conscious, and usually quite knowledgeable on specific topics.

That was when I was a youngster. The connotation has changed. At least for now, I'm not aware that "geek" (science/STEM enthusiast) has changed its meaning, so that's what I use.

I don't game because I lack the fine coordination and speed to be any good at it, and my competitiveness tends to focus on beating problems, not people.

And I'm not wholly housebound. For the last 6+ weeks, though, I have been convalescent, and I have spent much more time online than I expected to. I'd likely be online as much as, or more than, I am now, as a gamer.

Darth, I think the larger problem is that many US online discussion sites were allowed to become very, very hostile - even dangerous - places for a very, very long time, in parallel with the general deterioration of public discourse in US culture.

(Mammon, mammon Ueber Alles - as long as it paid, the owners didn't care, until the damage was too extensive and fetid to ignore.)

That means that the ability to have a serious conversation, in depth, on a public or semi-public board, with anyone, where you are able to bring up and examine topics that you may not wholly agree on, thoughtfully, is going to be gate-crashed by trolls, vulnerable to discursive side chats*, or subject to hostile bombardment by people who have forgotten how to disagree civilly and continue talking. Or all of the above.

It is definitely frustrating.

*Guilty as charged, Your Honor. Am trying to moderate this tendency with limited success to date.

The only solution I know of is awareness. I've never yet started a successful thread here - my topics sink and die. So I quit trying, and just lob in a comment here and there where I think it's useful or something really calls to me. It bothered me a lot, for awhile. I'm still aware of it.

Some people are fond of me, some aren't. Some are interested in what I have to say, some aren't. Sometimes what I post is read and understood, sometimes neither seems to happen. I stay with what works and drop things that don't, and I've moderated my expectations, but overall I still find a lot of value here, and I keep coming back.

And my own moods cycle. I'm mildly dysthymic, so when I feel particularly cynical, I refrain from comment unless I can throttle that cynicism into something constructive. Not sure I always succeed. But I do notice that after one or two days where nothing here speaks to me, suddenly everything here seems to. Is that me? Or others also cycling? Probably both, plus coincidence.

(Also, I'm two to three times older than many here. I try to keep that in mind. That aspect will differ for most.)

Hope this helps, it's mostly a stream of semi-consciousness - take what seems useful, if anything. I value your contributions and I honor your intent, as the Annaresti would say.

I'm more like a "regular guy" who has prominent "nerdy," but not "geeky" characteristics.

I'm not a "geek" because I'm not really good with computers/electronics/engineering/stuff like that.

Hi, I played a lot of video games since I was a kid, to the point that I picked up the Japanese language in the progress, and passed the language's highest ranking test at age 15 without having to cost my parents a dime.

After college, I suffered from crippling social anxiety and was unable to sustain a full time job. After 2 years of continued unsuccessful job-hunting, I was at the edge of killing myself. But then I decided to exploit my ability to speak Japanese and became a translator.

Without video games, I wouldn't have been able to learn a foreign language this thoroughly because my family and I can't afford it. Actually, I probably won't even be alive right now. This also allow me to understand the Japanese people better, and this is especially important to me because, as a Chinese, we do have a lot of misunderstanding towards them due to historical reasons.

"A nerd is supposed by someone who loves educational content."
I can't agree more, and video games have been one of my greatest teacher in my life.

Also, I love history, art and classical music (10years exp. of classical guitar) as much as I love games. I majored in Culture and Heritage and took many classes in film culture and museology. I can't see why gamers can't be academic. Your observations are pretty ignorant.

On a different note, I just finished translating a program that looks into the CIA's practice of recruiting NAZI war criminals for intelligence works and encouraging terrorism during the cold war. It was really eye-opening. Maybe this will interest you guys in some way. Show's name is Nazis in the CIA


side note-I painted my avatar. It was a study of one of Norman Rockwell's works. So yeah I really can't see how video games destroy and distract people from meaningful activities. Video games don't suck, those who fail to find meaning in it do. That's the truth.

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Happy Asian Translator.

My Pixiv page:
https://www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=21167374

You are aware that your "I don't approve of the way you have fun so have fun my way" mentality is what led to nerds and geeks being bullied back before being a nerd became cool... right? Are you aware of the irony here?

No one cares if you don't like the evolution of the label "nerd." Go study & learn whatever you want to to your heart's content and label yourself whatever you want to for it. Problem solved.

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No for supporting trump. Because doing so is deplorable.

i hardly think liking video games and liking history/science/politics are mutually exclusive

I really don't see the problem with being an intelligent person, and with learning all the time throughout life.

Soy un perdedor

The above represents snobbery, and should and must be frowned upon.

I don't always get into "high-fallutin'" things.