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georgewbush
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14 Mar 2011, 2:30 pm

http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html

An essay by the computer programmer Paul Graham. It is long-winded, but definitely worth the read.

His thesis is:
- Public school is just a day care center for adults to drop off their children so they can get their work done, unlike in history when children were apprentices in their parents occupation.
- High school is a cruel, immature, irrational society, similar to Lord of the Flies, dominated by a mob of the students rather than the teachers.
- "Nerds aren't losers, they are just playing a different game, one which is much closer to the real world".



Mindslave
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14 Mar 2011, 2:34 pm

"Closer to the real world??" The reason nerds are unpopular is because the game they are playing is not even close to the real world, which, for those of you that don't know, revolves around lying, cheating, and stealing in order to get your money and food and your overall survival. Nerds want to come up with rational solutions. There is no time for solutions, we need to GET TO THE CHOPPA!



georgewbush
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14 Mar 2011, 2:42 pm

With all respect, what the hell are you talking about?



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14 Mar 2011, 2:54 pm

georgewbush wrote:
http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html

An essay by the computer programmer Paul Graham. It is long-winded, but definitely worth the read.

His thesis is:
- Public school is just a day care center for adults to drop off their children so they can get their work done, unlike in history when children were apprentices in their parents occupation.
- High school is a cruel, immature, irrational society, similar to Lord of the Flies, dominated by a mob of the students rather than the teachers.
- "Nerds aren't losers, they are just playing a different game, one which is much closer to the real world".


Quite some truth to the theory.....one would hope high school matters (sort-of) though. Revenge of the nerds! I did it. Make peace.


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Dantac
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14 Mar 2011, 3:26 pm

Its a good read with some very interesting insights.

"Teenage kids used to have a more active role in society. In pre-industrial times, they were all apprentices of one sort or another, whether in shops or on farms or even on warships. They weren't left to create their own societies. They were junior members of adult societies.

Teenagers seem to have respected adults more then, because the adults were the visible experts in the skills they were trying to learn. Now most kids have little idea what their parents do in their distant offices, and see no connection (indeed, there is precious little) between schoolwork and the work they'll do as adults."

This is so, so very true.



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15 Mar 2011, 5:48 am

You realize this article is old?

I read this ages ago.



georgewbush
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15 Mar 2011, 11:41 am

Pandora_Box wrote:
You realize this article is old?

I read this ages ago.


No, I saw the readily apparent "February 2003" heading above the article, and I, for some reason, thought that Paul Graham wrote this article recently, but changed the date to 2003, play a joke on us. He really pulled the wool over my eyes.



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15 Mar 2011, 11:55 pm

Regardless of the date of publication, the answer to the question is actually really simple. People that are mean have very fragile egos. When they see that someone who is physically weaker than themselves accomplish brainy activities with ease, it makes their head explode. They realize that some people are actually far more adept than they are and they need to find a way to destroy them. Unfortunately, their methods are far too successful. I've experienced this personally plenty of times, and I'm sure others have as well. I like to take comfort knowing that I will be going to med school, while they will be floundering. You can't survive past high school without brains.


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