For some of my nerdy friends, it appears that wishes do come true. Now, to ensure we get off on the right foot, I don't mean 'nerd' as a pejorative, just as a casual description. For as long as high school movies have existed, nerds have been the object of fun, but recently many have started being proud of their skills, and even their ineptness. As I said, they got their wish: somehow, against all odds (and definitions), nerds are becoming popular.
To find proof of the rising status of nerds, you only need to direct your attention to TV shows like Beauty & the Geek,"" ""Chuck"" and ""The Big Bang Theory."" (On second thought, don't really watch them; they're not all that good. But, you get my point.) In each show, nerds are depicted with reasonable accuracy, as is whatever obscure nerdy topic they're discussing, usually physics. (""The Big Bang Theory"" is the best at this, seamlessly weaving Oppeheimer, Mandelbrot and Klingon phrases into the punchlines.)
As TV nerds rise to the occasion, the public also appears to be growing a bit nerdier. The Sept. 25 release date of Halo 3 saw $170 million worth of sales, according to MSNBC, more than any opening day for anything in history. Now, it might be hard for some younger readers to believe, but not too long ago video games were considered extremely nerdy; the fact that one could outperform the film industry so decisively would have been considered shocking.
Could it be that, just as nerdy activities become increasingly mainstream, so could other currently unpopular activities? Is it just a matter of time before a show like ""Who wants to be a mathematician?"" becomes a hit? Are Dungeons & Dragons matches going to replace clubs (or wherever you kids meet nowadays) as the new hip places to be? Will plaid become the new black?
Probably not.
For one thing, D&D will never, ever, become hip. But, for another, nerds aren't being assimilated into society, they're just becoming more visible. The shows I mentioned above, while doing a nice job (certainly better than past shows) of portraying nerds as real people with emotions and all that, still paint them primarily as one-dimensional nerds. They're good at math, computers and physics, but bad at talking to others, especially girls. I mean, heck, that's the whole point of ""Beauty & the Geek"" (and what makes it so entertaining). It's nice to see more nerds taking center stage, but it'd be even nicer if they didn't perpetuate the existing stereotypes.
As for Halo 3, well, it's what some hard-core gamers refer to as a ""frat video game."" To hope that Halo 3's success is an indication that nerds will be better accepted would be like hoping that football players' popularity will rub off on the marching band. It's not really how things work.
So, what are nerds to do? Are they doomed forever to toil as unpopular and unhappy mental laborers? Again, probably not. Most of the ""nerds"" I know (and it's a lot) aren't really as nerdy as you'd think. UW-Madison math professor Joel Robbin, a person knowledgeable (and connected) in one of the nerdiest fields, agrees. ""There's a whole gamut of human personalities,"" he said. ""And I'm not aware that we're all viewed as nerds."" The classical nerd portrayal, as seen in ""Beauty & the Geek"" or ""The Big Bang Theory,"" ""is not true.""
For most nerds, it's not so much a choice between smarts or popularity, but achieving a comfortable balance. Some of us prefer sucrose with our C8H10N4O2, and others just want sugar with our coffee. The fact both are easy to get is just more proof that wishes can come true after all.
Wanna talk nerdy to Bill? E-mail_ science@dailycardinal.com.
