I picked up my eldest son and his friends from school the other
day and while driving I heard them talking about things that I have no idea
about. Nerd Stuff. That was my instant reaction. It was no surprise; my son is
a nerd who goes to a “nerd-high school” (it’s
actually a Regional Science High School for the slightly academically inclined
kids we like to call nerds) along with other nerd kids. It was nerd-this
and nerd-that for a good 30 minute drive home. The car was oozing with
nerdy-ness and it was probably flowing out the car windows. I didn’t mind
though because I always felt a certain amount of comfort, calmness and security
knowing that my son is a nerd rather than some delinquent, ill-mannered
acne-faced bully named Rodney. (Oh by the way, Rodney is a real person who
terrorized people, including me back in my day.)
For those of you who grew up in the 80’s just like me, I’m sure
you’ll remember the movie “Revenge of the
Nerds (1984)” about a bunch of geeky
college kids organizing their fraternity and becoming the most popular gang on
campus after being beaten and bullied by the much bigger and more muscular frat
boys. A few decades later, the movie became a reality. The nerds are here and
they’ve taken over.
The Nerd
A Nerd is defined by
the internet as a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, or
lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time
on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally
either highly technical, abstract, or relating to topics of fiction or fantasy,
to the exclusion of more mainstream activities.
The word “nerd” was first used in 1954 and was created by a geek doctor with the name of Seuss. They tend to be brilliant and focused on more academic pursuits, such as math and science, and less focused on social interactions.
Geeks are fanboys or girls and they
have an extensive knowledge of pop culture and obscure facts related to their particular
genres or areas of expertise. There are all kinds of geeks: movie geeks,
technology geeks, game geeks, comic book geeks and even food and wine geeks.
But get me wrong, there also geeky-nerds and nerdy geeks. (Only a nerd would know these facts.)
To set a better description, let’s
use technology: “The Nerds build them and the Geeks use them… and use them a
lot.”
A Better View of the Nerds
Long ago, the nerds are associated
with funny-looking glasses and weird haircuts. But today, the word nerd is synonymous
with a 6-digit salary.
How did that happen? It doesn’t
actually take a genius (or a nerd) to figure that out; because they know more
about so many things than the non-nerds.
During the better part of their formative
years (let’s say high school and college), the nerds are often unaccepted in
the general social circles (except when
you’re in a nerd school like my two older sons). So they focus on what they
do best: study and learn. And while the rest of the jocks, pretty faces, famous
personalities and trendy students in the school are so busy living a very short
life of fame and parties – the nerds are preparing for the real life ahead of
everyone.
Everything is Nerd
All the things in life that made it
better and easy are all products invented by a nerd. The gadgets, gizmos and
apps the world has come to love are all made by a nerd. Even the best looking
cars were designed by nerds. They built them. The world used them. The world
loved them. And now the world is dependent on them. Beware, even the best
weapons of war are designed by nerds.
Nerds and the Business World
Soon enough, the nerds not only
invented stuff they went on and took over selling these stuff.
Today, all the big companies in the entire planet are either owned
or being run by nerds. Here’s a few:
- Satya Nadella He was appointed as CEO on 4 February 2014, succeeding Steve Ballmer. Before becoming CEO of Microsoft, he was Executive Vice President of Microsoft's cloud and enterprise group, responsible for building and running the company's computing platforms, developer tools and cloud computing services. Nadella has an undergraduate degree in engineering and master’s degrees in both computer sciences and business. Before joining Microsoft he worked as a member of the technology staff at Sun Microsystems.
- Jeff Bezos of Amazon attended Princeton University and graduated with a B.S. in Engineering, specializing in electrical engineering and computer science. He used to be the President of the Princeton chapter of the Students for the Exploration and Development of Space. (Now that’s some freaking heavy nerd stuff.)
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Steve Jobs
- Bill Gates
- Tim Cook
Companies world-wide hire nerds as CEOs. Because nerds think
faster, calculate faster and they learn faster.
For example, a
typical marketing, accounting or management degree that takes the average,
non-nerd student four years to complete at a state college would take a nerd
half the time. And if you run a technology company you will do better if you
are a nerd. If you are investing in a technology company you will have more
chance of success if a nerd is leading it.
So from that skinny,
eyeglass-wearing kid who most likely got picked on; the nerd is now the boss…
the Man.
The World at the Hands of the Nerds
The world is being
run by nerds… both the physical world and the virtual one. Name one movie you’ve
ever loved and chances are a nerd made it. Star Wars, Titanic, Superman, Batman,
Spiderman and all the superhero movies – “Proudly Nerd-made”. Your favorite
app? Nerd-made.
My Advice:
The next time you met
a nerd… and I mean a real nerd and not those idiots who wear glasses and nerdy
clothes to impress girls or boys (this is actually going on because nerd is the
new sexy.), thank him in advance for the wonderful things and idea that nerd
will give this world.
If my sons ask me
later on for a fatherly advice about life, I’d probably tell them: BE A NERD.
Because I’m banking on his nerdy-ness as his way to a successful life.
To the nerdy kids of the world:
Let
the cool kids have the first slice of life and all the spoils from the top food
chain of your schools. After graduation, your nerdy passions will be your
ticket to money, power and success. You may even end up as leader; waiting
quietly to be a Senator or the President so you can have those bullies from
school work for you.
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