Paul Graham - Latest Comments in Why Nerds are Unpopular

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Pablo Cougar — Thu, 13 Aug 2020 16:22:53 -0000

Sorpresivas declaraciones, Hulio @ATL - Hawks

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Retarded Nerd — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:42:50 -0000

Although being unpopular can be very miserable for nerds, there is something worse that has happened to this nerd. Being called mentally 'retarded' (not just figuratively, literally) during lunch for not saying anything the whole time hurts a lot more than simply being unpopular. Especially when this nerd thought he was smart, this comment really makes him doubt whether his perception of intelligence is true intelligence and not just a false facade.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Beavis&Butthead — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 11:36:15 -0000

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular
Because adults in schools don't favor smart people. They favor the obedient and popular. That's how they pre-train values to children. Then they wonder, that at the end America won't have enough scientists. Well, they have been driven to suicide some years ago. Where are our most brilliant people? In the graves, or - wounded by bullies - in the hospitals. Well done.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Izkata — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 22:12:10 -0000

It may be interesting for you to learn that I'm a "nerd" who did beat the system. Early on I realized that the sole credits to popularity are: Athleticism, Looks, and Friends (the in-crowd, that is).

Athleticism I easily replaced with smarts, I was naturally at least decent looking, and because I was smart and not nerd-looking, people from almost the entire spectrum of popularity was willing to talk to me, mostly for math help, but at least a couple from all the levels I stayed in contact with as loose friends.

I was never fully part of the in-crowd, though, as part of it involved pretended to be adults (Parties, too much makeup on the girls, alcohol, etc), without understanding what it meant, something I found completely pointless.

And before you try to say I could do it because of the school, ours had over 3000 people. 680 graduated in my class.

(Also, I've found "geek" to be the more appropriate term, as "nerd" is more and more associated with the 70s-style borked glasses and pocket protector, whereas geeks are more into gadgets and tech)

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Madalina — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:54:11 -0000

ok ,smartass, don't you think that your post is kind of LONG to be read by any human of average intelligence? At least you could've made us a favor :P

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

$311151 — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 17:42:50 -0000

I love this essay. However, I have had a different experience. I went to a private, academically focused school where nerds were well within the norms. Of course there was a popular crowd; most of them were also nerds in the scheme of things.

It was in the "real world" that I first encountered people who actually spent a considerable amount of time and energy on their social ranking and/or approval from authority figures. Guess this is why I am out of nonprofits and back in high tech! A supervisor at my last nonprofit job asked, "Doesn't it make you feel good when people say they like your ideas?" I was blindsided.

"Actually, no, I said. I'd feel better if they jumped in and responded to my ideas with a really good argument against it."

I confess. Nerd.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

greg22b — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 22:52:56 -0000

Nice essay. The world is very backwards and epically in High School. I like the fact that you notice nerds are focused on other things. Being a nerd, I was not just focused on typical nerd things but on family problems and the social issues i was experiencing as a "nerd". (Hey, I didn't choose it). That focusing alone lowered rank.
I still can't figure out how the world is cruel when everyone seems to be complaining about the same thing,.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

rm — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 18:23:28 -0000

I loved it. I am a very smart person that loves knowledge more than being with a crowd of popular people or even other people. I am the only African American goth in the school,the one man stand, and i am proud of it.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

vivekzone — Sun, 16 Aug 2009 10:22:26 -0000

PG, that was a beautiful piece. I am quite surprised there are quite a lot of high school students out here who actually read this blog ! You are absolutely right when you say it isnt as bad for nerds elsewhere around the world. It beats me that Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian can be bigger celebrities than say Larry Page or Sergey Brin!

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Journ — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 22:45:09 -0000

Go nerds!

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

metalhead — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 21:15:53 -0000

look im a metal head freshman that breaks rules we dont do it because we want to be part of a group we do it beause its fun. i dnt care what others say about me because my boys stand by me.if i was in a clique it wold be what we call the F**k you group nerds at are school arent smart. they are creepy people that play vid games to much are lazy and dont go outside. i ragged on a guy 30 minutes for his sweater never wore it again and he got alot more friends.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

wigglyworm91 — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 13:12:01 -0000

I go to a large high school (about 800 people per grade), so it's easy for us to separate into various groups and stick to ourselves. In fact, we so rarely interact with the other groups, that I haven't really experienced this (even in classes; we have some pretty specialized electives)

Where I did notice this was in middle school... fewer opportunities to separate the nerds from the jocks.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Dawn — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:52:18 -0000

I greatly enjoyed this essay, thanks so much for it. It seems to point indirectly to the potential for home schooling or unschooling to better meet the needs of a child, especially a child interested in more then clawing their way to the top of the pile.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

idk — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:00:54 -0000

I'm like, 1/3 of the way through the article but I disagree with most of what was said. But then and again, I go to a magnet high school (that *supposedly* picks out the smart kids) and went to an art middle school.
Still, I really don't think it matters how smart you are so much as how you act. I hate people like Hermoine who raise their stupid hands for every single question they know the answer to. Keep your hand down and raise it when there's a hard question that no one else knows, damnit.
Now I'm conflicted and confused. Are normal high schools really still like this? Really? At my school, the smarter you are, the more respect you have from everyone, especially if you're modest (aka not annoying) about how smart you are.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

travman — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 22:22:03 -0000

Apparently,were I come from, not wearing the stupid wide brimmed hats with logos all over them, wanting to sit out of the things like football or soccer(so I don't make a fool out of myself when I don't catch something) . Don't get me wrong, I was pretty good at baseball and football when I was younger. Then I watched a show on the History channel. Now I read books like 1984, Brave new world, animal farm. People ask me why I dont play sports. And I ask them why. In the not so distant future I wont need to be able to hit a homer or the a ball 50 yards!!!! I dont really care anymore. I'd rather read the classics and be able to make smart,logical answers while enjoying a couple games of Halo 3.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Cheyenne — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 22:31:51 -0000

I stumbled upon this essay while browsing Google for things about high school. I'm starting next month and i thought i needed a little perspective about what it will be like.

I do wonder if high school now has become a little less feral than what it seems to have been in your experience. I guess i will just have to see. Although if it isn't..then thanks for the heads up. I've never cared about popularity. If i make a new friend, then hey, that's great. I'd rather have a few friends that are amazing and trustworthy than a million 'friends' that only care about their social position. But then, at the same time, i am self-conscious of what those 'populars' (i just call them preps) think.

My friends call me a nerd because i really pay attention in class (not necessarily good grades), and LOVE reading. But yet they are 'nerds' too because they're interested in non-prep things and/or don't have the athletic abilities. Labels are really just thrown around these days. What a person really is, what they call themselves, and what others call them are all really different things.

I'm not sure what my point is with this, but thank you for your thoughts/insight/disaster. I'll keep it in mind this school year :]

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

karlamari — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 04:35:37 -0000

absolutely fantastic, kudos my friend, im currently residing in highschool, its truely awful. i´m not a nerd or anything but i do find myself trying to fit in with these insane people. Its nice to have a better´perspective on it.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Mason Wheeler — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 22:54:56 -0000

You're dead on with the historical comments. There's no such thing, objectively speaking at least, as "adolescence." It's an invention of modern America, a confused state in which people are expected to behave as adults while receiving none of the privileges and rights pertaining to adulthood. This is a bunch of crap, of course.

It's safe to say that anyone who comes through here is most likely nerdy enough to be familiar with Spider-Man. We all know and understand that with great power comes great responsibility. Thing it, it works both ways. With great responsibility comes great power. It's like a balance scale, or an algebraic formula: the two sides have to be equal, and this is intuitively obvious to any well-developed mind.

"Adolescence" violates this basic psychological principle by adding social responsibility in large doses with no corresponding increase in rights (social power.) If adults wonder why teenagers act crazy, they ought to consider the way they drive them to insanity by imposing upon them violations of the fundamental principles of the human psyche.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

maymie — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 06:05:06 -0000

well, i dont know why my friends perceive me as nerd. I am not a nerd. Do i get good grade? Yes, i do, but with lots of effort. I think i am just a type of person who just want to make everything at my full potential. I dont read everyday. I dont pay attention in class. But I just like to get assignments or readings done in advance so that I don't have to put myself in a miserable/stressful mode. I saw my friends and other students complain about how busy they are, how many hours they slept ... to me, it's all about managing time. Unfortunately, people just think i am a nerd....

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

Fuck nerds — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:43:45 -0000

Your all fucken gay cunts.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

eikinkloster — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 19:39:31 -0000

Nerds are a tiny minority. Let's say, 2% of the frail. If a male nerd is to date a female nerd, he is that limited in his choices. It's no surprise those he'd feel atracted too were in other 98%.

Plus nerddom doesn't distribute simmetrically. In my Engineering class there were half a dozen girls for almost a hundred guys.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

veronica11 — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 05:47:55 -0000

Im not popular, or nerdy or ordinary, but i have this stupid learning problem called asperges (the smart version) so it makes me not know how to communicate properly with others. its a struggle to talk to my own friends and an impossible problem because i cant even make myself talk to class mates. but I'm a chatter box i love to talk and once u get me started u cant stop me but at school i just cant bring myself to chat. also my learning prob is more than that it makes me light sensitive so at school i look at the ground a lot because every thing so so bright and i have trouble smiling so i look depressed. and im actyly pretty and i look normal. my life sucks.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

yanalaugh — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 04:11:13 -0000

Whoever you are, you are a genius. I have never read anything so dead on - so compelling.

I was a nerd - who did desperately believe I wanted to be popular - but you are right, I never did put my heart into it like I put my heart into reading Pygmalion or studying the lines in the school play. LOL. Nor would I have honestly traded my IQ for popularity. Not then. Maybe in retrospect, but not then.
And it is interesting that the smartest kids aren't the most ridiculed in every country - far from it. That is a pretty British thing, actually.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

ekstos — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:51:27 -0000

I think there are different types of nerds: the Trekkies, and the ones who read this article (that's me!). I, though I would say I put finishing projecteuler.net as a higher priority than friends, have quite a few.

Re: Why Nerds are Unpopular

chaosakita — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 22:25:11 -0000

I read a printout of this article a couple of weeks ago at some sort of youth in government extracurricular program with my fellow overachiever nerds, and I was confused. It would be a huge stretch to call me popular, but I'm hardly the opposite. Are people talking behind my back or what?