Fed up of Nerd Elitism.

[Captain Bubonicus]

I saw a comedian (can't remember which one) point out that back in the day, you had to hide your porn but you could leave your D&D books laying out. Now, you have to hide your nerd books, but you can leave the porn out on the coffee table.

[bfmusashi]

Step 1: Know your geeky hobby is stupid as hell
Step 2: Celebrate how stupid it is. I don't mean ironic derision, I mean straight up grab onto that stupid and hold on tight, because the stupid is where the fun lives.
Step 3: Actively put people in their place that use their stupid hobby as a way to express power over others.

I've also never understood cross fandom hate. Like Warhammer Vs. Warmachine/ Star Wars Vs. Star Trek/ MMO A Vs. MMO B/ etc. like they can't be enjoyed mutually.

[YorkNecromancer]

Nerd elitism is the exercise of power - it's about the use of social power or status to achieve a sense of control at the expense of another. It's a form of refined social aggression, a way to assert dominance without the use of violence or name calling which would bring down social censure from the others in the group.

Despite what they might have been told, nerds and geeks are basically exactly like everyone else. In education, you're taught that when children are aggressive there are three basic stages of aggressive behaviour: think of them as 'levelled up' versions of the previous one. The most obvious is violence, the second is name calling, and the final is social exclusion. Children learn very quickly that violence is the most obvious and thus the hardest to get away with; indeed, the only people who retain the use of violence as their key method of aggression tend to be quite seriously socially maladjusted.

Name calling is a little easier to get away with, so that lasts longer: indeed, if it's possible to get away with it, it flourishes as a form of aggression. Just look at the problems of Xbox Live, filled to the brim with little boys, so desperate to assert themselves over others that they will use the foulest racist, sexist and homophobic language because it is the most powerful, and thus most fully demonstrates their dominance.

Finally, the most sophisticated form of aggression is excluding people socially. This is the one girls learn quickest, because we as a society are quicker to chastise them for the other two than boys. Social exclusion is a form of aggression which is almost impossible to stop, because the aggressive, punitive form looks exactly the same as the passive 'I just don't like this person' form, and is impossible to police. Given that being 'kicked out' of your primary social group is one of the most terrifying things which can occur in the first world, the power social exclusion holds is tremendous. To anyone who says otherwise, I give you the thing we call 'peer pressure', which works entirely on the fear of being rejected by one's peers. How many children take up smoking just to fit in? How many soldiers have done terrible things because their buddies were? Fear of social rejection is a profound and atavistic thing, and if exploited, can be exceedingly powerful as a tool of social control.

Thus, a person with the desire to exert power through aggression can always use social exclusion as their prime tool to assert that dominance - the dominance they frequently feel is lacking in the other aspects of their life. They can't control their job, their chances, their whatever - we all feel powerless a lot of the time after all - and so they exercise it in those ways that they can: by 'punishing' others for whatever percieved 'wrong' they are interested in. Someone who knows more about X will have expertise, and thus power in the field of X. Thus, while they cannot feel powerful in the 'real world', they are powerful in the field of X, meaning they take it out on others in the field.

When you were at school, you could have been picked on by those 'cool kids' who had social power because they flouted the rules - it might have been because you don't smoke, or because you didn't like football; it could be because you like the uncool band, or because you're Jewish, or black, or a woman, or a Muslim or whatever. The excuse is irrelevant, all that matters is the behaviour, which almost always comes from a place of personal insecurity: they didn't have power somewhere, but they had power over you. It's often got misogyny because that's a place of power for men, whether they want it to be or not. The source of the power is irrelevant - look at TERFs: they pick on trans women becase they have the 'power' of being born genetically female.

Consider that those who get all nerd elitist are doing so because they're basically insecure and scared - they don't have a stable sense of their own validity - so they exercise what little they do have over those they percieve as 'lesser' than them, based on their prior life experiences. Hence why women get patronised: because there are no female geeks. After all, they've never seen one, which means that any they actually encounter are, by definition, lying. It becomes a vicious, self-fulfilling prophecy, driven by their desperate insecurity.

As a side note to this, I like the fact that GW proudly admit they do no market research, then say that they don't make female models because boys will stop buying, and no girls play wargames. It's like: how do you know this if you've never done market research?

"Because those are my personal experiences from growing up, and there are no female geeks. I mean, I've never seen one, which means that any who say they are, are liars."

I post this story here as it's linked to this: [url]http://jezebel.com/pregnant-woman-discovers-husband-is-vile-reddit-troll-w-1616741523[/url]

Here's someone who feels powerless in life, so he engages in the most reprehensible behaviour to take back what he feels is a measure of control. It's clear: he's the one with the problem, but yet because he's too insecure to face up to that, let alone do anything about it, others suffer. As with so many things in life, the first step is admitting you have a problem.

[Chronowraith]

I think that the stereotype of geeks being bullied is just that, a stereotype. Some get bullied, some don't. I think whether they get bullied has more to do with the social skills of them and those around them.

Case in point... I've never been bullied at work, school, or anywhere else about my geekyness. I've had people call what I do "dumb" or "nerdy" but that's not bullying. That's simply an uninformed opinion. Of course, maybe I was never bullied because of my size and appearance (I don't look like a geek) but that's just a guess.

Most bullying I see being done to other geeks/nerds/etc comes directly from others who claim the same status. They feel they must prove they are a better nerd than others.

[eldargal]

I've also never understood cross fandom hate. Like Warhammer Vs. Warmachine/ Star Wars Vs. Star Trek/ MMO A Vs. MMO B/ etc. like they can't be enjoyed mutually.

Yup that annoys me too. I grew up watching Star Wars and Star Trek and lots of others and I love them both dearly and loving one doesn't cheapen my love of the other.

Great post YorkN.

[Cap'nSmurfs]

Great post, YorkN.