Question about being called a Geek or nerd?

I’m a proud gay geek/nerd.

People who pick on geeks are just the type that see what they perceive as weakness and they seize on it. If they weren’t picking on geekiness they’d pick on fashion choices, sexuality, social status (including the section of town a kid lives in), or anything else they think will help them gain a leg up in life.

Just smile as they’re handing you your order through the drive-thru window 10 years from now.

A geek or a nerd does not necessarily equal intelligence.

A geek by definition is a person who is knowledgeable about and obsessively interested in a particular subject. While you may know a lot about a particular subject it does not mean your intelligence is above the average. Likewise a nerd is a person who is extremely enthusiastic and knowledgeable about a particular subject (mainly of niche interest).

Having clarified that, people tend to hate others who are different especially during their early teen years. The main reason is that humans want to belong to a certain group and be part of the majority. Hence why they tend to condemn people who are different than the average.

This is most notably when someone is above or below the average. It mostly comes from a sense of insecurity when we grow up making humans want to belittle the people worse than them. It is a similar case when humans want to bring down people better than them just to prove that they are at your level and there is no way they could be better than you (which is not true).

You also have to take into account that many bullies have a bad situation at home so they try to take it out any way they can on those around them. This is a very wrong thought process and it does not justify their actions.

At the end of the day, some humans are selfish creatures that like seeing that others have a life worse than theirs. The good thing is the vast majority of people rather do good than evil.

Hope this answers your question.

The origin of the word nerd was used to describe those who were socially inept and awkward. Someone who doesn't fit in, maybe not be as well groomed, and doesn't really stay up to date with current fashion. I guess the Venn diagram of those types of people overlap with those who are studious or also having a hyper focus. I don't think these people are disliked for being smart, they are disliked for being awkward or othered and in some cases, rude and unclean.

This might be hard to really reflect on now because geek culture is highly capitalized in the current day. I guess it's very mainstream to like geeky things. I think it has sort of shifted what these terms mean.

I also noticed that the biggest bullies towards nerds/geeks are other nerds/geeks. Be it in fighting in fandoms. Or others using it as a way to climb up the social ladder. Or the whole "I might be a geek but I'm not as bad as this guy." mentality.

As someone who was bullied at school I can say it's not envy but not being tolerant to someone who is different. Every group or society needs a scapegoat in some form. This means it's a convenient way to express agression you can't on others. It's a whole psychology.

On second thought, it's still envy but in less obvious way. People are envious because they can't be as eccentric and outstanding as creative people or geeks for example. They express it in unmotivated agression like condemnation or mocking.

Since technology is more accessible to get for the average person, we take it for granted since it has become so common in our lives that we forget the people behind it. But if you tell them, they will surely agree with you.^^

But the thing with smart people is... they don't need to brag about their intelligence.
If you're getting called a nerd/geek, nowadays it's more like, "Hey, I know a guy he's a total nerd about that topic," which implies that you're knowledgeable about it and can help them understand you better. As long as you consider the other person's feelings and don't overwhelm them with your knowledge, and especially don't make you the main focus by forcing them to listen to you, being a nerd/geek can be cool.^^

When it's intended as an insult, either you've come across a comical jock (which mostly appears in movies/shows/cartoons if you spend most of your time at home) or someone trying to get you, in which case you brush it off and don't let it get to you. They'll leave you alone in time.
Unless you're a "Well, ackchyually... " guy, then they call you that just to keep you away from them since you're rather annoying to deal with.

(Also, personally speaking, I consider a smart person to be someone who can adapt to a situation or problem quicker rather than someone who can recite what they read but doesn't understand the meaning of it.)

Think I was lucky enough that I wasn't bullied for being a geek.
Maybe it's a English school compared to an American one, or because I was a hothead who stood up for myself.
The only real bully was this one jerk but I think it was less about me liking Anime and more him being an asshole.

Anyway I'm in my thirties now and don't give a crap!
My doormat is an NES controller and I play Japanese songs with the window rolled down.
Trust me, adult geeking is way less stressful.

Man, fuck that self aggrandizing crap.

Being obsessive over the minutiae of some genre fiction is NOT a sign of being highly intelligent and creative. It's a sign of being obsessive.

The idea we are less misogynist or racist and more accepting than the mundanes is utter bullshit as well.

Christ...

@Katzalcoatl made it very clear.

I believe the problem is not intelligence at its own, there is very smart and intelligent people but their behaviors and overall interactions with other individuals affect the way they are perceived. Of course, in big crowds people will likely side with a mayority than being targeted like the individual that is different, or that forces their way to be different while disregarding the other people.

I have met very intelligent jocks, at the same time I met annoying geeks or nerds, same goes for teacher's pet.
I've met very relaxed people that everyone would think they were going to drop out of school, but was loved by everyone and they demonstrated how capable they were when it mattered.

There are a lot of geek/nerds that are particulary arrogant about feeling unique and special, some purposefully go and become an enemy of the group just to continue feeling some kind of superiority while playing the victim, something that the "common folk cannot comprehend". There are nerds and geeks that are just overbearing, having no societal norms, lacking social skills, imposing their preferences onto other people and shutting down anything that is not of their interest.

No one had an issue with the dude that watched anime but knew how to behave at school, with the one they had an issue was that classmate that came naruto running to class, wearing weird accessories out of the school norm that made them stand out, talking only and solely about anime and being dismissive of anything else that anyone else provides. And don't get me started when they bring their SHARP ninja weapons or being overal edgy because they just watched Mirai Nikki.

Same with that girl that had the most beautiful note book, nicely written, perfectly decorated and that anyone would love to study from since she is also smart and very reliable... but damn everyone hates her when she goes out of her way to ask the teacher to give more homework, not let anyone make a question and that the teacher should only assist her, she calling out if a classmate was doing "something wrong" (Not really, Jimmy and his other 3 friends were watching a surgery video hidden behind the stairs, why, because curiosity) and she basically makes the whole classroom feel like shit because no one is allowed to take the spotlight from her.

It's all a matter of the actions of the person that behaves differently, and what a mayority says. TV has made people think that bullies only go against the wormbooks with glasses or the weaks individuals who lack self love because many tv directors, or actors, illustrator and animators, have been pretentious at a certain point too. But in their eyes they probably still think they never did anything to piss other people off and thus, they create parodies of their bullies just to make them look bad so others say "Oh, poor nerd, they didn't deserve this".

There does exist that power play where one starts bullying a person that doesn't defend themselves and the rest join in. Yet there are several cases where both sides are to blame and the rest just doesn't tolerate their bullshit.

This, perfectly is this.

Not every creative or intelligent person is responsible of the things we love and enjoy, or there are things that we don't necessarily love enough to worship.
The geek or nerd doesn't seem to be an intelligent person to me, just someone with an hyperfixation or very obsessive interest. Intelligent people don't need to brag, don't necessarily seek some king of treatment for what others have created.

Yeah, someone created the iPhone... but it ain't neither me or you. Is like saying, oh because an Argentinian invented the walking stick for the blind, every blind person should show me some respect! No, I didn't create shit regardless of how creative or intelligent I might be, its not of a smart person to try to acclaim someone else's invention based on a trait we might, or might not share.

The simple answer is pride and ego.

Geeks and nerds (pop culture people and academic people) share a very singular devotion to their field of study. Often their devotion usually comes at the sacrifice of social skills. Their entire identity gets linked with their interest and if that gets challenged by someone they don't think is "worthy" (loose examples: women in STEM and "fake" geek girl), they get really upset and defensive.

However, if a geek/nerd spends equal time developing social skills and doesn't instantly fight to be the smartest person in the room - 99.9% of people don't really care about the geek/nerd labels.

I just wanted to say I'm really glad at least a few people pointed out that being a 'geek' or a 'nerd'
(a) doesn't necessarily have anything to do with intelligence...that's never really been what those words mean, at least not completely
(b) doesn't somehow mean you're "owed" respect because people like you (???) sometimes invent new things. If you're owed respect at all, it's simply because you're a human being, regardless of how 'intelligent' you are or how much 'potential' you seem to have. Whether you take humanity to the next technological paradigm shift or not, you don't deserve to be bullied.

Also:

I don't think ^this is true...O_o

Like other people have also pointed out, 'geeks' and 'nerds' are usually bullied simply for being different, for taking interest in things that "normal" people don't, often to the point of obsession. There's no reason the Western mindset alone should be responsible for this behavior; every society has social norms that might be violated by, say, liking anime too much, or being really into naval history.

I think there's a point to be made about individualistic societies like those found in the West having high levels of actual anti-intellectualism ("elitist eggheads can't tell me how to run my life")...but can one really say that this is 'more dominant' than how it tends to unfold in collectivist societies ("no one cares what you think if you can't conform; intelligence doesn't matter as much as fitting in")...?

Just for example, the long-running trope of the Japanese salaryman/officeworker feeling hopeless and downtrodden because all the power is in the hands of their idiotic bosses, and no matter how hard they work or how smart they are, they simply don't have the social currency or "right personality" to befriend those idiots and be promoted...
...is a trope for a reason. ^^; You're kidding yourself if you think this is mostly a Western thing.

The reason geeks and nerds are bullied is because EVERYONE is bullied. The popular kids get bullied by their own. The geeks and nerds bully each other. Everyone bullies each other. The ultimate bully is the popular kids do something that the unpopular kids don't even understand is bullying. Every kid thinks the popular kids bully the unpopular kids, picking on the lower rung of society. It's way worst than that. They don't know you exist. You could disappear and they wouldn't know any different. I was a popular kid, and we treated each other way worst than you could imagine. The unpopular kids? Don't even remember who they were.

Too many people talk about being bullied, but funny how no one bullies anyone. Where are all the bullies? They are you. Just at different tiers.

I got good grades in school. I knew a bunch of other classmates growing up who got good grades, even better than mine. We were never bullied for that stuff. I remember kids who acted like a know-it-all or thought they were superior to everyone were bullied. I knew this annoying kid who got good grades but he was also really rude and obnoxious and people bullied him. I remember I even called him out when he was spouting antisemitic stuff.

I think it´s a mix of being a loner, behaving socially awkward, weird
hobbies/interests + physical attributes which make people call
other people nerds or geeks.

The most popular girl in my class in the 80s was intelligent and played piano.
She wasn´t seen as a nerd because she 1) looked good 2) had friends

The good grade kids usually were usually popular.

We had that one kid who was 11 and wanted to talk about Einstein´s relativity theory
after school. The point that made him a nerd was that he was socially awkward and
didn´t know how to talk to other kids and not his intelligence

Because people that are geeks / nerds generally are socially awkward therefore throwing off the rest of normal society that interacts with them.

When there's a miscommunication going on, that's what causes prejudice, hate, etc.

So. The terms "geek" and "nerd" have definitely developed their usage and meaning over time. People call themselves nerdy and geeky now to identify their aesthetic, interests, and personalities to communicate that with other like-minded individuals.

Decades ago when it was being used as more of an insult, it wasn't really "against intelligence." Rather, it was against neurodivergence. When someone was a "geek" back then, it was usually someone who was of a single interest--someone hyper fixated on niche things and ideas. It wasn't about them being smart, it was about them being obsessive. Nerd was less insulting, I would say, but still used in opposition to someone who was more of a hermit and bookish. Bookish isn't a bad thing, but social isolation is.

The "taking back" of the terms geek and nerd began its development in the 90s when "loser culture" and "being real" was a big thing. To use the word on yourself was celebrating your deviation from acceptable social standards. In early 2000s, people started beginning to see a rise in more niche/cult subject matter because people were essentially calling themselves out for being a certain way or being into certain things--like a freaking beacon to call upon their fellow nerd, lol. The internet's developing social culture around that time allowed for both outward expression and simultaneous anonymity. And once nerdy subcultures were accepted into the social standard, we now have stores called "Think Geek" and have extremely successful industries centered around media that is consumed by people who refer to themselves as geeks and nerds.

Hope that wasn't too wordy.