UberNoggin

Listening to Bob Edwards on XNPR the other day I heard a great interview with child psychologist David Anderegg about his new book Nerds: Who Are They and Why We Need More of Them.  Anderegg interviewed kids from 6th to 9th grade about nerds, what makes someone a nerd etc. In the interview he points out that nerds are often interested in subject matter that makes others bored, that nerds aren’t considered sexy or socially attractive. The kids mentioned that nerds wear pocket protectors and glasses, are usually male and interested in technology. All the stereotypes from “Revenge of the Nerds” that we’re all familiar with.

What piqued my interest was that the author didn’t seem to differentiate between nerds and geeks and I wonder if the line between them is blurring as technology enters the center of our culture rather than a fringe area of knowledge relegated to programmers living in their parent’s basement. Hackers are sexy in the media. Blogs that feature geeky topics (like BoingBoing, GeekDad, and LifeHacker) are handy to more than just nerds. Gizmos and gadgets are touted as boons to productivity and success, not relegated to the few who understand them. So the pocket-protecting wearing fringe have become the masses. The ramifications are huge.

One of my daughters (6 years old), when asked what Mommy does for a living, answers proudly “My mommy is a geek!” She understands that  technology is cool, that it makes mommy successful, and that computers are fun. I don’t think that she’d answer Anderegg’s questions the same. An interest in a topic that others find boring just doesn’t really exist anymore. Star Trek fans have hundreds of websites to use to connect to one another. Chess fanatics play online and discuss strategy. Interests that used to be considered “nerdy” can be mainstream when we have an unlimited amount of information channels, social networks, and other technologies that bring people together around common interest.

What do you think? Will there even be nerds and geeks in five years? Will the meanings of the terms change? Will it be acceptable, in a few years, to admit “I just don’t understand technology. I’m not geeky”?

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