On Nerdiness

You knew what I meant.  Nerd = one who passionately pursues knowledge or proficiency in a certain topic, particularly in subjects of an esoteric nature.  A compliment, if a backhanded one, as far as I'm concerned.

The term "nerd," however, carries certain derogatory connotations due to the implication that the person to whom it is applied has chosen pursuit of his knowledge to the detriment of his social life, even to the point of rendering himself socially inept.

Consider, however, the case of an individual who is sufficiently talented at study and sufficiently perceptive that he can attain nerd-level proficiency while maintaining a balance in his life of social and intellectual pursuits, so that unless someone engages him in conversation regarding one of his subjects of nerdiness, he is not readily discerned to be a "nerd."

Dubium: Is the term "nerd" applicable to such a person?
Responsum: Affirmative, with the following qualifications.  The substance of nerdiness is not to be found in the social ineptness customarily associated with nerds, but rather in the preponderance of knowledge or competence in a given intellectual topic relative to one's peers; though this itself, when it becomes apparent, can alter the social dynamic with non-nerds (or "normies," as we like to call them).  Such a person is properly termed a "stealth nerd."

It should be noted that, as established in the preceding paragraph, nerdiness has something of a relative quality to it: it is not merely the level of knowledge or technical competency that establishes nerdiness, but that level relative to what a social consensus considers a reasonable amount of enthusiasm for that subject given his state in life.  It should be further noted that professional competency and nerdiness can coexist, as in the case of someone who pursues a career in his subject of nerdiness in order to indulge his nerdiness or to make his nerdiness provide him with a living.  However, there are ways in which a person would perhaps be considered nerdy in other circumstances, but instead is considered well-suited to his calling - mostly offices in which one's duty to one's community call for an unbounded level of competence.

To illustrate, a private citizen who has amassed a disproportionate (relative to his peers) knowledge of the workings of government and current political issues might be considered a politics "wonk" (analogous to a nerd).  However, were the President of the United States not to do his utmost to have this kind of knowledge, he would be deficient in his duties.  The president, almost by definition, cannot be considered a "nerd" in this area no matter how thirsty for knowledge he might be, because there is no "ceiling" of where he should stop in order to seem normal.  Furthermore, his office makes it so that those in the general public who are less knowledgeable than he do not feel embarrassed or threatened by their relative lack of knowledge.

The final consideration, which reveals my earlier post to be perhaps insufficiently nuanced, is the fact that certain subjects have a certain augustness and dignity which allows some who are advanced in them to transcend mere nerdiness.  For instance, although one can certainly be a philosophy nerd, few would consider Socrates or Aristotle to be philosophy "nerds;" rather, they are wise men or philosophers.

Discuss: for which subjects does this hold true, and can you provide examples of people who qualify as one kind or the other?

Comments

[PeterTerp]

Exceptions:
I have a hard time imagining anyone who knows too much about sports being considered a sports nerd, although there are people I know who have a tremendous sports knowledge base who are considered nerds for other reasons. Athletics seem to emit a kind of nerdiness repulsion field, as if, in our culture, sports have been given such a high standing that no amount of knowledge on the topic is ever too much.
This might change, however, as geek culture becomes more prevalent.

[John]

Except for fantasy sports. Those are definitely not an exception to the nerdiness rule.

And I must inquire: was my last comment what inspired this essay?