(one quick note, this is in no way a response to Elfarmy's recent post, as I've been planning on writing this for days)
"I think when people talk about nerdiness what they're really talking about are smart people who are trying to think hard about the world. And I don't think that's an insult, I think that's a great thing."
---John Green
I have spoken very often to friends of mine(and nowhere near enough on this blog) about what I like to call "country club mentality". Country Club Mentality, as I define it, is when you decide that whatever religion or country or state or church or group you happen to be part of is the best because it's the best and only people who are part of whatever it is you are part of are great people. "God Bless The USA" "Only Christians Go To Heaven" "When people talk about nerdiness what they're really talking about are smart people who are trying to think hard about the world" Ectera Ectera
I have....problems with this mindset and, in fact, I view it as the cause of a great many of our society's problems. John Lydon(or Johnny Rotten as he used to be called) once said that "National Pride Leads To War And Hate, Nothing Else, Planet Earth All The Way"(you'll be seeing that quote again) and while I don't 100% agree with that I certainly agree with it to a point.
And now we come to the "Nerd Movement" and where I start alienating a great many of my readers. It has become cool to be uncool. People are changing who they are so as to appear that they refuse to change who they are. Not Fitting in has become the new fitting in. And I have had enough of it.
A large number of people of my generation have decided that they are nerds and, because they are nerds, they must like certain things. All these so called nerds love John Green, Youtube Based Musicians, and Joss Whedon. They all do, all of them. When every member of a group loves the same things you don't have a group of people who are outcasts you have a fraternity.
That John Green quote is one of the finest examples of CCM(Country Club Mindset) that I have ever read. All nerds like to think intelligently about the world and that's the defining characteristic of the group? Really? To me that is not only ludicrous but offensive. Jocks can be just as smart and think just as hard about the world as nerds. Geeks, Punk Rockers, Emos, they can all be smart and think about the world. And someone who has as much sway with as many people as John Green has should know better than to play into age old stereotypes. He should have known better.
In the day of yore everyone agreed that Kings and Queens had the right to rule because God gave them the right to rule. They ruled because they were supposed to rule. We use almost the exact same logic today. Nerds are the best, because they're the smartest. Why are they the smartest? Because they're nerds. Logicians call that a circular argument and is a logical fallacy. But that is the thought process that CCM is based on. We're the best because we're the freaking best. USA USA, Won't you be a nerdfighter like me?
I am a firm believer in being diverse. Just because I listen to Punk Rock doesn't mean that I can't listen to showtunes. I like punk and I like showtunes and if you have a problem with that, that's your problem. Just because I watch the occasionally reality show doesn't mean I can't enjoy Doctor Who or Parks and Recreation or The West Wing. Just because I love Inception doesn't mean I can't love Frost/Nixon or True Grit. I am a firm believer in being a cultural omnivore(a term taken from one Linda Holmes on NPRs Monkey See.) When you devote yourself entirely to one thing or one style or one genre you miss out on all this awesome stuff in different styles and genres. That's why the argument "Oh Reading is so awesome, way better than watching that stupid television" strikes me as being very uniformed. Books are a medium and television is a medium, to say that one is better than the other just because some things created in the other are garbage is silly. Have there been mind-numbingly stupid tv shows? Yes, but have you read some of the YA books being published today?
Every medium, every group, ever organization has merits and disadvantages, which is why being exclusively in one group or organization or medium is never a good idea. Openness creates diversity and diversity is where greatness comes from.
I don't see the point in being in a group in which EVERYONE thinks the same things. Walk up to almost any nerdfighter and ask them their opinion of "Once More With Feeling" and they will, almost to a man, rave about it till the cows come home. Where are the nay sayers? Where is the independent thought? It, to me, is the same as when Christians identify themselves first and foremost as Christians. They listen to Christian music, watch Kirk Cameron Movies, and read inspirational books they are closing themselves off to the world and Nerds are doing the exact same thing. And it makes me mad.
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6 comments:
1. I have no idea which post you're referring to that this post is not referring to.
2. Bear in mind while reading the rest of my comment that I actually agree with a lot of what you said here.
3. However
4. You have clearly not spent enough time on Nerdfighter Secrets or the nerdfighter forums. There is a TON of dissent. Yes, the whole point of it being there is that these dissenters feel excluded, which I agree is bad, but there certainly is independent thought. There are nerdfighters who don't like Green novels whatsoever, who say many of the same things you do about them. Among other things.
5. I don't think the John Green quote is intended to say "all nerds are smart and only nerds are smart." Never in their videos have they said "nerds are the only awesome people." It's all "we are nerds and we are also awesome. Separately. And guys, being a nerd isn't a bad thing."
It was kind of always the point to make the outcasts feel like they belonged somewhere. It's not a "being uncool is cool" thing. It's a "there are other people like you" thing. People like to feel like they belong. There definitely are people who take it to an unhealthy extreme (and if you think I'm one of those people, go read Eff Yeah Nerdfighters sometime. I do not have John Green quotes tattooed on my body, thank you, nor do I want there to be)
6. YouTube is just another medium. Yes, there is a lot of "nerdy" music on there. But not all YouTube-based musicians make "nerdy" music. Be fair.
To me, it's not a "my group is the only awesome group and I shall stay within this group" thing. For some people it is, but you shouldn't bash on the group itself.
You just see the Pizza John shirts (which are admittedly creepy) and the DFTBA-ing.
There are a lot of lonely, isolated pre-teens and teens who turn to nerdfighteria for a sense of "hold on, there is a place where being myself is cool. I am going to devote myself to this thing." Some people use it to make themselves better and then detach the center of their life from that thing. Others don't. But that's a personal thing, not an issue with the community itself. (And I realize I might sound somewhat brainwashed...As I said, I agree with a lot of what you said. I just also think you're being a bit unfair in some respects.)
You make some interesting points but I have to disagree with you on some things.
First(or 5), The Green quote is clearly saying that nerds=smart people who think deeply about the world. It is not necessarily saying that only do that but I believe that his intention is to say "Nerds are the best!" and the way he did that was by playing into cliches about people. Nerds are the smart ones, Jocks are the dumb ones, Goths are the depressed ones, and I don't like that.
Second(6) I don't believe I ever said that all youtube music is nerdy and I know I never said it was bad. I just don't like that people listen to that exclusively.
I think you may have misunderstood my point which isn't that groups are bad, it's that changing yourself to be in a group is bad. Devoting yourself exclusively to one group is bad. And I pick on the nerd groups specifically because I think that they portray themselves as being all about being true to yourself, and they are just as bad as any other group.
Also I don't see how you can look at that Green quote and not say that he is saying that the Nerds are awesome people, all nerds, just because they're nerds. That is Country Club Mentality, and that is what bothers me.
Maybe "nerdiness is awesome because it is nerdiness," but not "nerds are awesome because they are nerds." And I think there's a small but important difference there.
You didn't say all YouTube music is nerdy in the post, no. But we've talked about it before, in regards to my limited musical exposure and what does and does not count as nerdy music. You said that since YouTube is such an inherently nerdy platform, all music created on it is therefore for nerds and is therefore nerdy.
Second to last paragraph in your comment-- agreed.
I'm almost finished with...not a counter-post, but a companion post, I guess would be the word.
Hello again, linked over from aforementioned companion post. I enjoyed the post, and definitely agree that CCM can be problematic.
However, from the context of the quote, it seems clear that John is responding to people who would use "nerd" as an insult, and trying to console those against whom "nerd" is used as a weapon. I was definitely a nerd before it was cool (great, now I'm a hipster nerd), so I appreciate any attempt made to make nerds feel more comfortable in their skin. If making nerd the new cool serves to do so for a couple of people I'll probably support the project, on the belief that those belonging to traditionally popular groups are unlikely to be socially disadvantaged due to the shift in what is popular. That said, I doubt it will work in all, or even most, situations, because there will become a "right kind of nerd." Hmm, that might be worth its own blog post come to think on it.
Insofar as it is meant to heal rather than hurt, huzzah to John's quote. One of the things that Hank addressed a year and a half ago is that Nerdfighters thinking that they are awesome SHOULD not imply that they think non-Nerdfighters are not awesome. This video and the one it links to explain the concept, though even I must admit that I thought Dan Brown's video was overly saccharine when I watched it last summer, but that just could be because Dan Brown, through no fault of his own, rubs me the wrong way. So I think the proper interpretation of John's quote is that, in a Venn Diagram, nerds are inside the circle of smart, thoughtful people, not that the two sets are necessarily equal.
Indeed, if one assumes his statement is meant to be definitional, then the fact that there are jocks, goths, emos, skaters, preps, punk rockers, and geeks who are smart and thoughtful must necessarily imply that they too must be nerds, if that is to be the definition of nerd. And, even though I don't think John intended to define nerd when he said that, I think it is worth keeping in mind that people can be affiliated with multiple groups.
I also agree that casting a wide net when trawling media and genres is beneficial. Here is a wonderful blog post on a relevant topic ;) Once again, thanks for the post, and I've been enjoying your playlist as I write this response.
@Kenny the thing I linked to in said "wonderful blog post" (thanks, btw) is from a blog to which rock4ever95 introduced me himself. :)
I'd forgotten about the tribe video. The one issue with that is some people could take it as "I will help these people because I am awesome and awesome people help others" rather than "I want to help these people" (which would up the awesome factor). I was subscribed to Dan Brown for a little bit, but eventually un-subbed because while I didn't mind his videos, his viewers (The Pogobat Tribe) made me feel uncomfortable. They come across much more culty than nerdfighteria does, in my opinion.
And I like what you said about one interpretation of the quote being a redefining of "nerd" to encompass other "rival"/mutually exclusive groups.
Unfortunately I have no such reasonable explanation for my dislike of Dan Brown. I'm pretty sure it is just because he is a charming, good looking person and I have residual distrust for such people, admitting you have childhood prejudices doesn't make them go away unfortunately.
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