So today I'm going to deviate slightly from my usual theme and write something that is nothing like my other posts. As much as I love ranting about female representation in the media and dissing sexism and that sort of thing, I felt like this was a post that really needed to be written. And, well, here I am.
The idea for this post came a couple months ago when I was texting one of my close friends. We were in deep discussion about one of the things that consumes the majority of our time- homework. It wasn't one big pity party in which we complained about how much homework we had to do (I say that because that has happened plenty of times), but a rather animated conversation about new things we had learned. My friend got particularly excited to tell me about a new concept she had come across in math and I was telling her about an essay I had read in my American History course. After a good half-hour of carrying on in this manner, we agreed that we were total nerds.
That happened again a few weeks later. I spent hours with the same friend trying to identify a tree together via Facebook and we were thrilled a few days after when we finally figured it out. And again- "we're such nerds."
But that kinda got me thinking. Sure, we kind of are nerds, but why do we have to use that term in a self-deriding manner? What's wrong with being excited about new insights into common events in history? Is it a problem to be intrigued by a new concept that should be somewhat helpful in the future? Absolutely not. However, I think the main reason that we felt that we had to "apologize" for our enthusiasm for learning with a derogatory word like "nerd" is because I doubt society would agree with my above statements.
In a world of "can't even" and "lol" and "idk", could it be more obvious that we, as a society, have decided that it's not cool to be smart anymore? We feel the need to bring down our level of intelligence in a very public way with text talk and hashtags, and we pin labels like "nerd" on anyone who shows a genuine interest in being something more than that. I'm not saying you're an uneducated animal if you're into that stuff- I, for one, admit to being guilty to the more-than-occasional abbreviation and intentionally horrid grammar while on the internet -but it seems pretty ridiculous to me that we've adopted this tragically unintelligent way of communication as the norm. It's alright as a way of communication if it feels more convenient, but I see no reason why we feel like we have to paint ourselves as less intelligent to be "cool".
It describes the way we've fallen into this awful way of speaking, about how it's no longer the cool thing to sound like you know what you're saying. The whole poem mimics the infamous internet tone, making statements sound like questions and inserting unnecessary fillers such as "like" and "y'know".
The end of the poem challenges its listeners to speak with conviction- to "say what you believe in a manner which bespeaks the determination with which you believe it". We have all this ridiculous little abbreviations and slang words that we use to do the exact opposite of that (however inadvertently). If we happen to be some of those whose sense of wonder and enthusiasm for learning still remains through this universe filled with an overwhelming sense of unintelligence, then why shouldn't we wear that proudly? Why does "nerd" have to be a bad thing? Why do we have to apologize for what we know when our own knowledge only adds to the positive things we can contribute to the world?
I guess what I'm trying to get at is that creating a culture where feel pressure and pressure others to act(and sometimes, consequently become) unintelligent seems counter-productive to creating a more enlightened society. And that starts with being proud of our nerdiness- not apologizing when we're so excited about FINALLY identifying that stupid tree, or getting a difficult math problem right. We shouldn't be embarrassed to be dedicated to our education, and shouldn't be ashamed of a precious love for learning. Why does nerd have to be an insult, anyway?
--Oswin
