The Nerd Bubble and its Inevitable Collapse

It seems as if every contemporary identity conforms tightly to passively consuming the dismal excretions of this benighted age. Wherever you look, there are people insisting that what they are consuming is correct and necessary to a happy life. There is always the insistence that 'my kind need X too' (as if it were a surprising epiphany) and other ridiculous rhetoric such as inherent uniqueness. These beliefs have always been enthusiastically embraced, ruthlessly mocked, or completely ignored depending on the relative wisdom and maturity of the observer. There is one sort of contemporary identity that excels at absorbing all others and is generally 'on the make' as they say.

In 2007 there began an incredible shift in the behavior of Ur Hipsters, and/or they were found to possess certain interests and traits that, innocently enough, bordered the long dormant cultural powerhouse sometimes referred to as 'nerd culture'. Suddenly the coolest individual at the bar who liked the right music, played on the most epic amateur sports team, fucked the most attractive people, and partied the hardest was busy painting W40K miniatures as a hobby, played D&D on Sundays, and knew how to code. By 2013 there is a weird sense in the air that 'nerdy' pursuits and habits are necessary just to communicate.

It is as a certain bad 80's movie had prophesied. Like any decent historical inevitability, the rise of nerd culture was complex and in many ways self-fulfilling. The smart, awkward kid getting bullied in the 70's and 80's grew up into a normalized yuppie or yupster or suave po-mo individualist making good money doing engineering work or intense research or crucial computer work. Good or bad, they acted as the lifeblood of modernity. Their progeny, the current generation of 'young nerds' and/or the current 'nerd wave' movement, is an entirely different animal. Arguably, despite the surprising population of well-adjusted and balanced nerds, there is evidence to suggest that the much of the modern wave is quixotic, dysfunctional, and generally disinterested in aging measures of success such as social popularity, physical fitness, conformity, and party intensity.

I always get the idea that the mainstream nerd movement left the rails completely in the early 2000s. I get this idea because of the link posted above, wherein (and you might have missed this) a reality TV show tailored to nerds actually existed. The comicbook-style text boxes were so tasteful, so apt. There never was a nerd movement as such (as it was anecdotal to many other factors), but the word itself has gained such traction with increasing numbers of people, that one might rightly be said to exist at this point. And to be perfectly blunt, from the perspective of the modern identity fetish, it was probably a long time coming. Also completely inevitable. Mind you: I am no expert on nerd history, nor would I ever claim to be one.


All things considered, I see 2013 as the year of the Nerd Bubble. Whether it will collapse or rise remains to be seen, and its sign is the internet. What is does this sensationalist jargon mean? It is only the logical outcome of intensified electronics consumerism, intellectual exploitation, memetic behaviors, identity fetishism, globalism, and post-secondary education. Its effect on the current young adult demographic is blindingly obvious and its hollowness and ubiquity mark it clearly. With the incipient Wireless Society and all its intrigues and exhibitionism, its effects on the rest of society have been no less spectacular.

Their awkwardness is mythical. Their isolation breaks all previous records. Their interests verge constantly with perverse and noxious things. They form a lucrative market. They are renowned for their earnestness and enthusiasm. Their sense of creativity is as large-scale and intense as it is derivative. The ideal nerd goes well beyond many of those traits – but as with all the known world, reality is imperfect. The – holy fuck, yikes – ideal nerd is that guy, whose name escapes me, who created (or appropriated, or whatever) facebook. Steve Jobs was also an ideal nerd. Tina Fey is yesteryear's ideal woman nerd. These people and others like them are the 'film' of the bubble, for anyone still following, and the gas filling it is imperfect nerds who are fucking proliferating right now.

One in three people*, it seems, is or proclaims to be a nerd. It depends on where one looks, and in lots of places it is still more than a one in ten ratio – in any case there are a bunch, and if you don't know a nerd you are either a bigot or very isolated. Nerd culture is heavily consumerist, stemming in particular from the 80's toy advertisement morning cartoon mentality and the equally consumerist comic book tradition, which is heavily 50's, as well as the pedigreed speculative and science fiction literary traditions which stem from the late 1800's. Fantasy and horror genres also play their part, and fantasy in particular has become a monolithic force (see Lord of the Rings, Twilight, etc...). The seething mess of modern video game culture is the sterling standard for nerd consumerism.

Hence the geek dating TV show, which is honestly quite biased. The arch-nerd MC/announcer, for instance, consistently makes exceptionalist claims to the point where a comic convention becomes an otherworldly affair that would be inexplicable or traumatizing to the outsider. The proceedings of the show are borderline saccharine but with such a nasty, reality edge that they become caustic. At one point, a man identifying with a brand admits to abandoning or sacrificing relationships on grounds of his attachment to the brand and its products, which he prominently displays at his home. Imagine the great trajectory of a first or third date after you've shown off your Legos.

Now imagine the trajectory of a movement rooted in highly insular, unpopular, often dysfunctional and bitter people whose childhoods are limited to their hobbies and habits, and whose ability to socialize is highly dependent on shared enthusiasm for a specific type of entertainment product. Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, good or bad, was the birthplace of the post-modern nerd movement. It was significant before that point, but since then it has gotten wildly popular. Freaks and Geeks is the authentic end-point of the second-wave nerd, and portrays the now-defunct-or-overblown historical culture aptly enough. Don't worry, none of this is as mythical as it seems.

Many people classified as nerds were bullied and/or ostracized in their youth. They didn't have a lot of luck, and some of them had no social outlets for their interests. The most staunch nerds are least likely to self identify as such, and many of them view the current movement with distrust, because they suffered for their behavior and failed to leverage it into a glamorous lifestyle. They played single player games in basements, argued with people on the internet over ludicrous issues, and barely managed to grow up, if at all, and their hatred of the burgeoning popularity of 'nerds' is a childish reaction to having their toy taken away or being forced to share it. Their few friends shared the tacky life of fantasy novels and insipid and childish video games, and nothing they did together could be classified as vice. Lots of them ended up making good money and knew where to spend it, some of them are extremely knowledgeable. Some of them (and especially the callow young) are among the most venomous exceptionalists on earth, for all their precious, bumbling harmlessness.

The idea of ownership is intense when one has sacrificed much for it. See American gun owners, or displaced aboriginal tribes in the Americas, or a male nerd who cannot peacefully accept a female nerd without challenging her credentials and integrity. The outright vicious reaction to the modern nerd girl by certain male nerds is an absolutely fascinating and intensely uncomfortable thing to witness. I won't go into it here, but it is (or was, and will be) a hugely important moment in nerd history. It is worth mentioning that the archetypal imperfect male nerd is an introvert deeply uncomfortable with femininity as anything but a vague, exploitative sexual construct.

But enough of this meandering, to get to the point: the Nerd Bubble and its Inevitable Collapse. Why? As nerds proliferate, darker and darker sectors of their dysfunction and fetishism come into being. If you dare, run some internet searches on keywords such as 'brony' or 'furry'. Odds are you have heard of these things already, and they are exemplars of modern nerd movements. Bronies in particular take pride in an insular, infantile, and consumerist lifestyle; their argument is that theirs is at least non-destructive (e.g. no substance abuse, gender progressive, highly tolerant, animal-rights, conformity with legal systems). The dark side is that they avoid maturity and pain, exist in a shallow and blunted social sphere, and rabidly follow a children's television show.  They are also highly opinionated about their right to exist, their superiority compared to other youth (reminiscent of DARE propaganda and purity pledges) – evidence of their culture is not hard to find. It may be hard to stomach, however. Whether they stand a chance of adulthood (already a scarce resource in older generations in this time) remains to be seen but remains highly doubtful.

With the cause célèbre of bullying and resultant backlash against bullies, the social checks put in place upon nerd behavior are being dissolved in an wave of tolerance and acceptance that is impossible for any rational person to oppose. However, a high degree of liberalism in personal conduct and belief is historically extremely fractious: as an enshrined ideal, it circumvents meaningful discussion of repulsion and acceptance, identity, or conflict. It is a subtle poison, in other words, and it places at risk precisely the sort of people who are most liberated by it. They run wild with behaviors that ought perhaps to be gently curbed, and modern infantilization has made them commonplace and unexceptional, which leads to new heights of asocial and antisocial practice. To be blunt: in a world of fools, they never stood a chance, but in the modern world of childish fools, they can go unnoticed with the (arguably correct) sense that no legitimate criticism can be leveled at them.

And that's only a small percentage of nerds. The rest are an exceptionalist mess on similar grounds, or ideal or near-ideal specimens. Nothing exists in vacuum, etc. Nerds are so ubiquitous, and it is so easy to become one, that the intellectualism historically associated with nerds is getting drowned out by the flashing lights of the entertainment industry. Stupid nerds were never an entirely rare thing, but intelligent nerds used to be a commonplace sight – now, the original nerd's snarky objection that real nerds are in decline is supported by the fact that nerds are largely passive consumers with an established and self-perpetuating lifestyle and a mean elitist streak. They say little of importance from inside their warm and burgeoning culture and, in any case, hardly deign to speak with outsiders. That's the hardcore, and to further defend myself: again, there are lots of hybrid-nerds and ideal nerds and people who pursue 'nerdy' interests without identifying as nerds, and who associate with non-nerds. Fucking nerds, man.

Everyone and their grandparent is using technology, gadgets, and the internet. The EDM craze (dubstep, contemporary pop, top 40) has popularized synths and electronic music, which were generally unpopular or niche before. Identity is broadcast via the internet, and a bare minimum of technological literacy is assumed. What makes the nerd movement dangerous is that its technological focus is often divorced from scientific, social, artistic, and historic literacy. Hence, the modern nerd movement: ethically ignorant, intellectually unbalanced, plagued with enough meaningful stigma that it will not grow uncontrollably, and stunted enough (in the grand scheme of things) to remain essentially sterile. For every Stephen Hawking (arguably not a nerd at all*), there are hundreds of Skrillexes and hundreds of thousands of stunted adults with highly trendy conspicuous consumption habits. Big Bang Theory. World of Warcraft. X-Box Live. The Hobbit in Three Pricey Parts.

There is a crisis. The bubble will continue to grow, because entering it isn't particularly difficult and dwelling in it is less lonely than the futile effort to escape identity. The internet will continue to be its lifeblood, and its output will continue to be of mixed quality. This about as far as I'm willing to go, and I will acknowledge that my analysis is fraught with error and probably myopic, but I'm trying to make sense of what that YouTube video did to my mind. I have mixed feelings about the whole thing, but I'll post it in hopes that it helps someone else understand this monstrous new social force.

The contemporary nerd movement is no more a threat to humankind than any other current movement, but it is critically related to problems such as consumerism (pollution, despair, unfair economic practices, unemployment) or cultural flattening (globalism, identity politics, identity fetishism) and generally limits (rather than develops) the average nerd. Nerds are flawed and frightened people, ultimately, as are we all – and that point needs to be stressed. What is really outdated and horribly shameful is considering oneself superior to a nerd: even the most mentally and physically feeble among them, just because they are often eclectic, isolated, and/or awkward.

To be less sensationalist and end on a somewhat positive note, what is simplified as 'nerd culture' offers many positive things. Video games are legitimate forms of entertainment and even MMOs offer something, but they are as texting is to direct communication. Most nerd pursuits are not effective replacements for life experience and many are huge, complex, specialized time sinks. Comic books aren't worthless pablum, though, or anything like it – and D&D won't summon demons or create Satanists. The danger becomes apparently only after observing the progress of nerd culture and being shocked at enough flashpoints, which is akin to staring into the sun or the abyss. The nerd is dead; long live the nerd.

* except on the internet, outside of social media
* unless one considers all physicists, scientists, and intellectuals to be nerds or equates physical disability with nerdism (the slightly outdated Malcolm in the Middle model)

PS: I forgot to mention GEEKS at all, like an idiot. Geeks and nerds are very nearly the same thing, geeks are essentially 'soft' nerds with more emphasis on games and comics and less emphasis on graphing calculators and Linux.