> The definition of nerd is: a smart person who is good with computers that 'cool' people refer to as stupid or the scum of the earth. This is as true as it gets.

Really? I hear it used in a jock-ular (groan) fashion most of the time. In fact, I don't recall the word 'nerd' being spoken as an insult by my peers since Junior year in High School.

It's not just computers, though. Generally, people classified as nerds have an area of expertise that many other people are uninterested in or at least very unfamiliar with. Intimate knowledge of computers and other complex machines, due to the large role such devices play in our lives, is one of the most common types of "nerd-dom," if you will. I've known some people who could be best described as music nerds and hunting nerds, and even one spelunking nerd.

Nobody thinks nerds are stupid! After all, you define a nerd firstly as someone who's smart, and that's how other people see them as well. The reasons, in my opinion, that nerds are ostracized from others are twofold. First of all, there's the old inferiority complex. Being around a nerd can make someone feel very ignorant, and no one likes that. Secondly, and this is the bigger reason, nerds and non-nerds (as well as nerds with differing intrests) have trouble relating with each other. As I said before, I define a nerd as someone with intrests that diverge sharply from status quo. This can make them difficult to relate to and is the source of the stereotype that nerds are socially inept. After all, shared intrests and situations are what people forge relationships out of. Maybe I'm being too optimistic, but I don't think that nerds are seen as scum by anyone but...well, jerks.

I take it from the name you've given yourself that you consider yourself a nerd. Do you really feel as if these 'cool' people all hate you? How old are you? In my case, this immaturity was largely left behind as college began.

10Kan