In message , Mayayana
writes:
"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote

| What we need to remember is *these people are not thick*: they're just
| not _interested_

I think it's not an accident that this comes up
in computer groups. There are a lot of poorly
socialized people who don't adapt well in general
but who do well with computers. That's basically
the profile of the nerd. Nerds aren't mocked because
they like science but because they don't connect
well socially and are confident that anything but
science is both inferior and irrelevant.

I'm not sure I'd agree with that entirely. _Some_ people with an
overpowering interest - not just in science - don't connect well
socially, but not all.

Jocks
are idiots. Humanities people are dreamers. Religious
people are misled cowards. Artists are just plain nuts.
Bankers are a necessary evil.

Anyone left you haven't insulted (-:?

It's a form of mono-
paradigmatic ignorance, like a fundamentalist
preacher. Except the fundamentalist preacher is
relatively openminded. He can at least make sense
of the outlook of the nerd. The nerd will reject the
preacher as simply an idiot.

This nerd doesn't. Many preachers - or religious people in general - are
highly intelligent; they just have the faith "gene" (for want of a
better word; it isn't genetic) that some of us don't. Faith isn't a
matter of scientific proof, it's a whole different way of thinking. (Of
course _some_ priests are idiots - as are some nerds, and some people
from any group. And some are charlatans, though I suspect fewer - and/or
to a lesser extent - than TV dramas would have us believe.)

There was a great scene in A Beautiful Mind where
the physicist is on a date and, lacking any kind of
social skills, he decides to tell his date that while
she will probably slap him and has every right to
do so, what he really wants is to **** her. She's
relieved, despite his awkward presentation, and
they end up getting married. I found the scene very
touching. It was an unsocialized nerd being open
to life with courage, even though he was completely
out of his element.

He _did_ have a beautiful mind, though. Patron saint of nerds - though
far more intelligent than most of us (science or arts [for the sake of
brevity - I don't accept that dichotomy]).

--
J. P. Gilliver. UMRA: 1960/1985 MB++G()AL-IS-Ch++(p)Ar@T+H+Sh0!:`)DNAf

You can be tough without being rude - Nick Clegg, 2014 July