When Did Nerdiness Become Cool?

[Mr. DS]

Good points so far.  AKA the stuff that a good majority of people on this board would say is over the top nerdiness.  Just wondering though, what is taboo nerdiness in our society still?  Dressing up on the weekend as a Star Wars character and going to a convention?  Spending several nights a week playing D&D?  Any thoughts on this?

[InformationGeek]

Nerdiness has been cool for a quite a while now, it's just been slowly sneaking in under the radar.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmWbBqiCxGc
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[Chainsawmidget]

I'd say it started about the time computers became fairly common.

[HappyGilmore]

Good points so far.  AKA the stuff that a good majority of people on this board would say is over the top nerdiness.  Just wondering though, what is taboo nerdiness in our society still?  Dressing up on the weekend as a Star Wars character and going to a convention?  Spending several nights a week playing D&D?  Any thoughts on this?

Everyone seems to pick on the guys who go to the Star Wars conventions.  Although, I do see more acceptance of them growing year by year.  Especially with the advent of other conventions for Avatar and Lord of the Rings.  I see more females getting involved too.  Although, the D&D people seem to be the sole group of nerds one can pick on.

[Newt]

HEY!  What's wrong with D&D??  Now, LARPing.... that's nerdy!

Umm...unless you are like my neighbours and do it with real medieval weapons and horses and such...

[Paquita]

I thought someone declared nerdiness cool about the time that the band Weezer started becoming popular in the 90s.

I wish I knew hardcore larpers! They're like mythological beings to me.  I keep hearing about them, but I never see them, I'm starting to think they don't really exist.

[Derf]

I thought someone declared nerdiness cool about the time that the band Weezer started becoming popular in the 90s.

I wish I knew hardcore larpers! They're like mythological beings to me.  I keep hearing about them, but I never see them, I'm starting to think they don't really exist.

Paquita, if you are still in Chicago, there's a Renaissance Fair in Bristol going on right now. You could meet lots of LARPers there.

[HappyGilmore]

The hell is LARPing?

[InformationGeek]

The hell is LARPing?

LARPing is where people play in RPG... in real life.  They dress up and go out to somewhere to cast spells, go on quests, or battle monsters in pretend.  Sort of looks like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_ekugPKqFw
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I use to do something similiar, but without the costumes... in 3rd through 5th grade.

[Paquita]

Paquita, if you are still in Chicago, there's a Renaissance Fair in Bristol going on right now. You could meet lots of LARPers there.

Oh, I've been to the Ren Fair, and I'll be going again, as over priced and smelly as it may be.  Those people aren't really LARPers.. they're employees... right?  I guess you couldn't really tell one from another, could you?  I've been told lore of a band of foam weapon fighters that ride horses 'round these parts, and legend has it, if you call them LARPers, they get very angry.

[Newt]

The hell is LARPing?

Live
Action
Role
Playing

Paquita's right: don't call my neighbour (the big guy with the BIG horse and the real lance) a LARPer.  Oh my! 

[trekgeezer]

Nerdiness became cool when guys like Gates, wozniak and Jobs started running Billion dollar corporations, and guys like Speilberg  and Lucas started making  movies with record breaking box office and nerds started obsessing over them.

[Couchtr26]

I think the 'A-Listers' are "encouraged" by the film studio to turn up.
There are some vids where you can tell they really don't want to be there. Its a place where you can promote your film easily, thats why comic-con has become popular.

Its pretty much a giant advert for all the studios to promote their big movies as they tend to be sci-fi, fantasy, horror based. If the A List goes then they get more press.

Well said Doggett.  That is basically what I was going to say when I saw the topic. 

[HappyGilmore]

The hell is LARPing?

LARPing is where people play in RPG... in real life.  They dress up and go out to somewhere to cast spells, go on quests, or battle monsters in pretend.  Sort of looks like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j_ekugPKqFw

I use to do something similiar, but without the costumes... in 3rd through 5th grade.

Not for nothing but, the hell is this country coming to?  My Lord.  I mean, no offense to anyone who likes that, but that's about the geekiest, nerdiest thing I heard of.  I mean, wow.  I'm not gonna even go there.  I'm gonna just hold my opinions to myself.

[The Gravekeeper]

What I find ironic about the geeky/nerdy heirarchy is that while many nerds/geeks look down on tabletop gamers, they idolize people who make a living creating entertainment that appeals to the subculture. The irony comes from the fact that many of the people who create geeky things partake in tabletop gaming (the people behind Futurama come to mind).