The 5 Quintessential Qualities of a "Cool Nerd"
I felt inspired to enumerate what qualifies a person as a "cool nerd" in response to a recent NYT's article on the topic. I've narrowed it down to 5 basic qualities:
1) You have to pursue intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests that are not considered mainstream or populist. If you openly talk about any television show on the CW or MTV, what clothing label you're wearing, or anything covered in US magazine, you are not a nerd. Real nerds don't care about these things.
2) You must openly embrace and own your Nerdom. While I know lots nerdy people, the majority still haven't come to terms with their high school scars of not having a date to the Prom or never getting invited to the cool party after the football game on Friday night.
3) You must have nerd Joie de Vivre (or Joie de Nerd). Getting excited about making your [n]th Wikipedia edit or the release of a new operating system is the hallmark of a true nerd.
4) You must use your nerdery to fight evil. There is no shortage of nerd douchebags, with the egoblogger existing as the most prevalent and annoying strand of malignant nerds. Cool nerds use their sharp, ninja-like nerdery skillz to take the air out of ego-nerds' self-flatulated heads as well as anyone who tries to attack the "nerd force."
5) People want to party with you. If you don't know how to let loose and have a good time, to celebrate life outside the comfort of your laptop, to put away your mobile to have a conversation completely unrelated to your field of nerdery, then you haven't achieved coolness.
Stay tuned for my Top 10 Cool Nerds of 2009.
