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Nerds Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them David Anderegg 9781585425907 Books

Download As PDF : Nerds Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them David Anderegg 9781585425907 Books

Nerds Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them David Anderegg 9781585425907 Books

Nerds is a thoughtful and insightful look into the reasons for an accepted discrimination present in American society. It approaches its topic with humor and an expert's eye.

Any parent or teacher (I have taught sophomores for 14 years now) should definitely read this book. I found it enlightening and revealing.

You will never look at Ichabod Crane the same again...

Highly recommended.


Tags : Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them [David Anderegg] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <DIV>A lively, thought-provoking book that zeros in on the timely issue of how anti-intellectualism is bad for our children and even worse for America. Why are our children so terrified to be called nerds ? And what is the cost of this rising tide of anti-intellectualism to both our children and our nation? In Nerds</i>,David Anderegg,Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them,Tarcher,1585425907,Children with social disabilities;United States.,Gifted children;Social conditions;United States.,Stereotypes (Social psychology);United States.,Children with social disabilities,Children's Studies,Developmental - Adolescent,Education Of Gifted Students,Family & Relationships Parenting General,Gifted children,Popular Culture - General,Psychology Developmental Adolescent,Social Groups,Social Science,Social Science Popular Culture,Social conditions,Sociology,Stereotypes (Social psychology),United States

Nerds Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them David Anderegg 9781585425907 Books Reviews

Nerds is a very weak book. It was a great idea, but was ultimately contaminated by the author's politics. Had he been serious about his thesis he would have dropped the political correctness and been more substantive. Anderegg sees sexism reflexively and habitually in all kinds of places where it is not present. He defines a nerd accurately (see his five foundations of nerdiness), and is correct that a correlation between physical ability and mental ability exists. He also illustrates that the phrase "that's so gay"--used by kids in a ubiquitous and pervasive fashion--relays to all kinds of behaviors and not merely to homosexuals.

Unfortunately, Anderegg buys into political correctness completely. He fails to identify our culture's ridiculous obsession with identity politics. He rarely thinks "out of the box" and makes absurd claims such as men being turned off by smart looking women. This is fallacious and totally inaccurate. He also suggests that being awkward is a turn off for both men and women. Why is that the case? He doesn't say and doesn't cite any evidence. Men should be confident, but a woman's confidence is totally superfluous in terms of attractiveness. He weaves in politics whenever possible and cites George Lakoff to deconstruct the framing of the words "tax relief" by proffering up an ultra leftist rephrasing. "Paying one's dues" is non-sense and not a synonym for taxes. There's no line between paying one's dues and the government stealing everything you have. What's the level for dues not being onerous? 30 percent? 50 percent? 80 percent? The author has no idea but hopes we won't make such inquiries.

In Chapter 9, he formally invalidates his legitimacy by misconstruing Al Gore's loss in the 2000 election as being due to his allegedly being an archetypal nerd. This is ludicrous. He conveniently leaves out--while demeaning George W. Bush--that Gore flunked out of Divinity School. Furthermore, voters rejected Gore because he was/is a bubbleheaded leftist. He stood up at his campaign convention and waged class war which should have turned everyone off. It wasn't a jock versus nerd struggle. Bush was actually more accomplished as a student than was Gore but this eventuality doesn't interest Anderegg. This author is yet another academic who chooses politics over truth and looks down on his audience by attempting to manipulate them. In the final analysis, Nerds was quite forgettable.
For starters, I suggest ignoring the title. This book has nothing to do with "how nerds can save America, and why they might be our last hope." Rather, it's more of an argument (or rant) against anti-intellectualism in the US. Psychologist David Anderegg explores the origins and perpetuation of the (almost exclusively American) "nerd" stereotype, while making a compelling argument that this characterization began as far back as the early 1800's, stemming from a false dichotomy of "Man of Action" vs "Man of Introspection." You can be a bookish dweeb or a courageous, attractive, and admirable stud. But you can't be both, or even some reasonable compromise between the two. Or so this lazy, bifurcated way of thinking goes.

Dr. Anderegg points out that this way of thinking (or not thinking, really) is the cause of anti-intellectualism having deep roots in American society. He also argues that while our adults are laughing off--even ironically enjoying--nerdiness, the social stigma is still very real for young people. And for the "tween" generation, with its preoccupation with being older, younger and younger children are worried about being stuck with the label. For previous generations, at least kids could still be kids, but now things like crystal radios, coin collecting, and scouting are socially unsafe even for elementary school-age children. This does not bode well for our country's future, argues Anderegg. If math, science, and even learning in general are eschewed for fear of being unhip, where will we get tomorrow's scientists, engineers, doctors, and teachers?

Anderegg questions why working on a car's engine is considered manly and cool, but tinkering with a computer is nerdy. This is a glaring inconsistency in the anti-intellectual social stigma. But then, in the same vein, he begins to discuss the hobby of fly fishing. Fly fishing is considered admirable and masculine. It is, at worst, considered boring--but never nerdy, despite involving the intricate study of aquatic insects to make and use convincing lures to catch fish. Anderegg compares fly fishing (manly and cool) to... watching Star Trek (nerdy). Why compare these two things? That's not even apples and oranges; that's apples and flamingos. Why not compare collecting, studying, and mounting insects for fly fishing (manly and cool) to collecting, studying, and mounting insects for entomology (nerdy)? Missed opportunities and poorly thought-out arguments like this made the book frustrating for me to get through.

"Nerds" also suffers from some odd tangents about a range of subjects, from the 2000 presidential election, to the sexualization of children, to his thoughts on current trends in psychology. (In case you were wondering ADD is over-diagnosed, and evolutionary psychology is dubious.) He almost always has some way of tying these things into his overall thesis, but this usually takes so long as to muddle whatever his original point was.

During one of his psychologist rants, I was baffled by Anderegg's treatment of Apserger's syndrome. He argues that speculation about whether the likes of Bill Gates, Thomas Jefferson, and other famous figures have/had Asperger's syndrome is an attempt to smear intelligent people as abnormal or damaged. He writes that people who are successful clearly can't have a disorder because they are successful--and thus, no "disorder"! As someone with Asperger's syndrome (someone who has had some success in life, I feel), I am offended by this treatment of Asperger's. I also wonder if Dr. Anderegg would argue that Abraham Lincoln didn't suffer from depression, and Ernest Hemingway didn't suffer from PTSD. These men were successful, so by his logic, they clearly couldn't have fit the diagnosis of any disorder, right?

The take-home message of "Nerds" is this "Anti-intellectualism is bad." Dr. Anderegg makes some great points--some important points--but for the most part, he makes them poorly.
I purchased this book after hearing an interview with Dr. Anderegg on the "Bob Edwards Show". I work with middle school and high school students and I was looking forward to reading this book. It was a big disappointment for several reasons.

Dr. Anderegg spends a great deal of time deconstructing the nerd/geek and the myths that surround them. Some of this gets very tedious and, I believe, will lose the lay reader (I have a fair amount of background in this area and he almost lost me at mid-book).

Dr. Anderegg gets VERY preachy at times. This particularly true in his concluding chapter. It's funny because the people most likely to buy and read the book, are the ones who are least likely to need the preaching.

I would have liked more conversations with kids about nerds, geeks and social isolation. That would have been interesting. The chapter titles are clever, I only wish the content had been on the same level.
Interesting take yet sometimes flow of book was a little slow.
Nerds is a thoughtful and insightful look into the reasons for an accepted discrimination present in American society. It approaches its topic with humor and an expert's eye.

Any parent or teacher (I have taught sophomores for 14 years now) should definitely read this book. I found it enlightening and revealing.

You will never look at Ichabod Crane the same again...

Highly recommended.