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PaperclipPerfector  1d ago (text post)   1307 thread views

Friday Fun Thread for January 16, 2026

Be advised: this thread is not for serious in-depth discussion of weighty topics (we have a link for that), this thread is not for anything Culture War related. This thread is for Fun. You got jokes? Share 'em. You got silly questions? Ask 'em.

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This was a wonderful read, thank you for linking. This part had me feeling REAL called out:

The variety of self-hating nerd are too many to number. There are the nerds who go into psychology to prove that EQ is a real thing and IQ merely its pale pathetic shadow. There are the nerds who become super-woke and talk about how reason and objectivity are forms of white supremacy culture. There are the nerds who obsess over “embodiment” and “somatic therapy” and accuse everyone else of “living in their heads”. There are the nerds who deflect by becoming really into neurodiversity - “the interesting thing about my brain isn’t that I’m ‘smart’ or ‘rational’, it’s that I’m ADHDtistic, which is actually a weakness . . . but also secretly a strength!” There are the nerds who flirt with fascism because it idolizes men of action, and the nerds who convert to Christianity because it idolizes men of faith. There are the nerds who get really into Seeing Like A State, and how being into rationality and metrics and numbers is soooooo High Modernist, but as a Kegan Level Five Avatar they are far beyond such petty concerns. There are the nerds who redefine “nerd” as “person who likes Marvel movies” - having successfully gerrymandered themselves outside the category, they can go back to their impeccably-accurate statisticsblogging on educational outcomes, or their deep dives into anthropology and medieval mysticism, all while casting about them imprecations that of course nerds are loathsome scum who deserve to be bullied.

I disagree that those things originate from “reaction formation” against not being the smartest person. They are more easily explained by the general fact that humans get passionate about things they like and have a habit of exaggerating its importance. Somewhere out there is a surfer or painter or deadhead who never cared for intelligence yet believes his chosen hobby is the balm of mankind. That’s just what everyone does. If they have no intellectual pursuit, then this comes out in their consumer purchases or luxury experiences, as another way to obtain a sense of self-importance. This quote isn’t exactly fitting but as Pascal notes,

Vanity is so anchored in the heart of man that a soldier, a soldier's servant, a cook, and a porter brags and wishes to have his admirers. Even philosophers wish for them. Those who write against it want to have the glory of having written well; and those who read it desire the glory of having read it. I who write this have perhaps this desire, and perhaps those who will read it…

As for those believing “nerds are loathsome scum who deserve to be bullied”, I’ve never actually seen this directed against anyone but those who like Marvel and Funkopops. Usually niche interest enjoyers have respect for other niche interest enjoyers. Scott’s implicit assumption appears to be that everyone who does not worship strict empirical rational inquiry is coping with not being the best at rationalism, which is quite the convenient line for someone who is the very face of rationalism. But EQ and embodiment are probably interesting things to get passionate about. If you don’t believe in EQ, you’ll have to explain why the smartest students in the world party on the weekend to rap music made by artists with a low IQ. This is my favorite example demonstrating EQ, becaus there are a lot of high IQ people who wish they could be rappers, but no one parties to their music on the weekends.

The bit just before that, man.

Every nerd who was the smartest kid in their high school goes to an appropriately-ranked college and realizes they’re nothing special. But also, once they go into some specific field they find that intellect, as versatile as it is, can only take them so far. And for someone who was told their whole childhood that they were going to cure cancer (alas, a real quote from my elementary school teacher), it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Reaction formation, where you replace a unbearable feeling with its exact opposite, is one of the all time great Freudian defense mechanisms. You may remember it from such classics as “rape victims fall in love with their rapist” or “secretly gay people become really homophobic”. So some percent of washed-up gifted kids compensate by really, really hating nerdiness, rationality, and the intellect.

Literally my course from high school valedictorian, to 85th percentile college student, to barely-above average law student.

Then I kind of came back around by embracing the 'suck' and interrogating myself honestly about my 'shortcomings' and inflated self-expectations and calibrating my goals to what would be truly achievable (funny enough Slate Star Codex was a major influence in that period!).

Also, this line is an insanely deft cut to the jugular, holy cow.

Adams was willing to sacrifice everything for the right to say “It’s Okay To Be White”. I can’t help wondering what his life would have been like if he’d been equally willing to assert the okayness of the rest of his identity.

Every nerd who was the smartest kid in their high school goes to an appropriately-ranked college and realizes they’re nothing special. But also, once they go into some specific field they find that intellect, as versatile as it is, can only take them so far. And for someone who was told their whole childhood that they were going to cure cancer (alas, a real quote from my elementary school teacher), it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Man, I am so profoundly lucky I had two teachers that I think changed my life.

The first was my middle school social studies teacher. In the mid 1990's she had finished her service in the Navy or Army, I can't remember, and become a teacher. She was black pilled as fuck about the future of the country and constantly told us we weren't going to have it as easy as our boomer parents. For whatever reason it made a deep impression on me and I adjusted my expectations accordingly.

The second was my high school calculus teacher. I slept through his class and consistently got top scores. He wrote me a whole ass page long note on the back of one of my tests, because I was never awake in class for him to talk to. It was all about how he'd seen kids like me before, who were never properly challenged and developed poor study habits. That if I didn't reform my ways, I'd either flunk out of college or flounder professionally. Coming from any other teacher, I probably would have blown off the advice. But he always had my back, and generally had an attitude of "If he gets A's, he can sleep through class if he wants" with me. His message of support, but concern, resonated deeper than 12 years of just having teachers yell at me to get my shit together.

Because there is this really toxic part of nerd culture, where the motto is "Work smarter, not harder". But then they melt down in seething rage when someone works smart and hard and utterly mogs them on their own turf.

It was all about how he'd seen kids like me before, who were never properly challenged and developed poor study habits. That if I didn't reform my ways, I'd either flunk out of college or flounder professionally.

I could have used one of those. Mostly for the wakeup call of "everything is intuitive and easy for your now because the training wheels are on, and your intelligence is covering for your shortcomings in discipline and work ethic."

Law School was the clear inflection point there. Turns out you CAN pass tests by pulling all-nighters to cram the entirety of the coursework the day before the Exam. But when you're graded against people with more consistent habits and effective strategies, you can only hope to keep pace by sheer desperate improvisation.

I didn't really learn the right lesson, though.

This period:

came back around by embracing the 'suck' and interrogating myself honestly about my 'shortcomings' and inflated self-expectations and worked on calibrating my goals to what would be truly achievable

Was when I finally got on the right track.

"Work smarter, not harder". But then they melt down in seething rage when someone works smart and hard and utterly mogs them on their own turf.

lol. "I'm not lazy, I'm just more productive with the time I DO use for work."

"Ookay, well I'm approximately as productive as you with my time, and I spend more of it working... what now?"

That said, the extreme other end of that mentality is the "Sigma Male Grindset" approach where effort is all that matters, whether that effort is spent on something useful and important? Who cares! Getting paid is the only metric that registers.

Thankfully I now have a boss who tolerates my quirks well enough as long as I close enough files to keep the cash flowing.

Yeah, I felt very attacked by that passage.

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