Smart people Nerds or Not?

1198 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Implications of stereotypes

Stereotypes and misconceptions are just false presumptions of groups. Misconceptions are just wrong ideals of groups that have been formed because of a lack of information on a group or been told false information about the group from the individuals who are biased of the group. While stereotypes are false presumptions of groups formed because of a small percentages in the groups who are extremely ideal and fit the stereotypical views said of the group. Many of the individuals of the groups are most likely enraged that the mass of the public believe these stereotypes just because of these handful of stereotypical extremists. However, many in today’s society unconsciously stereotype many groups on a daily basis because of the lack of information ones actually knows of the group. An example of a group that has always been stereotyped is that smart people are suppose to be unattractive, social outcast nerds who love reading about superheros and are into sci fi which is not true.
Every group or culture in society has some type of stereotype directed towards it. These stereotypes make the public see gro0ups in one way when in reality they may be the exact opposite of the stereotypes. Because of this many individuals always judge a group based on solely the stereotypes heard about the groups. Also because of this many confuse people as been part of a group only because the individuals either fit the stereotypes of appearance or personality of people who should be part of that certain group. So due to this many may be mistaken as been part of a group when that individual in reality may not be part of the group. These stereotypes also lead to many misunderstandings been formed about the actual individuals who are a part of the groups. Th...

... middle of paper ...

...amiliar with the archetypical nerd, who is both ugly and smart? At the opposite end, what about all those beautiful, air head women and beefy, brainless men we see on television?” So of course beauty does not always mean brains and ugly does not always mean no intellect and vise verse. So individuals can't say for certain who is smart and who is not based on looks alone. However there is a correlation between looks and intelligence.
Many also perceive smart people "nerds" as been unpopular social outcasts. This is not true many smart people are actually quite popular in school and society.However, these are also those handful of smart people who are unpopular but most of the times these people are overachievers. The reason these overachieving smart people are unpopular is because of the ones lack of time to participate in popular activities and not for been smart.

Show More
Related

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of America Needs Its Nerds

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    Author and Harvard graduate, Leonid Fridman, in an excerpt of his article, America Needs Its Nerds, points out America’s anti-intellectualism. Fridman’s purpose is to inform the reader of the contempt held for the intellectually curious and call for a change in the country’s attitude. He adopts a condemning tone to make the reader aware of the issue and encourage them to change their mindset.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Grant Penrod's Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate The Smart Kids

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    School is a frightening place. It is broken down into multiple social ranks, and many children find themselves at the bottom. With children trying to work their way to the top of the food chain, the actual learning portion is either set aside or forgotten altogether. In Grant Penrod’s essay, Anti-Intellectualism: Why We Hate the Smart Kids, he explains how modern children are growing to dislike intellectual children. The varying social ranks teach children to ignore low grades and try to be popular in school. Anti-Intellectualism is a trend which is becoming increasingly popular throughout the world. People who only strive to be popular tend to tease intellectuals, but this is not half of the story. If the only goal children have in school

    Read More

  • Analysis of Social Connection and Dehumanization, by Adam Waytz and Nicholas Epley

    1752 Words  | 4 Pages

    Immediately after reading the introduction to the article, the first word to come to mind was “out-group”. This term is referenced several times in our textbook, and in class. During chapter five (stereotypes, prejudice, and discrimination), the term is consistently used. The out-group has a tendency to be subjected to stereotypes, discrimination, and prejudice by the in-group. A stereotype is defined as a belief based on attributing traits to a group of people, in a sense making a generalization about the individuals that consist of a group. Dehumanization could be a consequence of stereotyping. One does not see an individual when one is stereotyping a group of people. Therefore, it is easier to discriminate ag...

    Read More

  • Blue Collar Brilliance and Hidden Intellectualism

    862 Words  | 2 Pages

    To be intelligent means to be able to apply what we learned in school and use what we learned in our everyday life to achieve a goals that is sit or one that we are accomplishing without knowing. Many people think that a person is intelligent because they went to a university, got a degree, and have a good paying job, so they must be smart and know everything however thats not always true. If we would ask a teacher or professor the chances of them knowing how to fix a car are slim. So why do we think teachers are so intelligent? We think teachers are intelligent because they know everything about their subjects, know how to teach it and know how to apply their knowledge to their everyday lives.

    Read More

  • Conformity: High School Students and Cliques

    1986 Words  | 4 Pages

    Imagine being alone with no friends and no one to talk to. Now, place yourself in a location where you are surrounded by closed tight-knit groups where acceptance from those groups is a challenge to obtain. Then, picture yourself back when you were in high school, but this time, apply the image you have created for yourself. Do you wish for acceptance? Or friendship? Do you feel confident in taking the challenges that high school will bring? High school has a significant impact on an individual’s development. Whether it is their personality or behavior, an individual who goes through high school can see changes in their characteristics. A common stereotype in high school that is largely portrayed in the media is the existence of cliques. Cliques can give an individual a sense of belonging or a sense of betrayal. These two behaviors are commonly seen with the acceptance or rejection from these groups. An immediate result from these two actions is a change in morale or confidence for that individual. Cliques exist in high school due to individual conformity. An individual conforms to the group in order to feel accepted or to feel secured. Groups or cliques in high school have a significant negative effect on an individual’s development of characteristic and personality and the reasons as to why individuals join these types are not justified.

    Read More

  • The Theories of Evolution by Charles Darwin

    641 Words  | 2 Pages

    I would consider my father to be a smart man. He’s thinks critically and is good at solving problems. Since he graduated college with a degree in mathematics and understands complicated theoretical equations, he’s great at looking at evidence and coming to an accurat...

    Read More

  • The Outsiders Research Paper

    1126 Words  | 3 Pages

    we automatically assume things about people when we don't even know them. [“I really couldn’t see what Socs would have to sweat about—good grades, good cars, good girls, madras, and Mustangs and Corvairs—Man, I thought, if I had worries like that I’d consider myself lucky”pg.36] Ponyboy stereotypes the Socs as having an easy life, but he doesn’t know the other part of them. he doesn't know if they’re really like that, he just gets his information from what he is told and what he has seen. People in society today still stereotype. An example of a very common stereotype is that all blondes are unintelligent, which is not true. People use that stereotype to classify blondes. Movies and tv shows portray blondes as a ditzy blonde that doesn't know anything. It isn't fair to stereotype people into categories when you don't even know them because it ruins their self respect and dignity for them. It’s not fair to stereotype people or cultures or even genders. Stereotyping still happens today in society and we are all guilty of it. We base our assumptions on someone by the outer appearance of people. ["I am a greaser. I am a JD and a hood. I blacken the name of our fair city. I beat up people. I rob gas stations. I am a menace to society. Man, do I have fun!" pg.36] Not all Greasers fit those attributes, but they have an idea of what society thinks of them. They hear the stereotypes about them and know what people think

    Read More

  • Gerald Graff Hidden Intellectualism

    723 Words  | 2 Pages

    “Hidden Intellectualism” written by Gerald Graff, is a compelling essay that presents the contradicting sides of “book smarts” and “street smarts” and how these terms tied in to Graff’s life growing up. Graff felt like the school was at fault that the children with more “street smarts” were marked with the reputation of being inadequate in the classroom. Instead of promoting the knowledge of dating, cars, or social cues, the educational system deemed them unnecessary. Gerald Graff thought that “street smarts” could help people with academics. In his essay, Graff confessed that despite his success as an “intellect” now, he was the exact opposite until college. Where he grew up in Chicago, Illinois, intelligence was looked down upon around peers

    Read More

  • Stereotyping

    2855 Words  | 6 Pages

    The first characteristic of stereotyping is over-generalisation. A number of studies conducted found that different combinations of traits were associated with groups of different ethnic and national origin (Katz and Braly, 1933). However, stereotyping does not imply that all members of a group are judged in these ways, just that a typical member of a group can be categorised in such judgements, that they possess the characteristics of the group. Still, when we talk of a group, we do so by imagining a member of that group.

    Read More

  • Why Are Nerds Used To Offend Their Kids?

    175 Words  | 1 Pages

    Ever since I was a little kid, the word “nerd” was used to offend the children who did not fit in easily or had specific hobbies. After years of hearing the word “nerd” and even be called one myself, I realized that to me it was just a character trait that needed to be embraced. A “nerd” was the kid that was great at math or english or science, or liked collecting cards, or loved playing video games, or brought a book to read during lunch because they did not have any friends. A simple and superficial definition of a “nerd” is a person who does not fit in easily. Some words that are too nice to describe a “nerd” are intelligent, educated, scholar and some words that are too mean are awkward, weirdo, and freak. An example of a nerd is “Dexter”

    Read More

  • Stereotyping of Car Club Members

    1806 Words  | 4 Pages

    Everyone has heard the saying don’t judge a book by a cover. Sadly every minute of the day someone gets judged because of assumptions that are not correct. These assumptions overtime eventually lead to stereotypes. A stereotype is an image or idea of a particular type of person. Stereotyping a person is seen in many differents aspects such as race, groups, beliefs, appearance, etc. An individual may ask why people are stereotyped or stereotype. In reality stereotyping helps people categorize the different type of people. It narrows down the options of who one might want to associate with. Stereotyping can have its negatives, it makes people ignore how others really are. It may lead to a person not wanting to hang out with another person because of the stereotype that persons group has. Everyday the general public use cars for the means of transportation. But what about when people use their car for more than transportation, car enthusiasts often modify their cars to their likings. Enthusiasts often join car clubs to share their common interests with other car enthusiasts. Often the people in car clubs have a stereotype of being juvenile, racing a lot, low-life bums, and ghetto when actually most do not have those characteristics.

    Read More

  • Language, Gender, and Culture in Society

    1684 Words  | 4 Pages

    In many circles of the world, various groups of people distinguish themselves from one another through religion, language, culture, and sometimes gender. People also develop stereotypes about a particular group of people in order to identify them. However, most of the time, these stereotypes hold true for only some members of a group. Sometimes, these stereotypes are just plain misconceptions that do not even apply to the group it claims to. Stereotypes are placed on people because it is a way to easily identify what type of person or ethnicity an individual is. At one point in time, these stereotypes may have been true; however, in today’s modern society, most of these stereotypes are outdated and false, which leads them to turn into misconceptions. Usually, stereotypes are utilized to humiliate and degrade the person or group; they also do not provide any beneficial outcomes. Stereotypes focus on how a particular group acts because of the radical ideas and actions of the few, how a particular group looks, or how that group is physically lacking in some way. These stereotypes often lead to conflicts because the group does not appreciate the way it is being perceived. Seldom are the stereotypes placed on a group of people truthful and accurate. Some hardly even apply to the particular group people it claims to. It is true that how people are perceived has a big impact on how other individuals interact with them; however, people are not perceiving these groups correctly.

    Read More

  • Intelligence

    516 Words  | 2 Pages

    I believe there are many forms of intelligence, some more important than others are. A person may be very smart but when it comes to subjects like math and science, but when it comes to English and writing they may not know much about it. Also, some people may not do very well in school but can fix almost anything that you put in front of them.

    Read More

  • Why Street Smart Students Are Considered Anti-Intellectual in the Academic Area

    645 Words  | 2 Pages

    Why street smart students are considered anti intellectual in academic area? In the article “Hidden Intellectualism” by Gerald Graff, he accounts the idea that street smart students are way more smarted than book smarts. He explains that street smart student will be able to solve an issue much faster than book smart because of his/her previous experience. According to author, the problems with considering street smarts as anti intellectual are they are actually much smarter that book smart students, they don’t equal opportunity , and schools along with colleges never challenge their mind get them to succeed in academic work.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Steve Jobs

    830 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many different ways in which intelligence is expressed. The most common way is through the standard IQ test. With this IQ test, those brilliant enough to receive a score above 144, are looked at as a genius. On the contrary, those who don’t reach that criteria for the IQ test, are looked at as the average joe. Certain people have the type of intelligence that don’t transfer over to tests and school in general. Instead, these certain people have that specific type of intelligence for situations and real world problems. People often compare the two and try to agree on what it truly means to be a genius. Rob Siltanen once said, "About the only thing you cant do is ignore them?" He is saying that, the world may view those people that

    Read More

More about Smart people Nerds or Not?

Open Document