when what makes one a loser makes one a winner

[sergebroom]

A couple of weeks ago, I posted something about Lisa Goldstein's story The Go-between, about dogs who accept aliens as their pack members. That got me thinking about an article I once read in Science News about how dogs and humans came to work together. It was quite a few years ago and I may be remembering it wrong, but the premise of the article was that dogs are the descendants of wolves who didn't fit in lupine packs. Yes, the losers, the misfits, the nerds...

Speaking of nerds... Would you believe that I used to be one? (On second thought, forget I asked.) But I didn't know that's what I was, because there is no word in French for 'nerd'. Without a word, does the concept behind it exist? I certainly existed, and it wasn't particularly pleasant. That's why, in spite of wolf nerds having come out of Evolution as winners, I don't care to use the word 'nerd' as a badge of honor. But that's my own personal feeling.

Comments

[kathryn-ironic.livejournal.com]

And, I've heard, they also don't have a word for entrepreneur.

Of course both 'geek' and 'nerd' were re-purposed only recently to be positives. When I was in high school about the only time I heard the word "geeks" was in the "pencil necked geeks" song on Dr. Demento (a humorous songs radio show)- at least that's what I remember now.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

No word for 'entrepreneur' in French... You're a funny one, aren't you?

The words 'nerd' and 'geek' may have indeed acquired positive aspects, but what about the geeks and the nerds themselves? I bet you they still can't get a date. (Speaking of that... When I was still living in the Bay Area, I was waiting in line for a book signingand got into a chat with a woman who said she'd gone to high-school with George Lucas and that, back then, none of the girls wanted anything to do with him.)

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

Kathryn is citing that well-known linguistic scholar George W. Bush.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Oh, that scholar... The less said, the better.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

So true.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

That raises the question of what 'winner' and 'loser' mean. For, as Bob Dylan put it, 'the loser now will be later to win'.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Well, in the long run, the individual wolves who had been cast out of their genetic pack did win because there sure are more dogs around than wolves. But I don't think it was much of a consolation to the individual lupine losers. Same with being a nerd.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

A lot depends on the kind of nerd. Someone who turned his garage workshop into an Internet start-up and retired at 30 after selling out to Megadodo corporation might find a lot of consolation.

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

Good point. And there are movie nerds like George Lucas who wound up having a slight influence on the movie world.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

That's true.

[fledgist.livejournal.com]

That's true.

I was a nerd, but was lucky...

[kathryn-ironic.livejournal.com]

My dad taught at a local university, and through my visits there I came to understand that universities were filled with nerds. My mom also nicely explained that once I got to college, I'd get to meet many more people like me.

These two concepts together gave me hope. Didn't make the teasing any less fun, but at least I knew it had an expiration date.

Re: I was a nerd, but was lucky...

[serge-lj.livejournal.com]

All of that would indeed make things a bit more bearable. My own family's attitude was What they're saying about you isn't true and doesn't apply to you, so ignore it. Oh well. You and I survived and came out all right, and we're better humans than some people who weren't misfits in high-school.