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.