"J. P. Gilliver (John)" wrote

| What we need to remember is *these people are not thick*: they're just
| not _interested_

I think it's not an accident that this comes up
in computer groups. There are a lot of poorly
socialized people who don't adapt well in general
but who do well with computers. That's basically
the profile of the nerd. Nerds aren't mocked because
they like science but because they don't connect
well socially and are confident that anything but
science is both inferior and irrelevant. Jocks
are idiots. Humanities people are dreamers. Religious
people are misled cowards. Artists are just plain nuts.
Bankers are a necessary evil. It's a form of mono-
paradigmatic ignorance, like a fundamentalist
preacher. Except the fundamentalist preacher is
relatively openminded. He can at least make sense
of the outlook of the nerd. The nerd will reject the
preacher as simply an idiot.

There was a great scene in A Beautiful Mind where
the physicist is on a date and, lacking any kind of
social skills, he decides to tell his date that while
she will probably slap him and has every right to
do so, what he really wants is to **** her. She's
relieved, despite his awkward presentation, and
they end up getting married. I found the scene very
touching. It was an unsocialized nerd being open
to life with courage, even though he was completely
out of his element.