When I was a kid, being a nerd was not something to celebrate. As an adult, it seems to me that the nerds are the ones making the breakthroughs, advancing science, building entirely new industries, and definitely making the most bank. I wish I would have known that was the case in high school, when I was socially disregarded.
Nerds make the software that you use every single day. They're the reason you can keep a connected super computer in your pocket. They invented the brilliant gigantic TV you watch. They're the reason that clean water comes out of your faucet and your shit reliably exits the house. They made it possible for your food to be of the highest quality, as well as the ability for someone to deliver it to you fast and efficiently. They're the reason that your life expectancy will be greater than that of your parents.
But what nerds don't generally do is lead in the political sense. I can speculate all kinds of reasons for this, not the least of which is the aforementioned disregard. I think the more likely reason is that we know better than to put ourselves into that kind of situation. I don't know very many nerds that are particularly partisan, and it seems like you need to pick a team to run for office. If nerds are thinkers, subscribing to an inflexible ideology seems like a pretty bad way to roll.
Now the nerds are working their asses off to figure out what the solution is to a global pandemic. They're working on vaccines, they're modeling exit strategies. They're compiling statistics and looking for trends in data. In short, while selfish people showing wanton disregard for the mitigation strategies that will minimize the damage, nerds will are working to save your ass.
So thank a nerd.
Scientists rushing to make a vaccine faster than any in the history of the world because Americans refuse to significantly try to stop COVID is basically the macro level of nerds having to do the whole group project while the cool kids just go to a party.
— Riley Silverman (@rileyjsilverman) July 27, 2020
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