Nerdists, unlike nerds, tend to be creators as much as consumers. They're creative consumers.
Like lycanthropy, the nerd gene can skip a generation. My maternal grandfather was a technophile.
In the '90s, you couldn't say the word 'nerd' to someone when pitching a show. They would have considered that too niche and wouldn't have listened.
I've gone from being bullied by jocks as a kid to being bullied by nerds as an adult.
I think being an outcast is what sort of strengthens the nerd movement, because you're isolated, so you have time.
Growing up in the 70s and 80s, it took effort to be a nerd. You had to seek out the nerd stuff.
The difference being that a nerd would wear a D&D shirt because he loves D&D while a hipster would wear a D&D shirt because it's ridiculous that he is wearing a D&D shirt.
I almost think of nerd brains as rattlesnake venom; like, you can milk it. You can milk the pulpy venom out of the nerd brain and use it for good if you want to.
There's a lot of money being generated by nerds right now. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, the list goes on and on. Nerds make more money than our government. And with money comes power.
There are certain parts of a classic nerd's brain that can destroy that person - obsessing about things to the detriment of everything else in your life. But those are the same tools that you can use to turn everything around.