Why You Should Never Ignore A Nerd | Hacker News Reader

Why You Should Never Ignore A Nerd

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"We Shared A Bedroom Brother!"

I'm reminded of what Kurt Vonnegut said about Jesus: "The real lesson of the Gospels is that before you kill someone, you should make absolutely sure they aren't well connected."

You should never ignore anyone, but not because you're trying to get something out of it...

I think you might be reading too much into what is a lighthearted video on YouTube.

That's so true, and as I grow I'm trying to break social barriers/shields (being more open/authentic/personnal immediately) more and more with unknown people: it just makes relating to people much more enjoyable and profound! It's not even about the hypothetical profit you could get.

I think this is more along the lines of what he was trying to say; he was young and dumb and now he has learned from his mistakes.

One interpretation of this guy's video is that he recommends befriending nerds on the basis of potential material gain. Another interpretation is he applies this standard to everyone and only recently realized nerds can conceivably meet it too. Still, pretty funny vid.

before getting to know them.. but then you should.

This is the kind of guy who wants to be instant friends just to get his computer fixed.

Or he might just be making a joke.

A not ignored nerd is not a nerd.

How about this idea: if such people would not be constantly derided and ignored they may be more socially successful, start spending more time with people with less potential and start lowering their own expectations as a consequence, trading their dreams for the cosiness of mere run-of-the-mill success.

Come on, you don't have to be a social pariah to find success as a start-up founder. That's just silly.

I see your point, but saying hi every now and then, or talking about stuff while walking to and from school doesn't really hurt. Besides, being ALL alone makes it pretty hard to get some constructive criticism from others, and you might suffer from depression/low self-esteem and such.

But obviously, don't party every single night if you want to become a rocket scientist.

Or, you could argue that if Sergey had had a pile of people being friends with him that he would have been distracted from his intellectual work.

Do you think Microsoft would have come about if Bill Gates had got laid earlier?

(that's the excuse I use when discussing why I'm not an internet mogul right now, heh cough)

Do you think Microsoft would have come about if Bill Gates had got laid earlier?

Yes. Basically I think this is a false comparison. First, there's nothing saying that Sergey Brin didn't have a pile of friends -- they were probably just not the guy who made this youtube video. If you're serious about your work then you will treat it as you do anything else you enjoy. You might as well ask if Michael Jordan would have become a great basketball player if he had a bunch of friends--he probably did.

He sure is a charismatic and handsome fella. He makes for a nice message, however there was no apology.

This guy makes films? And is NOT a nerd? And looked DOWN on Serge?

most people are shortsighted in that they only start chasing something when everyone else wants it.

can someone confirm this story?

Does it really need confirming? Even if it's not a true story for this guy, something like it will have happened somewhere I'm sure.

How many people must have run into Sergey Brin, or Bill Gates or Steve Wozniak at some point when they were young, derided them as 'nerds', ignored them, and later realised that the person they looked down upon is now an incredibly successful and influential person? This is just a (whimsical) parable for that, and I don't think the veracity of this particular instant is particularly relevant.

Well, given that we're on a site called Hacker News, populated by a bunch of programmers and other assorted techies, I'm willing to be that many of us were, in fact, the nerds that got ignored and picked on when we were kids.

Although I was never nerdy like my bespectacled, asthmatic buddy Marcus, I wasn't too far off, and certainly "geeky" would have been accurate. And of course I took my lumps as a result. In my case, and I'm willing to bet the same is true of many others, this helped engender a powerful motive to succeed.

So ironically, it may be that all of the people trying to put nerds down just end up motivating them to rise up. In which case, you might even be able to argue that without looking down on, ignoring, and even bullying nerds, we'd have less technological innovation today. ;)

sorry, but imho Woz is still treated a lot like nerd :)

Because he is. He's letting his nerd flag fly. Last I saw him he was riding a segway, buying multiple iPads, and wearing what appeared to be a giant cock ring, but was apparently some kind of magic trick.

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