[fffernan]

Why Nerds? Let's hire people who are technically capable to do the job.

The future is here. The minimum level of knowledge to be functional in society has increased. Lazy folks who don't pick up a book or take a course like to label the capable people as nerds.

[imron]

> Why Nerds?

Ask the verge. 'Nerd' was their word, not Warren's.

https://elizabethwarren.com/plans/congressional-independence

[dang]

Ok, we've changed the URL to that from https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/27/20886788/elizabeth-warren..., which doesn't seem to add any information.

[toxican]

> technically capable to do the job

Colloquially known as "nerds"

[pb7]

It has a negative connotation. No one says "I want to be a nerd!"

The headline could have just as easily said "hire an army of technical experts".

[torben-friis]

> No one says "I want to be a nerd!"

This might be generational - now that tech is mainstream, and there's a constant influx of nerd culture into the general public (marvel/scifi/fantasy movies and shows, videogames, etc) it's pretty popular.

Half the tinder profiles I see have girls claiming to either be nerds or attracted to them (or both).

[pb7]

I see it as an in vs. out group thing. When you identify as something, it takes any negative connotation out of it because you own it. When others identify you as that thing, it could be harmless, or it could be malicious and there is no way to know. I’m sure you can think of a few racial and sexual orientation terms that have entirely different reactions depending on who’s saying them.

[moate]

>>No one says "I want to be a nerd!"

No, we do at this point. There's plenty of people who like it, but I will also accept that there's plenty of people who don't. I consider myself a nerd, and use the term "nerd" to or "nerdy" to describe myself and many of my hobbies. I mean there's websites out there like Nerdarchy that are clearly owning the phrase.

Similar to how plenty of LGBTQ+ people use "queer" and there's no chance in hell you would ever here me self identify as that personally, despite fitting the commonly usage of it.

[pb7]

Like I said to another commenter: you would still probably have a problem if I were to call someone queer when they don’t identify themselves as such though. I think that’s where the issue lies for me.

[moate]

Sure. But that's not what you said originally, or what I quoted and addressed. That's a very different point to make. You said "nobody". I'm pointing out that "somebody" disagrees with that assessment. You might have been able to get away with "many people don't".

I agree with your point (which I also made in my previous post) that forcing someone to identify as something they don't identify as would be a problem. But in that case, you can also argue that if you're not a "nerd" you shouldn't be working on projects looking for "nerds". The same way some people might have the qualifications of a "rock-star developer" but move away from companies who put statements like that in their hiring materials.

Either way, this is the Verge's language use we're talking about. They're not exactly the highest of brows.

[pb7]

> You said "nobody". I'm pointing out that "somebody" disagrees with that assessment. You might have been able to get away with "many people don't".

You are right, but if we’re splitting hairs here, I also said want to be, meaning that a person that isn’t one doesn’t proclaim this as a goal because it is very vague and can be “implemented” so to speak in many different ways. Maybe a bad analogy but it’s something like “I want to be busy!” — many things can accomplish that. It’s a vague goal.

Anyway, this conversation has gone far from my sole original point that it’s not a nice word to call people that happen to be good at their technical jobs.

[toxican]

I don't think "nerd" holds the negative connotation it once did. All these ultra-wealthy silicon valley types, the abundance of tech in our daily lives, etc. have shaved away the edges on that term, imo. I certainly don't take offense to being a called a nerd, at least.

[CathedralBorrow]

Yes, headlines usually could be written in many ways but the publication needs to pick one.

[pb7]

Why then go with one that is pejorative and not consistent with what the subject of the article actually said?

[CathedralBorrow]

Flair, clicks, taste, mood of the headline writer that day, or any other reason why people do things.

[efa]

Yeah, I found the title annoying. They are looking to resurrect the OTA. That's an "army of nerds"?