[sjbzbeiks]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dutch_Golden_Age Read the section on social structure (pre 18th century)

Then consider the role of the clergy in the Middle Ages, and say nothing of Rome and large bureaucracy (Roman engineering alone).

On top of this you need to ignore very large bureaucracies and trading networks in Asia to go far with your narrative (Persian, Turkish, Mongol, Indian and Chinese).

There were a good deal of powerful nerds before the 1700s.

[Animats]

Not that many. They maxed out around 2% of the population in pre-industrial societies. See Pikkety's "Piketty's Capital and Ideology. (2022) He goes into this in some detail in the early chapters.

My point here is that the prevalence of smart people in the population exceeded the demand for them until the second half of the 20th century. Then, for one human lifetime, large numbers of smart people were needed. That period may be ending.

It may have already ended. In the US, about half of college graduates have jobs that don't require a college degree.