[rorymarinich]

That's largely what I was trying to say. I use "nerd" in a very narrow sense: most nerdy people I don't consider to be nerds. I don't think I'm a nerd, for instance.

The toughest group to join was that nerd group, at least in my HS. I assume it was a mixture of not trusting or they thought I was too stupid.

That's what I was trying to say. If "popular" really meant "exclusive", then nerds would be the most popular people around.

As I said in my essay: everybody nowadays is a nerd. Doesn't matter what you get involved in, you're a nerd. I suspect that was true 50 years ago, because Lennon/McCartney were as nerdy brilliant as they come and they still became sex icons. So when I refer to nerds I refer not to people who do nerdy things, but to the nerds that aggressively classify themselves as nerds and invite persecution and antagonizing by doing do.