Nerds who aren't that smart

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

You realize that most of those silly metaphors were created about 100 years ago, when they honestly had no idea of what was going on, right?  For the most part, physicists have stopped doing that a while ago.

Your above rant sounds like a person who only knows about a Turing-style card-fed Automatic Computing Engine trying to describe the Watson supercomputer.

Maybe the problem is lead time, then. Discovery is made then, a century later, someone brings it to my attention. The internets has improved this immensely but finding reliable feeds with good information means navigating a gobshite minefield

In my case, my problem is that I accept information too readily.  I am, as a result, full of truisms, given the avalanche of shit that is the internet.

You're also skilled at rejecting truisms as soon as you have good evidence that you're wrong, which is a pretty rare and valuable skill.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

FWIW I wasn't talking about "fashion nerds", AKA "hipsters", in my op. While some nerds are hipsters, the nerds I was thinking of are people who are definitely actual nerds and not just dressing up. While there may come a time when non-nerds are really into role-playing games, it hasn't happened in my lifetime and I don't foresee it happening anytime soon.

They're just kind of dumb, but unaware of it because they're nerds and everyone knows that nerds are smart.

[Doktor Howl]

FWIW I wasn't talking about "fashion nerds", AKA "hipsters", in my op. While some nerds are hipsters, the nerds I was thinking of are people who are definitely actual nerds and not just dressing up. While there may come a time when non-nerds are really into role-playing games, it hasn't happened in my lifetime and I don't foresee it happening anytime soon.

You'd be amazed, actually.

[Doktor Howl]

You're also skilled at rejecting truisms as soon as you have good evidence that you're wrong, which is a pretty rare and valuable skill.

Thanks.  I think that's a by-product of my line of work, which penalizes people who can't abandon a beautiful hypothesis in the face of ugly facts.

Unless you're an engineer.  Which makes me fucking crazy.

[hooplala]

FWIW I wasn't talking about "fashion nerds", AKA "hipsters", in my op. While some nerds are hipsters, the nerds I was thinking of are people who are definitely actual nerds and not just dressing up. While there may come a time when non-nerds are really into role-playing games, it hasn't happened in my lifetime and I don't foresee it happening anytime soon.

You'd be amazed, actually.

I like D&D, and referred to the word "care" as a noun because a website said so... 

[LMNO]

FWIW I wasn't talking about "fashion nerds", AKA "hipsters", in my op. While some nerds are hipsters, the nerds I was thinking of are people who are definitely actual nerds and not just dressing up. While there may come a time when non-nerds are really into role-playing games, it hasn't happened in my lifetime and I don't foresee it happening anytime soon.

They're just kind of dumb, but unaware of it because they're nerds and everyone knows that nerds are smart.

Would that whole Dunning-kerkawassname effect be in play here, with sort of a halo effect on top of it? Specifically smart, which leads to the belief in being smart about other things?

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

You're also skilled at rejecting truisms as soon as you have good evidence that you're wrong, which is a pretty rare and valuable skill.

Thanks.  I think that's a by-product of my line of work, which penalizes people who can't abandon a beautiful hypothesis in the face of ugly facts.

Unless you're an engineer.  Which makes me fucking crazy.

Well, engineers.

We all know how those people can be.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

FWIW I wasn't talking about "fashion nerds", AKA "hipsters", in my op. While some nerds are hipsters, the nerds I was thinking of are people who are definitely actual nerds and not just dressing up. While there may come a time when non-nerds are really into role-playing games, it hasn't happened in my lifetime and I don't foresee it happening anytime soon.

You'd be amazed, actually.

I like D&D, and referred to the word "care" as a noun because a website said so... 

It happens to the best of us.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

FWIW I wasn't talking about "fashion nerds", AKA "hipsters", in my op. While some nerds are hipsters, the nerds I was thinking of are people who are definitely actual nerds and not just dressing up. While there may come a time when non-nerds are really into role-playing games, it hasn't happened in my lifetime and I don't foresee it happening anytime soon.

They're just kind of dumb, but unaware of it because they're nerds and everyone knows that nerds are smart.

Would that whole Dunning-kerkawassname effect be in play here, with sort of a halo effect on top of it? Specifically smart, which leads to the belief in being smart about other things?

Well, yes and no. Everyone from all walks of life is susceptible to Dunning-Kruger effect, and it's not that being good in one arena makes people think they are good in all arenas, as much as that being incompetent renders one unable to correctly gauge one's level of competence.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

So on that particular level, yes, it is probable that not being very intelligent could make it nearly impossible to accurately gauge one's own intelligence, leading to a falsely inflated estimate of one's own intelligence.