Before computers -- before action figures -- before comics, D&D, movies, and science fiction... what did nerds do? Were there nerds, and what did they do??
Posted by GeronL (Member # 9674) on :
There had to be nerds, known as bean counters. A nerd invented the abacus. A nerd built a scale model of the pyramids to convince the Pharoahs they just had to have one. A nerd was probably the first to drink cow milk, cuz somebody had to do it first, or he dared someone to do it.
A nerd probably did a lot of important things in history. I would bet it was a nerd that decided to cross the eurasia-north america land bridge, it was pobably a nerd who decided to build a mud hut instead of living in a cave with his mother-in-law.
Nerds probably wrote the first law: Thou shall not beat me up.
Mankind would still be hunters and gatherers if it weren't for nerds. It was probably a nerd that found the best kinds of plants to gather for food come to think of it.
Posted by GeronL (Member # 9674) on :
and that was My Ode to Nerds
but of the 20th century the best invention was the air conditioner.
Posted by rivka (Member # 4859) on :
Only barely 20th century -- 1901.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
Still, though, A/C made one hell of an impact.
So let's see, here's my top ten greatest inventions of the 20th century in no particular order: 1. microchip 2. plastic (synthetic polymers) 3. the internet (or just the first network) 4. controlled nuclear fission 5. wireless interpersonal communication (not just radio broadcast) 6. television 7. laser technology 8. digital storage 9. air conditioning 10. [edit to add] Heavier than air flight
Any other suggestions?
Of course, these were all developed by nerds. Posted by James Tiberius Kirk (Member # 2832) on :
Flight.
--j_k
Posted by Shmuel (Member # 7586) on :
Eh, I agree with my high school physics teacher. The greatest invention of the 20th Century is the Thermos. It keeps hot things hot, and cold things cold... the mystery is, how does it know? Posted by starLisa (Member # 8384) on :
The nerds you will have with you always.
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
Oh, come on... You don't think that the likes of Einstein, Newton, Galileo, Copernicus, Pythagoras, Euclid (OK, so I'm struggling for some names here)... even Da Vinci weren't "nerds" in their respective eras?
Of course, Da Vinci managed to hook the Mona Lisa chick, so maybe he's the exception to the rule.
And, FlyingCow, you invented all those? But I tought Al Gore did #3? Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Here is my list of the top 10 best investions of the 20th century, that have not already been mentioned. Found with the help of Wikipedia
1901: Instant coffee by Sartori Kato 1908: Tea bag: Thomas Sullivan (mainly because I'm not thinking of the tea bag you use to make drinks ) 1912: Ecstacy: Merck (that's right, now you know who to blame for them dern teenagers) 1918: Pop-up toaster: Charles Strite 1928: Antibiotics: Alexander Fleming 1928: sliced bread: Otto Frederick Rohwedder (hehe, couldn't help it) 1936: Pinsetter (bowling): Gottfried Schmidt 1955: Velcro: George de Mestral 1957: Bubble Wrap: Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes 1968: Video game console: Ralph H. Baer
Some are more obviously invented by nerds than others. I'm thinking the guy that invented the pinsetter may not have been terribly nerdy.
Posted by FlyingCow (Member # 2150) on :
I think, of those, antibiotics is the only one that could vie for top 10.
Posted by vonk (Member # 9027) on :
Really? No video games or instant coffee? Though I admit the list to being just a tad tongue in cheek.
Posted by Shanna (Member # 7900) on :
quote:Of course, Da Vinci managed to hook the Mona Lisa chick, so maybe he's the exception to the rule.[/QB]
Last I heard, Leonardo probably didn't get any action. (reading "Math and the Mona Lisa" for school.)
Posted by Nighthawk (Member # 4176) on :
quote:Originally posted by Shanna:
quote:Of course, Da Vinci managed to hook the Mona Lisa chick, so maybe he's the exception to the rule.
Last I heard, Leonardo probably didn't get any action. (reading "Math and the Mona Lisa" for school.) [/QB]
Then maybe there's no hope for us then.
Posted by plaid (Member # 2393) on :
I don't think of inventors as being nerds, they're more geeks than nerds.
I'm thinking of nerds as people who collect items of pop culture, argue over minutiea related to such pop culture, etc.
I think that for there to be nerds, there must be pop culture... and that pop culture has to be cheap and affordable enough to support populations of lower-class and middle-class nerds.
(Pre-20th century, there were rich people who were opera lovers, art collectors, etc... but since they were rich, they were seen as being art lovers or eccentrics, and while they may have had a bit of a nerd element to them, it's not quite the same.)
Go back to the gatherer-hunter tribes... where's the nerds there? Pop culture wouldn't exist as we knew it. People told stories -- myths -- but since they were sacred stories, folks weren't allowed to just go ahead and make up new stories about what happened when Spider met Tiger.
Gatherer-hunters moved all the time, so people weren't going to haul around their collection of interesting-looking sticks. Thus, nerds require permanent settlements, so that they may store their collections.
The closest thing I can think of to pre-20th century nerds are people into Judeo-Christian numerology. They had religious motivations -- which is different from the more secular nerds of today -- but they did have a text of shared culture that they could argue over and come up with all sorts of bizarre, complicated theories about how the numeric value of this word/phrase/sentence of scripture revealed its TRUE meaning...
Posted by Storm Saxon (Member # 3101) on :
Nice little article by Neal Stephenson which dovetails with the topic. Posted by ChevMalFet (Member # 9676) on :
Plaid, I think what your describing (meta-culture maybe?) is the tendency of advanced civilizations to value culture more and more heavily as survival concerns get less and less prominent.
And as far as instant coffee goes, I consider that more an archetypal example of the downside of technological advance than anything else. (Says the nerd that has enjoyed freshly roasted coffee on the tropical mountain farm where it was grown).
Posted by SoaPiNuReYe (Member # 9144) on :
Da Vinci was gay, he didn't get any action from any girl.
Posted by Pelegius (Member # 7868) on :
So?, I think he was probably Bi, but guessing such things is both difficult and unscholarly (although often alot of fun.)
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