It caused me to wonder why despite the negative connotation, some people have an underlying desire to be a bonafide nerd.  This interest in nerds was obviously spurred by my previous post "How Nerdy Are You?".

I've come to realize that perhaps it is because way back when I was in high school, there wasn't any tangible proof that nerdi-ness was an advantage.  We were clicking away on puny Timex Sinclairs, TRS-80s, or Commodores eons before the advent of wi-fi enabled laptops.  It was at that time that some nerd in Seattle by the name of Bill Gates was already unfolding his masterplan of dominating the world (at least not in the military sense).

Today, there is more than enough evidence that nerdi-ness has its own rewards.  Bill Gates, the MySpace Cowboys, the Google Guys, proof is in abundance.  Hence, all of a sudden, nerdi-ness isn't so uncool after all.

This is best summarized in the 11 Rules of Life by Bill Gates, which he has shared to thousands of graduating High School students in America during their commencement exercises.

Rule # 11 : Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.