Rant: Nerds, Condescension in the Ranks

When discussing the idea for this site with my colleagues, I wanted to make it clear that we weren't on here to trash anyone. There's too many users on the internet trolling and tearing down genuine people simply trying to put their work out for others to enjoy. In the same respect, I wanted a space for us to address issues frequently witnessed as our lives are entrenched in nerd culture. So as my first major rant on Nerds Ranting, I have a note for everyone reading this:

Dear nerd,

You don't know everything.

Sincerely,

Over-the-posturing

Condescension and one-upmanship pervades nerd culture and I'm tired of it. There's a stereotype of the comic book nerd who tries to gain superiority over other nerds for knowing the one particular issue number of an abstract mini-series that was the first appearance of a character no one cares about. Unfortunately, that stereotype is a bit too real in my experience.

I meet a lot of people working at a fairly large comic book store, and I interact with around thousands of customers every week. I am always willing to answer any question or give any help I can offer. It's retail though, and as we all know, not all customers are amazing. The quickest way for me to lose interest in helping you out is to come to me asking a question and then trying to prove you know more than me.

Better yet, I'll pose a recurring scenario I frequently witness while on a shift. A group of nerds come in to the store and there is one alpha nerd beating his chest by pointing to every comic and explaining to his friends how the story conflicts with some past continuity. This obnoxiously loud guy has it ingrained somewhere in his brain, if he displays more knowledge than his friends he will be the superior nerd. Why is anyone friends with this type of person?

More often than not, the loudest person in the store hasn't read a comic book in the longest amount of time. They read a few articles about the latest run of Suicide Squad, or checked out a few of their favorite characters' wikipedia pages. There's just enough memorized facts and prepared talking points to seem well-versed, without any actual reading of the material to back it up. It's all posturing and it needs to end.

Enjoy what you want to enjoy, and discuss what you want to discuss. I'm not even opposed to a lively debate about the latest issue and how it reflects on past stories. But don't talk out of your ass if you don't know anything. No one is judging you for not remembering an abstract reference or even reading the last few issues. I am judging you for making some blanket statement about a title you clearly haven't read.

Nerds let go of the egos. Read the comic books you want to discuss before opening your mouth and listing off the bullet points you'd know never actually occurred if you read the series yourself. In a world inundated by click-bait articles, we have learned to disseminate who gets their information solely from uninformed websites. No one expects you to be an expert on everything. Your condescension and superiority just makes you sound like an idiot.