In this essay Grant Penrod discusses the negative image of “nerds” and why people frown upon intellectualism. He describes how a football team gets massive recognition for their accomplishments on the field, and academic teams of the same school were given little or no recognition at all for their accomplishments. Penrod writes, “Nearly all of the graduating senior will remember the name and escapades of their star quarterback; nearly none of them will ever even realize that their class produced Arizona’s first national champion in Lincoln-Douglas Debate. After all, why should they? He and his teammates were ‘just the nerds'” (754). Penrod uses this statement to back up his idea that no matter how great someone can be intellectually they will never receive any credit, nor be remembered, because it’s just being smart and that’s not socially “cool.”
While I do understand that “nerds” are not socially accepted sometimes I don’t believe it is simply because they are smart. Being smart does not automatically make you a nerd, and I believe this is the flaw in making me believe in Penrod’s essay. I guess the true question is what makes someone a “nerd?” To me, Penrod believes it is only be smart and I completely disagree. A lot of athletes are very intelligent, but they are not deemed “nerds” because there are other factors to consider when labeling someone a “nerd.” Penrod never proves that people hate people solely because they are smart which makes his essay unpersuasive.