Writer’s note: I would like to dedicate this essay towards nerds in the making and current nerds. Also a reminder to stay authentic. Before we continue let us not blur the lines between a geek and a nerd.

There is no nerd without the nerdiness. Being a nerd is mostly just following your own curiosity and seeing where it lejds you. Of course, with a mix of your intellect. I do not have an exact idea on how intellectuals are formed. I presume it is mostly through a mix of a few things, like constantly thinking about a problem, breaking it down, and solving it at the minute level with your own curiosity. Your curiosity in life will lead you to many interesting places. It is like a mental model to be followed. Different types of nerds in different fields and backgrounds in life have led them there. I think if you asked every single nerd how they ended up where they are currently, they would describe certain things they did earlier in life and how they simply enjoyed doing them.

In common society, most would take the easy route, avoiding anything challenging when they can simply do something easy for the rest of their lives. Why would you torture yourself with this “thing” when you can just sit down, watch television, or go on holidays all the time? Yet, I know of no better life purpose than to perish in attempting the great and the impossible.

It’s in those moments when you’re out with your friends or family and you are just completely zoned out thinking about something and letting your mind wander over certain ideas or possibilities entertaining your conscience. We enjoy feeding those ideas. It just feels so thrilling and the satisfaction we get once we finally prove ourselves and do it.

If you are in academia, engineering, tech, mathematics or anything related, with a dying passion, you are one of the luckiest people on earth and it is not something to be taken for granted. It’s a gift to have a passion. You don’t choose your passions, your passions choose you.

What feels like play to you, but looks like work to others? - Naval Ravikant scenscion.jpg Without a doubt, ambition drives us. Do not confuse career ambition and who you want to be as a person. Both of these go hand in hand, you cannot have one without the other. Making revelations in one’s personal life or field of study will make an impact. Most truths hurt but it is also important for you to come to that truth yourself and not let others impose the truth on you. Once you distinguish between what you like to do and what you can do that for work, you’ll find your play becomes your work. Playing does not mean that you are in a constant state of joy. Learn to enjoy the suffering.

Sorrow is knowledge: they who know the most must mourn the deepest o’er the fatal truth - George Gordon Byron

Hence, being a nerd is fruitful in that it can lead to a career. After doing something for so long, like reading or doing what you enjoy, it eventually becomes a part of who you are. To truly flourish as a nerd, try to take the misery out of it and not take yourself too seriously. Some of you may relate, but there comes a certain point when you become so wrapped up in a problem that it starts to impact other areas of your life which will eventually affect the people around you.

Fierce nerds, an essay written by Paul Graham dictates this very well. They take results very personally and are impatient. We may lose sleep, friends, or even our sanity just to solve a problem. Ambition takes over most of your life once you are in this cycle. A cycle that is very hard to get out of. I don’t blame you. It is part of our human tendencies for ambition and conquest. With also relatively few downsides. Striving for something greater and bigger than your own self. Having the moxie to do it as a fierce nerd is one of the most rewarding things there is. Enjoying what you do and getting rich from it. Common examples are starting a biotech/tech startup. We have the financially well off nerds funneling the money towards the ambitious ones to pursue it.

Up to a point, confidence is a self-fulfilling prophecy - Paul Graham

Having friends or being able to interact with your nerd community is another great aspect of nerd culture. Finding people who enjoy doing the same things is a challenge itself. Being a curious nerd can lead to a long friendship of countless critical thoughts. If it were so easy, we would have no lonely people struggling to make friends. Nerd societies matter more on intellect rather than looks. As they say, steel sharpens steel. Societies of nerds are great, you meet different types of nerds and learn about various topics, unlike going out with generic college friends, which nowadays often revolves around hooking up, drugs and getting wasted. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, you make memorable experiences to share with your offspring in the near future. But where will those friends lead you down the line? Know what you want. Most people don’t. An empty shell riding throughout their timeline towards an inevitable death.

Nerd societies form over time, you just have to find one of them. It might be a personal thing, but I empathize with most nerds when they say they never really “fit in”. Once you find your “people”, it is like finally being a part of something which you can relate to. When hardworking nerds collaborate and find a goal to strive to, it’s somewhat of an unstoppable force. I believe that to do something very difficult in your life, you need a very deep meaning behind it. Otherwise, you won’t get very far. This is another reason why I believe most tech nerds read philosophy or something similar. It has to resonate and make you feel something. Almost like brainwashing yourself and being delusional in a way.

An example of this is a bunch of nerds forming Artificial Intelligence and social media platforms, which indefinitely transformed human societies in ways we would have never thought of. Want to buy something from across the country? No problem. How about asking a machine to write me an essay on world war II but make it sound like Donald Trump wrote it? Again, no problem. Whatever it is, it empowers people. New jobs are created, new relationships are formed, new knowledge is being generated.

Nerds are somewhat steps ahead of general people. As a young nerd, you might feel older than your peers, but that’s because you are focusing on real world problems instead of playing some zero sum games. Remember, time is constantly ticking, so do what matters to you. Without a doubt life is a game, but there are many different types to choose from. Choose wisely which game you’ll play.

Play stupid games, win stupid Prizes

Nowadays, I think of everything as a game. While you can play games and waste your time of course, people with high agency don’t. You don’t want to look back and regret what you could have been, so give it your all. If you are not a conformist, you will create your own path, not some bullshit which institutions and societies make you believe you have to choose. The path which is different and irregular. Historically, everything great has come from something unconventional. With the knowledge available today, everything is out there for the taking. Think abundance. Being comfortable with who you are and knowing yourself is what makes the ascension of “the nerd”. You cannot build a lasting empire upon foundations of sand.