David Anderegg, a professor of psychology at Bennington College who puts the "egg" in "egghead," believes he knows one reason why America lags in producing math and sciences whiz kids.
It's because, he thinks, the U.S. has stereotyped the intellectually advanced among us as pocket protector-wearing social misfits. And no teenager worth his or her acne medication wants to be seen as such a retro creature.
Anderegg suggests banning two words from the vocabulary: "nerd" and "geek."
That guy who won't make eye contact because he's enraptured by a new social networking app on his iPhone? Call him a technophile.
That guy who won't read a novel, not even the sci-fi book of the year, unless it's available for the Kindle? He's an environmentally aware, cutting-edge bookworm.
Read more:http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/12/22/2009-12-22_nerd_nerd_nerd_is_the_word.html#ixzz0aQHt2BNG
