Library Rats and the Rage To Master
Part 4: The nerdy quality of intellectual curiosity
One of the most beloved characters in Hollywood history is Doc Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd, in the Back to the Future movies.
Over multiple sequels, we learn that Doc comes from a wealthy family and has spent 30 years working on a time machine in the garage behind the former family home. In the first two movies, we don’t learn of Doc having friends (aside from Marty) or romantic interests. His life is devoted to solving the problem of time travel.
Behind the drama is an archetype that’s easy to recognize. We all know historical figures with similar qualities, like Nikola Tesla and Sir Isaac Newton. We may have friends or family so passionate and dedicated to a subject that they seem distant or isolated.
We can ask: what motivates someone like your uncle, Doc Brown, or Nikola Tesla? What’s behind their intense interest? I believe it’s the nerdy quality of intellectual curiosity.
In his post, The Nerd Handbook, Michael Lopp says:
The nerd sees the world as a system which, given enough time and effort, is completely knowable.
Knowledge. Intelligence. Curiosity. These are motivating factors in the nerd worldview, where unsolved problems and intellectual challenges provide a playground for rational thinking and mastery of rules and systems. They also provide opportunities to feel “The High” that comes with solving a problem or beating a game.
Intellectual vs. Social Pursuits
Nerds who aren’t tuned into the social game often make a conscious choice to pursue their interests instead of pursuing social status. Time spent programming, reading, or tinkering may be fulfilling in the way a party is fulfilling to others. Focusing on an interest is not a consolation but a prize.
Ty Tashiro in AWKWARD:
Awkward individuals' intense and obsessive focus on specific interests comes with an opportunity cost, which is that they are more likely to miss social cues and cultural expectations that others see easily and that are integral for smoothly navigating social life.
Another way to think about the opportunity cost relates to exposure and practice. When an intense interest takes over someone’s life, they have fewer opportunities to develop and practice social skills.
This perspective makes an impression because it contradicts mainstream expectations regarding success. When someone shows little interest in social life, sports, parties, and fashion, it can lead to an unfair perception of failure. Parents may worry that a kid isn’t fitting in or doesn't have a lot of friends. While these are legitimate concerns, some kids are adapting and choosing to play a different game that works better for them and their worldview.
A Nerd By Another Name
Like coolness, I believe nerdiness transcends time and culture. If the nerdy quality of intellectual curiosity is near-universal, we should be able to find it in other countries and timeframes.
The term “nerd” is a recent invention dating back to the mid-1900s. Before then, people with intense intellectual curiosity were known by the media they used most: books. As we’ll see below, the term “bookwork” likely represented nerdy qualities throughout history.
According to Merriam-Webster, a bookworm is “a person unusually devoted to reading and study.” You could also say “devoted to knowability”. Let’s look at this in other languages:
German: Bücherwurm (literally "bookworm") refers to someone who devours books. Like the English term, it can convey a mix of admiration and mild teasing.
French: Rat de bibliothèque (literally "library rat"). This phrase is akin to "bookworm" and is often used affectionately to describe avid readers.
Japanese: 本の虫 (Hon no mushi) (literally "book bug"): A direct equivalent to "bookworm," used to describe someone obsessed with books.
Chinese: 书虫 (Shū chóng) (literally "book insect"): A direct equivalent of "bookworm," often used positively to describe someone who loves reading.
Russian: Книжный червь (Knizhny cherv) (literally "bookworm"): This term describes someone who loves books, similar to the English term.
The reputation of “bookwork” would not exist unless it deviated from mainstream expectations. What sets the nerd/bookworm apart is the social isolation that can accompany intense interests. Doc brown spent 30 years in his garage. Isaac Newton was famously reclusive and obsessive.
Rage to Master
The goal for nerds is not just curiosity or knowability but mastery.
The social game is not knowable in the way a machine, programming code, or math problem is knowable. This attraction to knowability often leads to high achievement in specific fields. Tashiro:
Researchers who study prodigious achievement find that high-achieving people share some psychological traits, including a razor-sharp focus, a willingness to search for unusual questions or solutions, and an obsessive drive to master their craft, regardless of whether that occurs in technology, the arts, or entertainment.
Psychologist Ellen Winner calls this the “rage to master,” which is an obsessive drive to become better or more knowledgeable about a subject. Unlike people who are motivated by social factors like approval, attention, or emotional response, the rage to master is an intrinsic motivation; it comes from within.
We can ask: what drives Doc Brown? Intense curiosity and the rage to master.
The Qualities
My goal with the Welcome to the Nerdiverse series is to highlight qualities of nerdiness that go beyond the stereotypes and discuss what nerds have versus what they lack.
So far, we’ve covered:
A preference for rational thinking
A comfort with rules and systems
This post is about intellectual curiosity and seeing the world as a knowable system that can be mastered.
As always, these qualities are most apparent in contrast to mainstream expectations of success that are rooted in less rational or rules-based ideas like intuition, cultural signals, beauty, and coolness.
Coming Up…
Next, we’ll look at the nerdy preference for precision and completeness. What is it about nerdiness that seems so connected to things being done correctly?
Read the Series from the Beginning:
Welcome to the Nerdiverse (Series Intro)
Why Nerds Don’t Smoke (Rational Thinking)
How Nerds Get High (Rules and Systems)
It takes the nerd to focus and master the end goal, but it takes the anti-nerd (marty) to bring the goal to the social use by mankind. And most of the time they steal the credit!
Thank you for the post. Two thoughts sprung from reading it.
1. I'm just reading Going Infinite by Michael Lewis about the rise and fall of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried. Your description of nerd tendencies and inclinations could not be more spot on for a character. I think you'd enjoy reading it and seeing the parallels.
2. Have you ever heard of the book The Status Game by Will Storr? The subtitle is "On Human Life and How to Play It" and I think in the context of this post it could be seen as an attempt (successful too, I'd say) to codify the invisible rules of status in our culture.