I'll take a stab at it. 1) Because society is predictable. Groups act in predictable ways. Everything that's predictable makes sense. 2) But good friends do.

I'll take a stab at it. 1) Because society is predictable. Groups act in predictable ways. Everything that's predictable makes sense. 2) But good friends do. 3) A well socialized nerd can interact with different groups. He is comfortable with hostile nerd speak (where you must be able to back up every statement with layers of facts) and he's comfortable with small talk / casual conversations with "normal" people. Most socially well adjusted people on the other hand can _only_ talk in their setting. They're completely lost as soon as they're in an environment with different social rules. (Of course there are obvious exceptions) 4) I agree. But the difference between people who are socially really smooth and "most people" is probably just as big as the gap between "most people" and socially maladjusted outcasts. If I pay a little attention I see regular people make big social mistakes all the time.