When I was young I'd get beat up and called names for being a nerd. I was a social pariah, and intellectual interest was something children literally looked dow

When I was young I'd get beat up and called names for being a nerd. I was a social pariah, and intellectual interest was something children literally looked down upon. The vast majority of my equally-nerdy friends eventually grew out of their social quirkiness and became hugely successful and functional adults, and their curiosity is respected and regarded, and when it's not, their profitable profession and social standing is. There have always been mobs to consider because you just _can't_ say whatever you want without considering the consequences, and because we strive towards a world where we're more aware of the hurt we cause by what we say and do. It is in fact the best period in the history of humanity to be a nerd.