PG addressed the point about envy and he does not argue that envy drives unpopularity. Regardless, I'm with you on your first two paragraphs, but not sure I agr

PG addressed the point about envy and he does not argue that envy drives unpopularity. Regardless, I'm with you on your first two paragraphs, but not sure I agree with all of the last one. In my opinion, the "act like nerds" part likely comes from temperamental traits such as social anxiety, higher sensitivity, etc. For identifying with "being smart" (whether they actually are, is debatable) I would argue it is at least partially as a result of intellectualization being their go-to defense mechanism to cope with uncomfortable emotions (e.g., social ostracization/bullying). In other words, nerds likely become nerds as a result of being unpopular/ostracized, not the other way around.