Nerds, prole drift, and Gregory Clark

On another blog, "Mercy Vetsel" wrote the following comment in response to Greg Mankiw's post about the Gregory Clark book, which I previously wrote about:

Interesting thesis. This type of beneficial diffusion of successful values would seem to be the opposite of the modern trend defined by Paul Fussell as "Prole Creep" [ed: Mercy means prole drift] where low class attitudes and behaviors creep up into the middle and upper classes.

This made me think about a recent NY Times article about the theory that nerds are "hyperwhite."

In a 2001 paper, “The Whiteness of Nerds: Superstandard English and Racial Markedness,” and other works, including a book in progress, Bucholtz notes that the “hegemonic” “cool white” kids use a limited amount of African-American vernacular English; they may say “blood” in lieu of “friend,” or drop the “g” in “playing.” But the nerds she has interviewed, mostly white kids, punctiliously adhere to Standard English. They often favor Greco-Latinate words over Germanic ones (“it’s my observation” instead of “I think”), a preference that lends an air of scientific detachment. They’re aware they speak distinctively, and they use language as a badge of membership in their cliques. One nerd girl Bucholtz observed performed a typically nerdy feat when asked to discuss “blood” as a slang term; she replied: “B-L-O-O-D. The word is blood,” evoking the format of a spelling bee. She went on, “That’s the stuff which is inside of your veins,” humorously using a literal definition. Nerds are not simply victims of the prevailing social codes about what’s appropriate and what’s cool; they actively shape their own identities and put those codes in question.

Though Bucholtz uses the term “hyperwhite” to describe nerd language in particular, she claims that the “symbolic resources of an extreme whiteness” can be used elsewhere. After all, “trends in music, dance, fashion, sports and language in a variety of youth subcultures are often traceable to an African-American source,” but “unlike the styles of cool European American students, in nerdiness, African-American culture and language [do] not play even a covert role.” Certainly, “hyperwhite” seems a good word for the sartorial choices of paradigmatic nerds. While a stereotypical black youth, from the zoot-suit era through the bling years, wears flashy clothes, chosen for their aesthetic value, nerdy clothing is purely practical: pocket protectors, belt sheaths for gadgets, short shorts for excessive heat, etc.

The "hyperwhite" theory seems like another way of saying that nerds reject prole drift. The worst of prole behaviors is African-American inspired. Rejecting prole drift is not cool.

On the other hand, maybe not. Nerds seem to partake in low class white activities like bowling, and may eat low class white food like McDonald's. Perhaps nerds only reject the African-American inspired elements of prole culture, such as rap music and "bling."

Going back to the topic of prole drift, it may be an inevitable result of the greater fertility of the lower classes. In pre-industrial times when lower class children were more likely to die before reaching adulthood, upper class behaviors drifted downward. Today, the opposite is happening.

Comments

[DML]

"In pre-industrial times when lower class children were more likely to die before reaching adulthood, upper class behaviors drifted downward."

Usually you at least give us the courtesy of selectively filtering "proof" to back up your claims. Now you're giving up on even that. Don't get lazy on us pal!

[Abhinav]

The worst of prole behaviors is African-American inspired.

Amusing..

[Jim Beam]

Totally agree about low class attitudes drifting upward. In my high school, a lot of the upper and middle class kids would occassionaly dress like a stereotypcial prole; navy blue t-shirts with some roofing company on it and Dickey pants or ragged jeans.

It was even considered cool to associate with the lower class kids and attend their parties in their neighborhoods. If an upper class white kid could get a "black friend", it was even better! Especially the "real nigga" types. Of course, nobody wants to mimic their values and behaviors; just want to show everybody that "I'm tough enough to hang with a black kid." I guess they're trying to prove to everybody that they aren't some "rich, white-ass pussy".

Hispanic kids were people to be avoided.

But, I guess this backs up HS's theory...the working class kids at my school vastly outnumbered the upper class kids. I'm sure at places like Exeter, it's standard procedure to stay away from the minority prole kids. Maybe?

What about the middle kids? Not hard to predict, they scorned the upper kids and regarded the lower class kids as "white trash". I was part of the middle and that's all we talked about; how much we loathed both types of people.

You even see it in TV shows and movies. It's always the "tough talking, cigarette smoking, working-class guy getting the best of the snobby stock broker or foreigner". Anybody here watch "Rescue Me" on FX? And don't forget about the "Die Hard" movies. Lower class culture is very marketable.

[Pender]

Ugh. This kind of outright racism really detracts from your credibility on already sensitive subjects like IQ testing across races. It's also, of course, classless and offensive. I'm out.

[Agnostic]

Nerds definitely do not reject prole values -- they dress like homeless drug addicts, maintain a similar level of grooming, and many are lazy (in the sense of choosing not to live up to their potential, even though doing little still gets them far b/c they're smart).

It would be amazing if they had a favorite composer, painter, or serious writer. Instead, they have a Rondo alla Turca ringtone for their cell, and that's it, some MC Escher posters, and only dystopian or sci-fi books.

It's doubtful that they've spent an appreciable amount of time abroad, and the extent of their cosmopolitanism is consuming Japanese manga / anime. As a result, they probably do not know a foreign language that required study.

None of this has to do with smarts, creativity, an academic career, etc. -- just look at how impressive and dignified the geniuses of the past were. Nerds are just another victim of the erosion of good values that's hit the culture more broadly.

[Turambar]

Why does the Times feel its acceptable to use any race as a pejorative? For God's sake, its 2007, is it too much to ask that the alleged paper of record have a editorial standard that doesnt not allow this racist behavior from its writers?

By cultivating an identity perceived as white to the point of excess, nerds deny themselves the aura of normality that is usually one of the perks of being white.

What does "white to the point of excess" mean other than being white is, in and of it self, a negative thing. These people already are saying "playin'" and using other street slang, what more does the author want? Should we expect to see admonishions in news articles about people being excessively black or dealing with the problem of hyperasian?

To say that an article in the Times is stupid is a near given these days [I mean really, who is buying pocket protectors other than ironically?], but they fact that they endorse this racism in their editorial guide is shocking at a new level.

[SFG]

None of this has to do with smarts, creativity, an academic career, etc. -- just look at how impressive and dignified the geniuses of the past were. Nerds are just another victim of the erosion of good values that's hit the culture more broadly.

So we'd have been memorizing the names of all those guys in the second book of the Iliad instead of who played each of the Doctors? Has a little more grandeur to it, I have to admit.

But I'm not sure how much more dignified all these guys were...remember biographies were much more hagiographic back then. I'm sure Isaac Newton was a personally unpleasant fellow, and Beethoven was a jerk from what I remember. Hundreds of years later people only remember the work.

As for dressing like slobs, I strongly suspect the simplicity of monastic rule appealed in more ways than one. Put no effort into dressing, spend all your time studying books and never talking to anyone (especially women)...yeah, I'm sure no nerds became monks. The abbot Trithemius's great book of secrets turned out to be a joke, all written in code and saying things like "Don't look too hard for hidden secrets." Self-referential nerd humor, hundreds of years ago.

[DML]

"In pre-industrial times when lower class children were more likely to die before reaching adulthood, upper class behaviors drifted downward. Today, the opposite is happening."

And another thing - white people learn about these "behaviors" from TV which stars rich people, many of whom happen to be Black. So like in the olden days which you love so much, they are learning behaviors from the "upper class".

[Carter]

Nostalgie pour la boue

[Mark]

The middle class' children have happily embraced black culture; which is why I look forward to their impoverishment in the credit crunch. They shall be taxed to pay for my Social Security. And they will deserve it.

To reverse the trend, make sure white trash never get any welfare and let them die.

[Robert Hume]

DML, Here's the reference:

http://www.halfsigma.com/2007/08/ny-times-says-b.html

[Robert Hume]

DML, Here's the reference:

http://www.halfsigma.com/2007/08/ny-times-says-b.html

[Robert Hume]

DML, Here's the reference:

http://www.halfsigma.com/2007/08/ny-times-says-b.html

[DML]

Thanks for the link Robert.