It all started with the Big Bang

I had all four of my wisdom teeth extracted first thing this morning. It wasn't a good experience, but it was a lot less stressful than I had anticipated. Thus, I have spent most of my day in bed, watching old episodes of TV shows, updating my website and blog design, looking for Christmas gifts online, etc. Apparently I will be doing that all day tomorrow as well...I hope I don't die of boredom!

I have been watching a lot of old episodes of The Big Bang Theory today. For the first three seasons of this show I refused to watch it. I thought the promos were ridiculous and that I would hate it. Clearly, that changed. I love the show! One thing I have noticed about the show is that it glamorizes being a nerd. Suddenly, being smart is cool. Likely because the main female character, Penny, played by Kaley Cuoco falls in love with Leonard, a raging nerd.

Being a TA for a course in Human Ecology and Evolution, it really got me thinking...how have biological and cultural evolution interacted to result in this behaviour? Why do people behave, or act like geeks, when often they aren't? You see it all the time, especially at a school like Queen's. You get the girls wearing the glasses that Screech of Saved by the Bell used to wear, guys wearing t-shirts with super heroes, or science-themed sayings and logos. I would bet money that most of these people don't even know what science is.

Biologically-speaking, what would signal success or fitness to a potential mate? The geek (shorter, less muscle, intelligent, passive) or the 'big strong man (for lack of a better term)' (tall, muscular, athletic, aggressive, not-so-smart)? I can't decide. What do they each have to offer potential mates?

The Geek:
1) Intelligence: high likelihood to get a good, high-paying job securing financial stability for the family
2) A family-man: this may be a bit of a stereotypical comment on my part, but probably would be interested in the needs of others, less-selfish (or so this is how a geek is portrayed in the media)

The Big Strong Man:
1) He can protect his mate and his family
2) Success in athletics is often a good fitness signal


It's such a hard call. Ever since I started watching this show I have always wondered how in the recent years geek-chic if you will became SO FREAKING POPULAR?? Even in my years in High School...which was not that long ago, it wasn't cool to be smart. It was unheard of. All of us smart kids hung out together, and were never looked-up to or admired. Now, I see the facebook pages and twitter pages of young, gifted, super-intelligent kids in my family who are the Leonard and Penny of their schools....simultaneously.

Anyways, if you have an opinion on this, I'd love to hear it! I haven't done any research of my own on this. I am hoping some student will choose this as a poster topic for their assignment, as I would love to see some cultural evolution research on the topic. Here's a funny infographic about the evolution of the geek http://www.flowtown.com/blog/the-evolution-of-the-geek.