America Needs Its Nerds Article Analysis Essay

America’s fundamental technology was created by “nerds.” Everyday smart people come up with a brilliant idea and use their skills and “nerdy brains” to create the technology we see in front of us daily, such as the computer. In his enlightening article, “America Needs Its Nerds,” Fridman informs the public about the necessity of nerds by repeating the idea that nerds are needed in society to create technology, rallying the audience of nerds and geeks to stop being ashamed of themselves, and asks a rhetorical question that proves that the United States needs nerds to provide us with advantages.

Fridman informs the public about the necessity of nerds by repeating the idea that nerds are needed in society to create technology and advancements in modern technology. If nerds didn’t exist in today's society, how would modern day technology be created and mass produced to the everyday public? It wouldn't. How would we keep up with a “technology race with Japan” (Fridman) if we didn’t have nerds? People with smarts need to be embraced and accepted in order for the United State to remain prevalent as a world power. A lot of Asian and European countries have a robust and mighty force of smart people who work jobs that need their smarts in order to operate. Fridman’s purpose is to illuminate what would happen if we didn’t have nerds in today’s society that could keep up with today's constant technology war. What is more important for the United States is “academic achievement and intellectual ability,” (Fridman) which is what Fridman repeats over and over again in the article. He is repeating this because he wants the audience to understand that the majority of people and their parents care more about sports and physical physique more than they do mental education and mental power with the education received. The audience he is designating this towards is more parents so they learn how to raise their children in the correct way, creating a median for both academic achievement, and physical and sports achievement. 

Fridman enlightens the public about the necessity of nerds by ralling the specific audience of nerds to stop being ashamed of who they are. A lot of people nowadays are afraid of showing their academic intelligence because of the fear of “jocks” and people with less intelligence making fun of who they are and their passion for learning. Fridman describes what these “jocks” do as “[haunting] the bright kid with thick glasses.” (Fridman) He is rallying the audience of nerds and geeks to stand up towards these people and take a stand for themselves and accept who they are. His tone is demanding in a way trying to convince the audience of nerds and geeks to make them feel like they are powerful enough to embrace themselves for who they are. Fridman also explains the difficulty between being a nerd and a professional athlete by informing that “professional ballplayers are much more respected and better paid” (Fridman) than a nerd or a professor at a collegiate level. He understands the toil of embracing yourself as a nerd and working a nerdy job, but his tone of tolerance towards the professional athletes illustrates his competence towards attempting nerds to accept who they are.

Fridman notifies the public about the necessity of nerds by asking a rhetorical question that proves that the United States needs nerds to provide us with advantages. The United States is known and feared for our vast majority of smart workers in the military. We have very powerful militaristic technology that poses us as a world power. Fridman asks the rhetorical question, “How long can America remain a world-class power. . .?” (Fridman) His audience in this is the American public and nerds around the United States. The question was directed towards this audience in order to make them think about what would really happen to America in the future. He has people worrying about their own fate and the fate of our country. His purpose is to inform the public about how we would even be a powerful nation without the nerds and workers we have in today's world.  Typical United States everyday parents are “ashamed of their daughter studying mathematics instead of going dancing” (Fridman) and being out playing sports and socializing with friends. He uses this quote directed towards his audience of parents to realize the mistake they could possibly be making with their kids. He wants parents to make more of an emphasis on education rather than dancing and sports. Parents around the United States have a problem with encouraging their kids to think of academics and education as fun rather than boring and something they’ll be made fun of for in their schooling environment, and Fridmans disappointed tone allows for parents to rethink their parenting decisions or possibly change them in the future.

In conclusion, nerds are crucial to the political, social, and economic values of the United States. The importance of nerds prevalent in our society today involves the creation of technology and the advantages of militaristic, social, and economic power. Learning that nerds and geeks are important and relevant to today's society allows for an open mind to how we treat them in our day to day lives and how important they really are for our success, and our wonderful nation, the United States of America.