“American Needs It Nerds” by Leonid Fridman expresses the negative feelings towards the way “nerds” and “geeks” are treated. Leonid writes about the way American society outcasts the people who spend their days studying and being academically advanced. He then expands on the topic of how athletes are idolized and “nerds” are ostracized. He concludes with comparisons to other countries on how they value academic intelligence.

In paragraph one, Leonid gives the dictionary definition of the actual word geek, which is: a street performer who noted the head off of live chickens. This statement gives people a clear understanding of how society feels about people who are dedicated to knowledge. Leonid is giving reader insight on why the word should not be used in the way that it is. He talks about the way that children who would rather read …show more content…
Later in the passage he explains that average baseball players are much more respected and paid than faculty members of the best paid universities. This gives readers insight on the way this country, United States of America, treats academic professionals as lesser than famous athletes. He is trying to convey a message of how the ones who teach students and pave the way are not given half the amount of attention professional athletes receive. This also expands on the social construct of how people who value intelligence and knowledge over everything else is set to the side.

The last paragraph of Leonid Fridman’s “America Needs Its Nerds” mentions the way other countries are not as anti-intellectual as the U.S. He informs that in East Asia, a kid who studies hard is lauded and placed as example. Leonid compares other countries to the U.S to show that anti-intellectualism does not run as high in popular culture. In many parts of the world University professors are actually held in high value and praised the way athletes are in the