I had Star Trek references in my wedding vows.

I'm an IT professional, have a smokin hard body, low body fat percentage, eat paleo, and strength train.

If some stranger called me a nerd on the street (highly doubtful) I would not hesitate to show him my technical uppercut followed by a scientific right cross.

I'm more of a kook, myself.

I like to make big fires and I like to blow small shit up.

At least we're not furries.

I'm more of a geek, actually. See the Venn diagram:

http://www.greatwhitesnark.com/2010/03/25/difference-between-nerd-dork-and-geek-explained-in-a-venn-diagram/

You bet I am: libertarianism, economics, evolution, technology, and getting into programming.

Nerds are receptive because paleo is based on a simple evolutionary argument. So you have to be comfortable with trusting your life to an abstract theory (albeit an extremely well established one). Especially when all the "experts" are saying the opposite: it takes intellectual fortitude to trust reason over authority.

Is the paleo community full of nerds?

YES!

And is this site not a place for the subculture of superpaleonerds? I have to say I love the rating system: the more points a member gets, the more a nerd he/she is. This makes it easy to notice the nerd, since body language is hidden on the internet...

;-)

Yes. And since I have to have at least 15 characters in my reply, I will say Yes again.

I just own a little bike shop. I'm a retail/small biz guy. I did go to college in Electrical Engineering and Natural Science/Math, but have never been employed in any of that jazz. I really am only gaining the skills just now to read and analyze and use my PaleoSkeptic powers on various studies and reports of studies in the media. I'm certainly not a technical "nerd" (but I am a dork)

I rely on sites such as this, the writing of Eades, Taubes, Harris, Guynet (spelling), Peter @ Hyperlipid, DrBG, Dr T, Davis, etc etc. to help me navigate those rocky shoals of Conventional Wisdom and the Low Fat/Processed food agenda.

The PaleoNerds are my heroes, and I love that all this information is floating around for free and so accessible.

I have a Masters Degree in Nerdism.. I mean Computer Science :) Someone called me a nerd in grade 5 so I just went with it.

I sometimes wonder if there is a whole offline Paleo community that get together for picnics and BBQs that we don't know about.

Could it be that certain types of personalities tend to seek out new information, learning new trades and a general curiousity for life? How to improve themselves and/or the environment in which they live? Paleo easily falls into that.

And oh, I'm a programmer, of course. What else did you expect?

Not a Nerd, but I really like to read the thoughts of nerds and enjoy following a Paleo-style way of eating. I'm a fiction writer and a Christ follower. So much for stereotyping the Paleo community, lol. :-)

I've found 2 camps

those of us that seek learning and found it on our own we tend to be the "nerd" because we have brains and seek knowledge on our own

Then there are those who are paleo/etc because they were told to. Less interested in science, they are merely following rules to get results I.e. Crossfit (not all crossfitters fit solely in type2)

personally I'm a nerd jock I love activities, Ultimate Frisbee, Biking, Hiking, Volleyball, Tennis, Belegarth(Paintball with swords) and so I focus even further on pinnacle of metabolic advantage I can get to help me in these sports, yet I found it because I love reading and learning about everything

Any real research about optimal health leads you straight to paleo

any desire to discuss with likeminded intelligent individuals leads you here.

Being paleo requires someone to be contrarian and polemically define themselves against 'conventional wisdom.' You have to have a slew of reasons to support your positions, you have to have some passion about it, and it has to be part of your identity. There is also an introspective element to it. To me, that is being a nerd.

Maybe it's just having a good brain that makes you so receptive to Paleo.

Full disclosure: although I'm a chef now, I was in IT/Tech Support/Web Design for a few years leading up to my career change...

I look through this question every time it comes up, but never reply. I am NOT a nerd or a geek or any of those things. I am not really an analytical thinker. I hate math. I have a horrible, boring, repetitive office job. I did not finish a college degree. What I like is COMMON SENSE and I feel like that, I do have a lot of. I tried Paleo for 30 days, it worked, I felt great. I am going to continue to do it.

I think there are more of us out there, than are represented at Paleo Hacks. This is just a very cerebral message board. I love it though and I'm glad I found it.

Here's something funny to think about. Nerds, typically don't get laid much. Paleo eating typically makes you more attractive to mates, better skin, leaner more muscular build, balanced sex hormones, etc. These things might just make you more susceptible to accidentally getting laid as long as you don't open your mouth. :)

Perhaps your innate biology is looking for new ways to successfully reproduce.

Remember biology doesn't always reward intelligence. Remember that movie Idiocracy?

Biology/science geek :)

DoubleNerd. Asperger´s brain works only in science mode. Job is in a laboratory. Most comments here are great!

I'm the nerd who you would see on the street and have no idea I was one of your kind. I'm also a contrarian and always have been, so going against the conventional wisdom is second nature. I also derive joy from challenging my "granola" parents on food-related topics. They love and hate my new diet simultaneously, but they have to be glad that I'm no longer living off of Taco Bell.

I'm a nerd and proud of it.

However, the term that might better fit the paleo adherents is 'openness to experience'. In psychology, there is a scale commonly referred to as 'The Big 5' which measures: Extraversion, Neuroticism, Conscientiousness, Agreeableness, and Openness to Experience. The latter being defined as:

"Openness is a general appreciation for art, emotion, adventure, unusual ideas, imagination, curiosity, and variety of experience. The trait distinguishes imaginative people from down-to-earth, conventional people. People who are open to experience are intellectually curious, appreciative of art, and sensitive to beauty. They tend to be, compared to closed people, more creative and more aware of their feelings. They are more likely to hold unconventional beliefs.

People with low scores on openness tend to have more conventional, traditional interests. They prefer the plain, straightforward, and obvious over the complex, ambiguous, and subtle. They may regard the arts and sciences with suspicion or even view these endeavors as uninteresting." Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Five_personality_traits#Openness_to_experience

It's also been correlated with intelligence, characteristics of geeks, nerds, and eccentrics, unless I'm mistaken.

I used to work in IT, so yes :)

I think there's a lot of people on here that like to read up on science so I'd say I'm not the only one!

raises hand

Paleo Geek here.

I'm a heavy reader, artist, and tinkerer. I've been a hard core comic book fan and sci-fi freak for 40 years. My comic books / toys / props / statues have their own room.

I also worked for year in IT before I stopped working for 'the man' and went into graphic design.

I've been Paleo for over 2 years and I'm not quite buff yet, but I do look killer in my Punisher t-shirt. ;)

I'm not a techie, but I do work for a tech company...

Yup! Guilty. Nerd. IT professional. San Diego Comic Con attendee with a new-found love for liver. :P

I've been writin' computer code since 1996, so yeah, definitely.

Analytic philosopher, so not over-turning any stereotypes here...

I had no idea how many geeks, nerds and techies were in the paleo community. I'm just the average woman who loves good food and good health. And, in my mid-50s, would look pretty good in a tight paleo shirt!

I am a data geek for sure - analyzing data is my day job.

It takes an analytic personality type to crunch through everything we have to - just to have enough ammo in the tank to say, when asked by a family member or someone at the grocery store, "Aren't you afraid of __???" and we can say, "no, I love arterycloggingsaturatedfats, now please pass the bacon."

I think my hypervigilance towards lifestyle, curiousity and healthy skepticism led me to believe in the ways of the caveman. If that makes me a nerd, so be it. It's also pretty rewarding to be involved in an intelligent community that focusses on scientific research and daily practice rather than opinion, emotion and bs. There's appears to be an intellectual threshold that will bar anyone inherently disinterested enough to question conventional wisdom in matters of health, nutrition and fitness from researching and committing to such a controversial way of life.