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Originally Posted by ratdude747
4. i think you have it half right. robotics can be nerdy but is not always nerdy. we need to accept that we can be nerds but also accept that we not always nerds. FIRST needs to as well.
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I agree that FIRST isn't always nerds, and that it can be and it can also not be. What I was getting at was the approach to promoting robotics. Robotics, for the most part, no matter what we say, is seen as a nerdy activity. Whether it is or not, the continuous emphasizing of it not being nerdy, to me, seems to make it appear nerdier than it actually is. Instead of worrying about whether it's nerdy or not, accept when it is, accept when it's not, and move on. There are so many other aspects of engineering and robotics that can captivate students and children, that to focus on making it appear cool or "not nerdy" actually has the opposite effect. When we have an open lab near the end of build season, we don't worry about telling the middle schoolers it's not nerdy, join, we show them sparks flying from the dremel, metal being cut, and our robot, as is, moving around.