[Oblarg]

Originally Posted by Gregor

Shutting down the "robot kids are total nerds" persona would go a long way into bringing robotics into the mainstream (see: Battlebots), and Mr. I Am is helping do just that.

Honestly, this makes me a bit wary.

The fact is, lots of people who enjoy robotics are nerds. While pushing for mainstream acceptance of STEM is obviously a laudable goal, I don't think we should do it at the expense of alienating the people who already like it. When we send the message "no, robotics isn't nerdy, it's actually cool!" we have to be careful that we're not tacitly sending the message that robotics would not be worth enjoying if it were "nerdy." That's equally damaging.