Popular Kids Finish First, Apparently

Well, I think it’s true. I think the reason it’s true is [popular people] know how to socialize. People like to be around them and they are able to turn that into all kinds of different businesses.

The nerds are smarter and can come up with more amazing super wealth, and it’s possible a nerd can be popular. It’s not an oxymoron. Woody Allen said all success is based on networking. You have to say the popular kids are better at networking, and that’s why they are successful. If you’re not networking, you can only make it on your talent.

That’s from Revenge of the Nerds writer Steve Zacharias in response to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research showing that popular kids in high school often have higher incomes in life. In high school, I wasn’t the most popular kid, and I wasn’t exactly a nerd. I was just a kid who tried to be nice to everyone and do well in school. Okay, maybe I was a little bit of a nerd.

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