1) First of all, I can't believe the teacher said that, faculty here is barely allowed to address a person individually . The stereotypical geek is viewed as boring to hang out with and socially backwards, so that's why they aren't too popular. Don't get me wrong though, being smart, working hard, being tech savy, none of that automatically makes you a geek. I think that word really defines a person who has bad social skills and a certain lack of "public elegance" (it just so happens that the video game playing, work minded, knowledge hungry introvert has a higher disposition to falling into that category).

I assume "no life" refers to a person who is missing out on a lot of potential experiences, which are quite prevalent in early teenage years. Basically, that's the time when everyone is experimenting with social dynamics, dating, partying, making new connections, etc. Someone who stays in his basement all night getting a head start on next year's math course isn't really taking advantage of a unique time in his life. It's nice to prepare for the future and all, but you really need to balance that stuff with some kind of a social life, or you'll just become an outcast.


2) The "nice guys finish last thing" is a bit touchy. It depends a lot on what you're trying to do. I knew plenty of people who were both extremely nice and extremely popular (guys even), simply because they had amazing social skills. The tough guys and slutty girls get a lot of attention, but negative attention spreads faster than positive attention... So yeah, they may be in the spotlight, but that's not necessarily a good thing. Anyways, that's a hard question for me to answer. I never think "I'm being a nice guy" or "I'm being a tough guy", I'm just me. If there's something I want, then I'm smart enough to figure out how to get it. I don't limit myself to being nice, or mean or whatever...