of course -- nerds have friends, there's a nerd table in the lunch room, there's always some space carved out for nerd-type activities, they'll probably eventually find a matching nerd-girlfriend (or boyfriend, i suppose. neetdom is an affliction that hits guys harder.), parents know how to deal with nerd children, etc.
games and weed make the intolerable tolerable, as you say: some folks aren't well-configured for productive society, and if the option is between active torture trying to better themselves and "be normal", all-encompassing boredom, and soma-esque games 'n porn, i'm comfortable giving them the last category without constantly trying to tell them that they're doing it to themselves.
Yeah, NEETdom is mostly a male thing, which kind of begs the question of what happens to the female equivalent - low-functioning, not much productivity, neither intellectual nor social skills.
Some will end up getting landed with kids by men who don't stick around - in most countries some combination of the state and their extended family will pick up the tab.
Some won't have kids, but will act as carers for their wider family.
And overall being low-status, working a low-level job with no chance of progression, is less of a problem for women than men (Native-born men in particular, but that's a whole other can of worms), so some can just quietly get on with life.
I'm not sure what the lesson is here, but there's surely a link between NEETdom and the winner-takes-all game that men are expected to participate in.
of course -- nerds have friends, there's a nerd table in the lunch room, there's always some space carved out for nerd-type activities, they'll probably eventually find a matching nerd-girlfriend (or boyfriend, i suppose. neetdom is an affliction that hits guys harder.), parents know how to deal with nerd children, etc.
games and weed make the intolerable tolerable, as you say: some folks aren't well-configured for productive society, and if the option is between active torture trying to better themselves and "be normal", all-encompassing boredom, and soma-esque games 'n porn, i'm comfortable giving them the last category without constantly trying to tell them that they're doing it to themselves.