Function Over Form: An Observation of Nerdiness

My teenage daughter hates this hat. She says it looks like a cross between a floppy lampshade and a mosquito net.

But I love it. It keeps off rain and sun, and can be balled up into any shape, then put back on the head looking no worse than before. (Maybe the reason it looks no worse than before is because it couldn't possibly look any worse.) But this hat makes a lot of sense.

Thinking of this makes me realize the essence of nerdiness--function over form. Think about it. Pocket protectors make a lot of sense. They protect your pocket from messy ink leaks, AND they have the added benefit of allowing you to load twenty pens into your pocket in one quick movement. Who cares if it looks horrible--it works!

Now, I don't wear a pocket protector (though I won't pretend I didn't own one back in the 1980s). I realize that style is important. But nerds recognize the importance of function over form. The function of a thing is more important than its style. After all, who am I trying to impress?

Non-nerds, on the other hand, can be so preoccupied with form that they deprive themselves of perfectly functional tools, just for the sake of fashion.

I'm sure if I tried, I could think of some great philosophical or theological truth that this illustrates, but I'm too tired to try today.

What do you think this means? (And, how do you like my hat?)