> why did the nerds not destroy the ideologues with logic and reasoning

Because everyone has bias and ego and nobody has perfectly logical reasoning.

Why brag about how smart you are to people who’ll just think you’re arrogant and annoying? Why tell someone their religion isn’t real if they’ll just think you’re a heretic, or “best case” despair they’ve been living a lie? You don’t study (especially in lieu of fitness) unless you have motivation which is ultimately based on emotion. I believe it’s usually the same ego that makes alpha men, just that these nerds (usually men) are too weak to be jocks.

Nerds have always had their own social norms, with illogical conformity, groupthink, status signaling, gatekeeping, etc.