Hail to the Geek
So the theme for my blogg is hail to the geek (am I the only one who thinks blog looks good with to g’s? no? alright then)... The reason for this is simple; its something I can BS about for hours and not run outta content.
In order to do this I think it is imperative that first the definition of "Geek" is set, and I don’t use the word imperative lightly…
The terms Geek and Nerd? ...they are in fact *not* the same, and are definitely not interchangeable, each has different qualities. (which I will now acknowledge cos they make me look waaaaaaaaaaaay cooler [ side note and an irrelevant tangent..I now worry I’m getting to old to say the word cool effectively…there may be a blog entry in that])
Ok on to the definitions!!
The term Geek.. pretty much means someone who knows waaaaay to much about a particular subject. This subject *doesn't* have to have anything to with academia. So for instance you have the music geek or a computer geek or comic geek or a film/tv geek hell you can even have a food geek. Basically they know so much about it, that they can't help but correct you if you make a too broad an observation about their beloved subject. The more obscure the details they know the more geeky.
That’s the specific form of geek… a general geek is someone whose interests are considered geeky. So things like comics, computer games obscure tv, fantasy , sci fi and let us not for get the uber geeky ones of Role Playing, Fanfiction...they are interested in "non mainstream" or alternative things. Being a geek used to be uncool....but in the last couple of years it sorta got a bit trendy.
Dictionary.com’s definition of a geek is
1 A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy. A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept.
2 A carnival performer whose show consists of bizarre acts, such as biting the head off a live chicken
Ok while no geek that I’m immediately aware of has bitten the head off a chook the “single minded” thing is pretty on the money.
And good ol Wiki’s definition goes as follows!!
A geek (IPA: [giːk]) is a person who is fascinated, perhaps obsessively, by obscure or very specific areas of knowledge and imagination. Geek may not always have the same meaning as the term nerd (see nerd for a discussion of the disputed relation between the terms).
Now look? See ? I feel validated!! Wikipedia believes there is a definitive difference between Geek and Nerd. We all know Wikipedia never lies.
Now a Nerd a nerd is all about brains. A nerd knows how to program a graphics calculator. They can tell you the square root of 76 and know the name of the capital city of
The dictionary.com definition is:
1 A foolish, inept, or unattractive person.
2 A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept. (hey look! clever paraphrasing of the definition of the one for geek?!)
Who new it was all about the looks for the nerds? Anyway that’s not the best definition I’ve heard but get out your textas highlight the terms “scientific” and “technical” in there kiddies.(incidentally dictionary.com had this very interesting tid bit that I never knew (The word nerd, undefined but illustrated, first appeared in 1950 in Dr. Seuss's If I Ran the Zoo: “And then, just to show them, I'll sail to Ka-Troo And Bring Back an It-Kutch a Preep and a Proo A Nerkle a Nerd and a Seersucker, too!)
Wiki’s Nerd definition goes as follows:
Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to somebody who pursues intellectual interests at the expense of skills that are useful in a social setting, such as communication, fashion, or physical fitness.
Notice the difference? geeks know a lot about chosen subject but are not necessarily brainy. While nerds have the brains. There is of course overlap...most geeks are also nerds ..hence the confusion. In a conversation I had with a Nerd (in a pub of all the unlikely places, and considering the place I work the statistical chances of me having this conversation in a pub and not at work? Blow out to like 1 in 20 million) threw in the concept that nerds were more science/math/logic or left brained while Geeks were arty/literary/disorganized or right brained people. I’m not sold on that, but it does appear to have a lot of support..
Either way you get the gist of what I’m saying…
