Preserved Topic: MAD GEEK EXPERIMENT... (Page 1 of 1)

I was recently informed by a few coworkers -- one quite hot, I might add -- that it was much better to be a nerd than a geek.

This quite surpised me, as I was used to those around me (i.e. computer types) embracing the geek identity.

Of course, this was after I started to get a little perturbed by the numerous references to me that morning as a "nerd."

So what do you computer types around me think?

I try to avoid both of them =)

... I'd always heard that a geek is 'a nerd with stock options'..

... but I'd definately say that 'geek's are better off.... being a 'geek' is a more about affinity/'the things that interest you'... whereas being a 'nerd' means there's a general consensus that you're a dork..

nah... still a geek here- love to code and solve long math- but can't recite Star Trek movies verbatim and actually 'get some' on the odd Saturday night...

[This message has been edited by Petskull (edited 02-02-2004).]

To me, a nerd is the classic pocket protector wearing math whiz babylon 5 fanatic who has arguments over wich sci-fi sub genre has more realsitic physics (and has the schematic books to back up their arguments...)

Geeks are a bit more socially aware, and can usually talk to girls without overloading.

{btw - love the new sig wes =) }

[This message has been edited by DL-44 (edited 02-02-2004).]

quote:

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and has the schematic books to back up their arguments...

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hehe

Later,

C:\


~Binary is best~

you want to try and avoid both if at all possible, what used to be a badge of honor in 'geek' is fast becoming 'just geek' again. I've never accepted either (saw an office mate accept it and it did him no good whatsoever).

If someone calls you a geek, just take their chosen profession and call them by some stereotypical lowest common denominator moniker in that profession, until they become enlightened.

geek here would be the socially inept version.

I've always thought of the 'geek' as the 'nerd' with some social skills.

_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"
- the Golden Ratio -

'round these parts (and with my friends especially), "dork" seems to be the most acceptable - almost respected. It's kinda like Veneficuz said - nerd, but with desirable social skills.

I've always thought of nerds as the guys who read math books for fun. Big glasses, conservative clothes, super smart, horrible social skills. Just like the guys in the Nerd movies (can't remember the extact name). Geeks, on the other hand, are far more cool. They're also intelligent and some may even read math books for fun but they're more socially adept, into sci/fi fantasy, play a lot of computer games. All the good stuff. A nerd can be into sci/fi or fantasy as well but s/he'll be into it in a weird, creepy obsessed way. Geeks don't do that.

Clearly geeks are are hotter

Clearly

Now, dorks are a whole other category, and far worse than geek or nerd.

Dork doesn't imply any kind of intelligence the way nerd or geek does....

Nerd: Classical stereotype for a computer-guy/technology-freak with broken glasses, no girlfriend(/boyfriend) and no muscle or macho power. From the 1970's til the late 1980 you could see those guys a lot. Mostly male.
See also: Revenge of the nerds
Most of th early generations are now captain of industry, CEO, Software Security Analist or Hacker.
Now how to use a soldering iron to fix his tv or radio.
Plays with radio controlled gadgets, military and comunications satellites, billboardsystems(bbs) and fidonet.
Species will become rare in a couple of years.


Geek: Neo-Classical stereo type for guys and girls who love playing with all kinds of computer stuff socialy a bit better equiped than the nerds, learning from mistakes made by themselves and others (nerds!). Technology is the word but also fantasy, science-fiction other things. Sort of next-gen nerds. First where seen at the end of the 80's. The 1990's started the geek hightimes, when companies discoverd the need of it-specialists, consultants, progammers, web builders and so on. The nerds were turned in to geeks to keep the companies running.
Geeks now how to use something like C, C++, Java, HTML, Linux but also a beer tap, a DJ-booth, a girl or boyfriend. Geeks are considered to be happier people than nerds.
Geeks are seen playing with: Magic the gathering, Colonists og catan, boardgames, RPG's, computers games and websites.

*Both fragments could be found in: "Tommies Very Resourceful and Imaginetive Heap of Crap, Volume1: Just Thought Up"

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"Art has to be forgotten. Beauty must be realized."
Piet Mondriaan

[This message has been edited by Rinswind 2th (edited 02-02-2004).]

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Dork doesn't imply any kind of intelligence the way nerd or geek does....

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Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not claiming intelligence of any variety. Just social skills.

geek: n.
A person who has chosen concentration rather than conformity; one who pursues skill (especially technical skill) and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance. Geeks usually have a strong case of neophilia. Most geeks are adept with computers and treat hacker as a term of respect, but not all are hackers themselves ? and some who are in fact hackers normally call themselves geeks anyway, because they (quite properly) regard ?hacker? as a label that should be bestowed by others rather than self-assumed.

One description accurately if a little breathlessly enumerates ?gamers, ravers, science fiction fans, punks, perverts, programmers, nerds, subgenii, and trekkies. These are people who did not go to their high school proms, and many would be offended by the suggestion that they should have even wanted to.?

Originally, a geek was a carnival performer who bit the heads off chickens. (In early 20th-century Scotland a ?geek? was an immature coley, a type of fish.) Before about 1990 usage of this term was rather negative. Earlier versions of this lexicon defined a computer geek as one who eats (computer) bugs for a living ? an asocial, malodorous, pasty-faced monomaniac with all the personality of a cheese grater. This is often still the way geeks are regarded by non-geeks, but as the mainstream culture becomes more dependent on technology and technical skill mainstream attitudes have tended to shift towards grudging respect. Correspondingly, there are now ?geek pride? festivals (the implied reference to ?gay pride? is not accidental).

nerd: n.
1. [mainstream slang] Pejorative applied to anyone with an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary social rituals.

2. [jargon] Term of praise applied (in conscious ironic reference to sense 1) to someone who knows what's really important and interesting and doesn't care to be distracted by trivial chatter and silly status games. Compare geek.

The word itself appears to derive from the lines ?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!? in the Dr. Seuss book If I Ran the Zoo (1950). (The spellings ?nurd? and ?gnurd? also used to be current at MIT, where ?nurd? is reported from as far back as 1957; however, knurd appears to have a separate etymology.) How it developed its mainstream meaning is unclear, but sense 1 seems to have entered mass culture in the early 1970s (there are reports that in the mid-1960s it meant roughly ?annoying misfit? without the connotation of intelligence.

Hackers developed sense 2 in self-defense perhaps ten years later, and some actually wear ?Nerd Pride? buttons, only half as a joke. At MIT one can find not only buttons but (what else?) pocket protectors bearing the slogan and the MIT seal.

Taken from the Jargon File

People, like Eric Raymond, began using these terms to imply some sort of stature in the world but most people pay no attention to this fantasy. Whether you're called a "geek" or a "nerd", its not a compliment but a reference to the fact that you're so socially inept that you don't fit in with the rest of the world.

Jestah

I try to keep as far as possible away from stupid labels. Even for fun

:::tao:::

Round these parts, nerd is someone who is intelligent, but without social skills (usually to the point of being shy, withdrawn and socially awkward). A geek is someone who is intelligent in the same way as the nerd, but with a healthy dose of social skills that keeps them relatively socially active without becoming a dork. The dork is definitely the worst of the three. A dork isn't always intelligent (so they don't even have that going for them), but does tend to enjoy sci-fi and other geek trappings. The difference? Geeks have the sense not to parade them around, while a dork will actually wear a cape to school because he thought it was cool. (I saw that one myself, in college, yet!) Dorks also tend to be a little too outgoing for their own good. (Ever seen that "Triumph the Comic Insult Dog"/Star Wars Premiere clip on the internet? The ones who were dressed up were dorks. How about that guy dressed up from like the Lord of the Rings who showed up with his Filet o' Fish sandwich?)

Nerd is generally a neutral term, though it does imply dry bookishness.
Geek is far better, in my opinion, since it implys both intellect and the ability to go out in public.
Dork is the most perjorative. If you're a dork, you're a Spock-ear wearing buffoon that people snigger about behind their hands (or even openly, if you've really earned it).



Evil in theory, not so much in practice...

This is exactially why I avoid to label myself as anything... There's no exact definition as to what it is that you've labeled yourself as...

[This message has been edited by Rauthrin (edited 02-03-2004).]

Well of course, actually labeling yourself with such things, as a way of defining yourself or as a way of determining how to live is quite foolish.

Labels are a superficial means of identifying people and things, and a necessary step in the human cognitive process.

To say that you are not defined by any label is fine and good, but that doesn't stop the labels from applying to some aspect or other of "you".

I think it was rather clear from the start that this is a "light" subject and not a deep and serious exploration of human bahavior...

I don't label myself perosnally. Others may label me, but that's their opinion and they're entitled to it. I've never fit in with thw world around me, and if fitting in with the world around me means conforming to this set image everyone else seems to have of what 'normal' is, then I don't want to fit in. Fitting in would mean being shallow, self-absorbed, obsessed with appearances and far too preoccupied with sports and things like that to give a shit what my government is going ot fuck up today.

Geek-
Ah yes, the 'G' word.... Around here if you are one you can use the word when ever and apply it to whom ever you please, and it is taken as a compliment. But if you're one of those folks that start counting at one (thinks that RAM is another term for a computer's hard drive) you had better think twice before using the term. Because if you do, chances are you will start noticing that you can't connect to the network anymore....

Around here; "Total no-life loser" is becoming popular


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"The future is not written in stone.
It is written day by day,
What are you writing today?"
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