Are You a Geek or a Nerd?

The Slashdot tagline used to be: "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters". I no longer see this on the front page, and it's not even in the page title. A conversation about what Slashdot is, what it used to be, and what it's becoming, notwithstanding, I would expect the 'Nerd' option to be the highest, as the site is (or at the very least, used to be) 'news for nerds'.

Questions of this sort are of course best answered using a Venn diagram [laughingsquid.com].

I am a sick nerd baller.

A geek and a nerd are mostly the same. I've always thought nerds like learning for the sake of learning, and geeks obsess about certain topics and learn about those. Nerds are more introverted (like me) and geeks are more extroverted. Basically geeks are nerds that want to be socially accepted while nerds -- who still like positive attention -- don't expect social acceptance. Geeks have more friends, nerds have less. Actually geeks may have more acquaintances than close friends, while nerds have more close friends than acquaintances. I consider myself a nerd, if anyone wants to know "who in the hell typed that?" Okay, thank you for your time, please return to your regularly scheduled program already in progress.

I have always argued that "nerd" does not apply to me because I played numerous competitive sports for over a decade, including football in college (as well as the rugby club for one semester). Geek might be closer since I was in AP classes in high school, have a degree in History, and consider historical monographs to be light pleasure reading.

Geeks vs Nerds vs Dorks

First, the subculture. Generally at some point in development, some individuals find themselves somewhat outcast from the group. These individuals often value things that aren't necessarily valued by the mainstream, things like knowledge for its own sake, or some cultural media that aren't necessarily accepted. These individuals often find themselves awkward in the beginning with those accepted by the mainstream. There are three major varieties in this subculture, the Geek, the Nerd, and the Dork. While disproportionately male, there are female members of the group, though for the purposes of this discussion the masculine will be used in describing them.

The Nerd is the most common member of the group. He is technically intelligent and frequently likes cultural media that are not popular in the mainstream. He may have some issues with wardrobe or hygiene, possibly explaining his membership in this group in the first place. If the Nerd attends a mainstream function like a party, his is generally less comfortable in the situation. He does not have a lot of mainstream topics to talk about, and the same issues that he experienced putting him into this subculture will apply in this setting.

The Geek is the pinnacle of the group. The Geek starts out as a Nerd in the fashion that most start out, but over time grows. Geeks have technical acumen, interests in many of the non-mainstream cultural aspects that Nerds have, but have grown out of being Nerds in that they have knowledge and interests beyond the subculture. They have generally sorted out their wardrobe and hygiene, and at the same party will be able to communicate with others in the mainstream without difficulty. The Geek may even be accepted by the mainstream again, but given his experiences in being marginalized to begin with will remember and usually won't fully embrace the mainstream.

The Dork is the lowest member of the subculture. The Dork is the Me-tooer, the AOLer, of the group, having the worst characteristics without having the redeeming ones. Dorks generally lack technical acumen, and when they embrace cultural aspects either only have superficial knowledge or else have incredibly detailed knowledge about a such a narrow topic that they still have difficulty. As negatives, Dorks have the hygiene issues of the Nerd. In the same party above, the Dork will only be comfortable with the Nerd and the Geek, but the Nerd and the Geek will tire of the Dork before too long, given his lack of technical ability or interesting knowledge. While it's possible for Dorks to emerge into Nerds, it's less likely than Nerds progressing into Geeks.

The almost-not-worth-mentioning category are those that are part of the maintream but fallaciously refer to themselves as Nerds or Geeks. Popular people that wax poetic about Apple products, saying, "I'm such a nerd/geek!" cause real Nerds and Geeks to cringe when they hear it. They are not accepting of the pretty person because the pretty person did not go through the issues that they had to deal with, and is thus nondeserving of the label; however negative it may have been, it was at least earned.

By the way, I identify as a Geek. I experienced my own issues in junior high and high school and embraced the subculture. I BBSed, used Fidonet, migrated to Usenet and IRC, and played in highly technical circles, with computers, electronics, ham radio, and the like. Eventually I widened out to auto restoration, dance, and other mainstream hobbies that give me something to talk about with non-Geeks and non-Nerds. I know that I can rely on my abilities when I need them, but I do not feel the need to always pursue things for their own sakes. I do not look down upon those who do, because I once was like that. I do value knowledge for its own sake, though I understand that I may be pushing harder and harder for knowledge that won't serve a purpose, and I may choose to spend my time another way.

I so very much hate the term boffin. It just tastes of layer after layer of put down. It is a word spoken by people who can't do and are threatened by those who can and thus put them down to try and establish their own self worth.