To Geek, or not to Geek...
Jan. 18th, 2006 01:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jackofallgeeksA friend recently posted the following in a journal entry:
What's the difference between "dorky," "nerdy," and "geeky"? All three of them are separate moods on LJ's post interface. What connotations does each of them hold for you?
Since this is a topic that I consider rather near-and-dear, I thought I'd make my own post on the issue.
Wikipedia has Entire Articles On The Topic, the best of which is the 'Geek' article, I think, though they all have valid points, and I pretty much agree with them in as much as each article speaks of itself. That is, I'm not sure that the Geek article should be saying anything about Nerds (aside from acknowledging the common confusion), and visa versa. To save you from having to read through all the articles and try to extrapolate from that what I think (especially since the Nerd article seems to be all over, and full of what I think is misleading and contradictory information), I'll give you my thoughts right here (that is, after all, the point of the post).
A Geek is someone who has developed an intense interest and proficiency in one more-or-less specialized area. Though specialized, these don't have to necessarily be very narrow areas -- a Band Geek for instance, or a Literature Geek. You can surely have subdivisions, such as a Linguistics Geek and a Japanese Geek, and there may be some overlap, as with a Literature Geek and a Theatre Geek, who both may know plays. It is also conceded by necessity that any one person may claim several categories of Geek; it's easy enough to imagine a Theatre Geek who's also a Music Geek. Still, it holds that the knowledge is rather concentrated to the given field for any given Geek.
A Nerd is like a Geek in that they have an intense interest in knowledge, but they tend to be more interested in knowledge and learning 'as such.' Nerds are the sort who simply absorb information; the most extreme are the sort who always have their node in a book, or close themselves up to study for days at a time, willingly. The difference here from Geeks is that their beam is not as concentrated; as such, Nerds often know about great deal more than Geeks, though Geeks will always surpass a Nerd in their given area of expertise. As proof of this division, I present that it's commonly accepted to have History Geeks and Band Geeks and Literature Geeks, et cetera, but you only ever hear of 'nerds' simply, without qualification. The exception being, possibly, 'Computer Nerds,' which I feel is a holdover from earlier days when no one really knew what computers were; in fact, historically, computer scientists were originally pulled from all over different fields, and so were nerds by necessity, as a group even if not as individuals.
As a further note, I hold that, properly speaking, neither 'Geek' nor 'Nerd' implies any technical interest or skill. The ubiquitous 'Computer Geek' is at fault here; possibly the first widely-recognized variety of Geek, and certainly the sort that most readily comes to mind, a Computer Geek is necessarily technical in nature. Combined with the above note on the mis-named Computer Nerds, and it's fairly easy to see why the terms would be associated with technical pursuits. However, allowing for the other varieties of Geeks necessitates that technical skill is not a pre-requisite, and though Nerds' interests range far and wide, no two are necessarily the same, and it's quite easy to imagine a book-worm nerd with no technical interests at all.
I also hold that neither Geek nor Nerd imply social ineptitude. Granted, each allows for the possibility, as anyone can neglect social skills for other pursuits, but they are not presumed. That is solely for the Dork. 'Dork' is a term which seems to have ever and always been a disparaging word. In the past, it was used as slang for a dick, or a jerk. Contemporarily, it is considered to imply a lack of social skills almost across the board; even those who can't agree on the meanings of 'geek' and 'nerd' agree that dorks are social misfits. Looking to the Wiktionary entry on Dork (the Wikipedia article it seems has been deleted, which makes one wonder what happened there), they note that 'dork' does not necessarily imply any sort of technical skill or intelligence level; rather telling that the only trait of a dork is their lack of social graces.
All this having been said, I note that my moniker, JackOfAllGeeks, is a bit misleading, but only a bit. I consider myself to be at least conversant in a wide range of 'Geek,' from Theatre to Gaming to Literature to Math; at the same time, I don't think I'm particularly proficient in any given one, including my choses profession of Computers. 'Apprentice to All, Master of None,' my name is a play on 'jack of all trades,' though I am most rightly considered (as I consider myself) a Nerd. I devour knowledge, and I think I'm yet to find any (reasonably broad) sphere that does not hold something of interest for me.
And so, there you have it.
What's the difference between "dorky," "nerdy," and "geeky"? All three of them are separate moods on LJ's post interface. What connotations does each of them hold for you?
Since this is a topic that I consider rather near-and-dear, I thought I'd make my own post on the issue.
Wikipedia has Entire Articles On The Topic, the best of which is the 'Geek' article, I think, though they all have valid points, and I pretty much agree with them in as much as each article speaks of itself. That is, I'm not sure that the Geek article should be saying anything about Nerds (aside from acknowledging the common confusion), and visa versa. To save you from having to read through all the articles and try to extrapolate from that what I think (especially since the Nerd article seems to be all over, and full of what I think is misleading and contradictory information), I'll give you my thoughts right here (that is, after all, the point of the post).
A Geek is someone who has developed an intense interest and proficiency in one more-or-less specialized area. Though specialized, these don't have to necessarily be very narrow areas -- a Band Geek for instance, or a Literature Geek. You can surely have subdivisions, such as a Linguistics Geek and a Japanese Geek, and there may be some overlap, as with a Literature Geek and a Theatre Geek, who both may know plays. It is also conceded by necessity that any one person may claim several categories of Geek; it's easy enough to imagine a Theatre Geek who's also a Music Geek. Still, it holds that the knowledge is rather concentrated to the given field for any given Geek.
A Nerd is like a Geek in that they have an intense interest in knowledge, but they tend to be more interested in knowledge and learning 'as such.' Nerds are the sort who simply absorb information; the most extreme are the sort who always have their node in a book, or close themselves up to study for days at a time, willingly. The difference here from Geeks is that their beam is not as concentrated; as such, Nerds often know about great deal more than Geeks, though Geeks will always surpass a Nerd in their given area of expertise. As proof of this division, I present that it's commonly accepted to have History Geeks and Band Geeks and Literature Geeks, et cetera, but you only ever hear of 'nerds' simply, without qualification. The exception being, possibly, 'Computer Nerds,' which I feel is a holdover from earlier days when no one really knew what computers were; in fact, historically, computer scientists were originally pulled from all over different fields, and so were nerds by necessity, as a group even if not as individuals.
As a further note, I hold that, properly speaking, neither 'Geek' nor 'Nerd' implies any technical interest or skill. The ubiquitous 'Computer Geek' is at fault here; possibly the first widely-recognized variety of Geek, and certainly the sort that most readily comes to mind, a Computer Geek is necessarily technical in nature. Combined with the above note on the mis-named Computer Nerds, and it's fairly easy to see why the terms would be associated with technical pursuits. However, allowing for the other varieties of Geeks necessitates that technical skill is not a pre-requisite, and though Nerds' interests range far and wide, no two are necessarily the same, and it's quite easy to imagine a book-worm nerd with no technical interests at all.
I also hold that neither Geek nor Nerd imply social ineptitude. Granted, each allows for the possibility, as anyone can neglect social skills for other pursuits, but they are not presumed. That is solely for the Dork. 'Dork' is a term which seems to have ever and always been a disparaging word. In the past, it was used as slang for a dick, or a jerk. Contemporarily, it is considered to imply a lack of social skills almost across the board; even those who can't agree on the meanings of 'geek' and 'nerd' agree that dorks are social misfits. Looking to the Wiktionary entry on Dork (the Wikipedia article it seems has been deleted, which makes one wonder what happened there), they note that 'dork' does not necessarily imply any sort of technical skill or intelligence level; rather telling that the only trait of a dork is their lack of social graces.
All this having been said, I note that my moniker, JackOfAllGeeks, is a bit misleading, but only a bit. I consider myself to be at least conversant in a wide range of 'Geek,' from Theatre to Gaming to Literature to Math; at the same time, I don't think I'm particularly proficient in any given one, including my choses profession of Computers. 'Apprentice to All, Master of None,' my name is a play on 'jack of all trades,' though I am most rightly considered (as I consider myself) a Nerd. I devour knowledge, and I think I'm yet to find any (reasonably broad) sphere that does not hold something of interest for me.
And so, there you have it.
