# Geekier than Thou **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 21, 2005, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229 "2005-02-21T20:34:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/81 "2005-02-25T03:33:25Z")
> [@](#): > > **klintypooh** said: > Pics from catsix eh?? This all sounds so familiar, if only I could put my finger on it. You must’ve been at Panther Hollow Inn that one time in 1996 when that one guy took me there and the bouncer let me in cause I had such beautiful IDs. ---
**Author:** ![MaxTheVool](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9fc29f/32.png) [@MaxTheVool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MaxTheVool)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/82 "2005-02-25T09:16:08Z")
> [@E-Sabbath](#): > > The reason I quit wasn’t the $600 loss. It was that I had every pre-release card in that box, and I just… couldn’t bear trying to replace them. > Hm. If only my memory was better… eh, heck. Hmmm. I think this represents a glaring contradiction in your testimony, as you claim this happened around Tempest, and you had “every pre-release card”. But the first pre-release card WAS for Tempest, namely, Dirtcowl Wurm. Anyhow, I think that, in general, someone who does NOT CURRENTLY PLAY MAGIC can not possibly be the SDMB MTG Ubergeek 😃 ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/83 "2005-02-25T11:29:45Z")
Waaait. Tempest… (counts on fingers). Okay, had it backwards. Mirage, Tempest, Weatherlight. … oh, god, my mind is going. Big release with shadows, little, little, big, little, quit. That one. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/84 "2005-02-25T12:17:24Z")
Mirage Visions Weatherlight. That’s it. The ‘storyline’ started at the end of a block. Tempest, Stronghold, Exodus. Urza’s Saga, Urza’s Legacy, Urza’s Destiny. That’s where I quit. Hm. Only six cards? You know, I’m now officially freaked out by how something that was such a big factor in my life is now, well… almost completely forgotten. I tried very hard to forget the game when I quit, and I did it pretty well, it seems. Max, the crown is yours. ---
**Author:** ![CandidGamera](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/candidgamera/32/2878_2.png) [@CandidGamera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CandidGamera)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/85 "2005-02-25T17:06:25Z")
Arising out of a secondary discussion regarding this thread : What is “Geek”? Some seem to think it applies to the comic-books and RPGS crowd; some think it applies only to the breadboards-and-solder crowd. Technically, I’m fine with either of those groups. But a definition of the word ‘geek’ is something I’d like to see. Barring the traditional circus-heads-of-chickens bit, [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) offers : a person with an unusual or odd personality 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. None of these quite capture the essence of geekness. I offer my own : A Geek is someone who exhibits unabashed enthusiasm for the esoteric, be it roleplaying games, ham radio, military simulations, obscure movies… ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/86 "2005-02-25T17:11:28Z")
> [@](#): > > A person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept. Add ‘computer’ in there and I think you’ve nailed it. Everything else is just muddying the waters of what the word ‘geek’ has meant for the last thirty years. ---
**Author:** ![E-Sabbath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/e19adc/32.png) [@E-Sabbath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-Sabbath)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/87 "2005-02-25T18:53:36Z")
I don’t know, catsix. Remember the MIT Model Train club? They pretty much defined the term. Do model trains count as technical? If so, computers are, as well. And if you’ve heard someone argue over fine points of M:TG, it’s as technical as it gets. And are you saying SF fans aren’t geeks? How about we go to those who came before us? [The Jargon File](http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/G/geek.html) ---
**Author:** ![catsix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@catsix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/catsix)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2005, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/88 "2005-02-25T19:28:05Z")
I’m saying that I think it’s wrong to consider someone’s geekiness based on things like obscure sci-fi knowledge, role playing games, or participation in Star Trek conventions while completely ignoring any kind of actual technical skill - which seems to be happening more and more lately. The term ‘geek’ to me brings to mind someone who is extremely skilled in the area of computers or electronics, and has absolutely nothing to do with the games they play or the comics they read. Perhaps this is because I don’t read comics, I don’t know any geeks who read comics, I don’t play RPGs like D&D and I don’t know geeks who do. Another reason for my un-inclusion of things like D&D are that they rely on a group atmosphere. ‘Geek’ is something you are all on your own, not requiring the presence of others to participate in geeky activity. ---
**Author:** ![KellyM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/57b2e6/32.png) [@KellyM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KellyM)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229/89 "2005-02-26T02:04:22Z")
I used to know a civil procedure geek and a conflicts geek. (Both, for the uninformed, are relatively esoteric areas of law, conflicts far more so than civil procedure.) The requirement for geekdom is an unusual fascination bordering on the obsessive in an esoteric corner of human knowledge about which most laypeople know next to nothing. The field need not be related to high technology; it must merely be obscure. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/geekier-than-thou/291229.md?page=4)