I’ve had a good look at the flirt thread in this forum. There are so many female hotties who label themselves as ‘nerds’ or ‘geeks’ that it makes a young man literally salivate. But when they list their hobbies, interests and dedications, I am without a single clue. Don’t know what they’re talking about - not even a bit. Never heard of that stuff.
I thought - can I fake it? Could I pass myself off as a nerd/geek just to get a little closer to these fascinating women? The answer, in short - nup, no way, nada. I couldn’t even practice, for years, eternities, and share their interests.
So is there an inbuilt genetic mechanism that makes one a geek/nerd? Are they programmed at conception to be nerds/geeks?
Or does their programming occur as the twig is bent (used advisedly :))? Does their growing environment make them nerds/geeks because of the deprivation of certain stimuli while other forces in their environment take precedence?
Interesting question. I’m a self-confessed geek (astrophysicist, build my own computers, interested in practically anything and everything that requires one to use one’s brain), as is my brother. Although, he is more of your stereotypical computer geek.
Now, look at our parents - dad’s a self confessed computer fanatic, we had more computers in our house whilst growing up than anything else, and even now, dad likes to keep up with the latest gadgets, and ensure that me and my brother do too. Mum on the other hand, couldn’t care less.
I’m inclined to say a bit of both, I can be terribly geeky when I want to be, but at times I can be very girly as well. Admittedly, most of the time, I do both.
Geekitude is almost exclusively nature. You can expose a kid to all the jock influences you want, but the geek in them will always come to the surface. As it happens, sports geeks are becoming more widespread.
I’d call myself a computer geek and I’m not sure if it stems from my upbringing – neither of my parents were into computers, but there was always computers around. I don’t know if they encouraged me to get into computers by geting me one or if I was always into computers so they got me one to play with.
On the other hand I’m an only child, when I tell people this they tend to say “Ah, that explains a lot then” so maybe that has something to do with it.
I’d say there’s a definite biological basis for geekdom. You need to have a slightly obsessive bent to your attention span and the memory to retain what you learn from said attention span. I think a geek is formed from those two key elements–the actual type of geek that grows from that basis depends largely on what focus is taken.
My poor mother spend most of my childhood trying to get me to “go outside and play”. I would sometimes comply, and head off to the park. With a book.
I’m not entirely sure that I would qualify as a “geek” though. When someone’s a “geek”, usually it’s a person who works with computers or gadgets. I’ve also heard it used for engineers and physicists. Can I be a health science geek?
Neither of my parents are or were ever into anything geeky, and they certainly tried very hard to encourage me to not be a geek by signing me up for baseball and all kinds of other social activities.
To add, my mum tried very hard to make me non-geeky. Didn’t work. Except for the fact that I don’t dress like your stereotypical geek, and I have a very eclectic set of interests.
Male, with absolutely NO interest in sports whatsoever. Makes for hard conversation with other guys, I can tell you that. Had HELL of a time fitting in when I was 12. Damn, if I could have played soccer and fitted in… Ah well.
Fiddled with the XT when I was 8. Started programming BASIC at the same age. Read 12 books a week.
Ah, good times… Kinda regret going into law now, no more equations! All those fiddly “might be right might be wrong” answers! Dammit, I want ALGORITHMS.
Anyone remember thesearticles being mentioned in a nerd thread from two months ago? The OP might find them relevant to his comment about nerds having obscure interests he has never heard about.
In my experience, nerddom is much different than being a sports geek, band geek, indie/emo music geek or theater geek.
There are certain types of geekiness that seem to be embraced by and identified with nerddom. They seem to include a STRONG interest in one, but usually more, of the following:
Role playing games (D&D, etc.)
Medieval reenactment/SCA (not Civil/Revolutionary War reenactment)
Computers: building, programming and OS advocacy more so than gaming or everyday Internet/application use
Electronics: amateur radio/RF, homebrew devices; not scanning or CB radio
Science fiction
Alternative history
Monty Python
Conic book collecting: superheros moreso than graphic novels
Japanophilia: general culture and pornography
Japanophilia: anime/cosplay
Furryism
Even if a nerd isn’t that interested in … oh, Japanophilia, it’s likely that they’re more familiar with it than the average non-nerd. If a person offered someone else Pocky and Pokari Sweat, a nerd would probably know exactly what that is, even if they themselves don’t obsess over it.
No, seriously, “graphic novel” and superheroes are not mutually exclusive. The first is a book format, the second a genre. The X-Men’s “God Loves, Man Kills” was a graphic novel, and the basis for the second X-Movie.
Another male here without the slightest knowledge of, or interest in, sports, hunting, fishing, drinking, motors…you know, guy stuff. I do, however, play 8 or 9 instruments professionally. I know how to operate the equipment to make a music recording, and have done it many times - playing all the instruments, singing all the voices and doing all the engineering, mixing and mastering. I’ve collected over 40,000 records/CDs and documented the existence of over 100,000. I can restore scratchy records to pristine condition on a computer. And I can operate nearly any piece of equipment in a radio station (that’s my job now).
Does that make me a tech geek or a music geek or an equipment nerd, or what?
I think both are involved. I’m sure nature givea you your basic predisposition, but my own experience tells me that nurture modifies that. I’m sure I’m geekier than I ought to be because of my experiences at school: I never really learned to mingle, for instance.
I really do think it is both, but you have to be a nerd deep down inside to allow it to be nurtured.
My parents are both pretty nerdy–my mom moreso, but both are. My siblings are not nerds; my sister, though very smart, was extraordinarily popular growing up (a sure sign you’re not a nerd) and my brother just wasn’t smart enough to be a nerd. Neither one of them has had an intellectual conversation in their lives; believe me, I’ve tried. Yet I am a nerd–of the liberal arts, not math and science–and I think my parents recognized in me that inner nerd and encouraged it. Maybe they tried with my siblings and it just didn’t take; I don’t know. But if you are a nerd by nature, it can be brought to the surface in the right (or wrong) environment.
