Friday
Jan132006
geek vs. nerd
Friday, January 13, 2006 at 10:06AM
Today's Discussion Question:
is there a difference between a nerd and a geek? What is your definition of each term? Is one worse than the other? Is one accepted into society with interests on the fringe while the other is cast to the side of mainstream community and association? Are you neither, one or both?
Go.
is there a difference between a nerd and a geek? What is your definition of each term? Is one worse than the other? Is one accepted into society with interests on the fringe while the other is cast to the side of mainstream community and association? Are you neither, one or both?
Go.
Reader Comments (14)
I associate "geek" with intellect. It reminds me of someone whose intellectual development is so high that their social skills suffer. But then again, there are people who are insanely smart with amazing social skills. I don't know what you'd call them. I consider myself a "nerd." I associate "nerd" with just about any form of dorkiness-with or without intellect. For instance, I was (and always will be) a "band nerd." No intellect needed-just a horn or a drum.
"I'm not a nerd, Bart. Nerds are smart." - Milhouse Van Houten
Mr. Burns: "I specifically said, no geeks!"
Milhouse: "But my mom says I'm cool."
I always thought that nerds looked nerdy, and geeks acted nerdy. Or was it the other way around?
I always thought that zac from the above post was nerdy... don't worry folks, he's my brother so I can say that...
Nerds are cooler than geeks. Nerds like Star Wars, geeks like collecting rocks and bugs and stuff... I think that is how it works
I'd rather be a geek than a nerd.
nerds bring this subject up....geeks post a response.
The definitions I've always gone by is that geeks are just passionate about one or a handful of things; nerds are similar, to the point of social mal-adjustment. I'm a geek, but I'm not a nerd. [Well, not all the time.]
A nerd as I see it is very smart in many aspects like math, nuclear science, engineering, etc. They are not necessarily real great when it comes to human interaction, which may be why they are looked down upon. A geek, however, has a great deal of knowledge about maybe one or two subjects. The geek is socially acceptable in situations where that knowledge can be used. I am a hockey geek. I am a great conversationalist at a game or a bar. But, my knowledge of the game means little anywhere else. I, personally, would rather be a nerd, but I lack motivation.
I always said I'm a geek rather than a nerd because my wife is attractive. Nerds attract nerds; geeks (some of them, anyway) can attract the hot girls. So even if a nerd gets married, he is married to another nerd. But if a geek gets married, he could potentially (like me) be married to a hottie.
Where I come from, nerds are book smart while geeks are pop culture smart. Geeks can talk about who directed what, why the Flash can outrun Superman, why the PSP is wicked sweet, what that black smoke REALLY was on Lost and why Apple computers are the best ever. Therefore, we are geeks.
Here's an easy chart...
Bill Gates= Nerd
Dante and Randall from Clerks=Geeks
Pixar= a bunch of geeks
Someone who knows who does what voice in a PIxar movie= Geek
Geof Morris when talking about Rocket Science stuff= Nerd
Geof Morris when talking about Sufjan Stevens= Geek
I hope that helps.
Joe (not helpful)
Here's an article that was in my local paper on the subject. It's worth reading if for nothing more than a new guitarist joke:)
Posted on Sun, Jan. 01, 2006
Geeks to watchStory by james a. fussell â– the kansas city star
Geeks inherit the worth
Put them down now and you’ll have to put up with their success later
By JAMES A. FUSSELL
The Kansas City Star
Not long ago, it was a virtual slap in the face to be called a geek, right up there with “nerd� and “doofus.�
But somehow, when our backs were turned, everything changed. Anymore, geek is chic.
As the digital age has come of age, the one-time insult has undergone a metamorphosis. Although “geek� originally referred to carnival performers who bit the heads off chickens, it gained wider acceptance as a colorful put-down of smart people who loved technology.
But now? Check out this updated definition found on the Web: “Traditionally a term of derision, geek has come to have a more positive connotation. Technically adept people now frequently refer to themselves as geeks, in a mixture of self-deprecation and pride.�
Got a computer problem? Call the Geek Brigade, the Geek Squad or Geeks on Call! Heard of Bill Gates?
So, in celebration of glorious geekiness, we present our 2006 Geeks to Watch, a collection of Kansas City folks who do the digital age proud. They make films, make music, make magic, and they keep us safe.
Keep your eyes on these folks, and you may never look at a geek the same way again.
DOUG KENWORTHY
Musician, technology consultant, computer-based recording expert
What’s the difference between a guitarist and a mutual fund?
A mutual fund eventually matures and starts making money.
(Rim shot here.)
Doug Kenworthy always wanted to be a rock star. Unfortunately his music career didn’t always pay the bills. That’s when his cousin, systems engineer James Oyler, suggested a geeky fallback.
“He was always trying to get me interested in computers,� Kenworthy, 35, said.
Knowing Kenworthy’s love for music, Oyler bought him a $100 computer-based music recording program in 1996 called Cakewalk Home Studio 5.
It sounded interesting.
“But when we got it, it was a nightmare,� Kenworthy said. “I couldn’t figure out how to use it. No tech support. No Internet. Nobody to call. It was like, ‘Here’s a box. Good luck.’ �
Too stubborn to give up, he dug in and — after months of trial and error and hair-pulling frustration — he began to figure it out.
“My claim to fame was because I had to figure it out, I sort of became an expert,� he said.
Soon he was able to compose and record a startling variety of music. He’d sequence drum and keyboard tracks. As computers got better, so did he. He added guitars and vocals to his recordings, doing inexpensively on a computer what others couldn’t do for $8,000 on digital eight-track recorders.
“Before, I was spending tons of money at recording studios,� he said. “But here I was able to use the computer to make the sounds I was hearing in my head.�
What started out as a hobby became a career.
“Nowadays you can do absolutely everything,� he said. “You don’t even have to have guitar amps anymore. You can just plug the guitar into the computer, and there is software that accurately emulates any guitar amp you could ever want. You can do things for $3,000 today that would have taken you $100,000 to do in the ’80s.�
His prowess paid dividends. In 2000 Big Dude’s Music City hired him as its “technology guy.�
He has even composed music for a locally made movie by filmmaker Ben Meade called “Das Bus,� now showing on the Sundance Channel.
Kenworthy will open up his own computer-based recording studio this month. He plans to encourage legions of young musicians by introducing them to computer-based recording.
Is he a geek? Sure he is, he says. And he’s fine with it.
“My wife laughs at me because I don’t read books,� Kenworthy said. “I read manuals. You’ve got to stay on top of it.�
I was talking to my brother and my dad about this just the other day. The definition we settled on (that they had apparently gotten from somewhere else, and I readily agreed to) was that a nerd contributes to society, and a geek doesn't. For instance, a nerd will program a video game or fix a computer, while a geek will sit in his basement watching Battlestar Galactica or at his computer playing Starcraft. In short, the difference is in the level of productivity. I think that makes a little sense, and even if it's arbitrary, at least it's a distinction.
Nerds are smarter, geeks are more obsessive.
Nerds talk about the difference between "geeks" and "nerds."
Geeks post blogs about it.