Nerds Vs. Geeks

By Jeffrey | May 29, 2007

Geek
What is a nerd? What is a geek for that matter?

Nobody is really sure, and those that think they are tend to confuse the two most of the time anyway.

Is it better to be a nerd, or to be a geek? Do the nerds get the ladies? Do geeks wear thick glasses? Do sentences that repeatedly end in questions get annoying?

Perhaps, so on those notes - except the last one - I will attempt to resolve this issue that has been debated since before mankind crawled out of the ocean and overclocked his processor.

Nerd-isms

Nerd: “Pejorative applied to anyone with an above-average IQ and few gifts at small talk and ordinary social rituals.”

At least, according to one online dictionary anyway. It seems to be the best possible definition.

A nerd is somebody you want as a study partner, and to run your company’s network, but not as a drinking-buddy or to play wingman at the next big party.

Typically they are the type of person to have far above-average intellect when it comes to one specific topic, but does not seek to spread that knowledge over various subjects.

The stereotype is that nerds cannot get dates. That’s simply not true.

They just don’t want to.

When it comes to designing rockets, cracking the Pentagon, figuring out how long it really would take to travel to Xorgon V, nerds are the best there are.

More likely, nerds are all there are.

Geek-isms

Geeks are far harder to spot.

They may wear thick glasses, or glasses, or not. They may wear a bow-tie in public - thank you Tucker - or not. They may know that average air speed velocity of a swallow, or not.

They’ve got social skills, subtle bravado, and we can thank them for indie music.

They won’t break any government databases, but they can probably build the computer that can. They will have above average knowledge about electronics, computers, multimedia, and pretty much anything else with a socket, but will rarely instigate such conversation when in a social setting.

In fact, geeks can be anybody.

So Which Is Best

It doesn’t really matter. You are either a nerd or a geek - it’s as much a personality trait as it is anything else, and thus is not likely to be changed.

But it’s still fun to speculate.

As you probably noticed, I am a geek - you know, SavvyGeek, the website…nevermind.

However, I have had nerd friends, and even though I tend to have a reputation as a computer genius, some of my friends would make me look like the typical tech support caller that can’t turn his computer on.

Thankfully there are plenty of both.

Without nerds we never would have had Star Trek, Star Wars, CGI effects, or hilarious stereotypes.

And without geeks we would have missed out on the iPod, GUIs, consumer-level technology, or this website - which is what is really important.

So now, like Roe Vs. Wade did for abortion debate, the issue of nerds vs. geeks should be resolved once and for all.

Topics: Rants |

6 Responses to “Nerds Vs. Geeks”

  1. Nice article. I think I’m part nerd, part geek. I’m a GUI/programmer person, but I also deal a lot with websites (the webmaster stuff) and consumer level technology.

    Posted by: Ron S on May 29th, 2007 at 4:40 pm

  2. Simple: A geek is a nerd with a social life.

    Posted by: Graham J on June 11th, 2007 at 5:07 pm

  3. *laugh*

    I think you’ve hit the nail there.

    Posted by: Jeffrey on June 11th, 2007 at 5:13 pm

  4. Geeks can also be applied to anything outside the technological world like Film-Geek(me) Music Geek Lit.Geek Wine Geek (”Sideways” Anyone??? Oh COME ON!!!) NERDS: Play D&D with their buddies in their mom’s basement. GEEKS: Play STRIP D&D with some women and their buddies IN THEIR OWN PLACE (you lose points you lose clothing)( on a more personal note I got laid twice playing that game-with women )

    Posted by: DarthShaggy on June 18th, 2007 at 7:51 am

  5. Thank you for your enlightening article.

    I have been a somewhat weird guy long before computers become commonplace. I have used them in work but never made them a profession. I am basically a chemical engineer.

    But your article made clear to me that what I am:
    90% geek and 10% nerd.

    Thank you for explaining me to myself.
    Best regards

    Posted by: Eduardo on October 1st, 2007 at 3:58 pm

  6. wow, is there anything as cool as getting laid while playing d&d!?

    damn.. gotta find girls playing with me.

    oh, btw nice article :D

    Posted by: puddy on October 3rd, 2007 at 2:28 pm


Comments