How nerdy are you?This week Gary Gygax, co-creator of Dungeons and Dragons, died. A whole generation of pasty dice-obsessed nerds owes him big time. Me included.
So, in his honour, how nerdy were you? Are you still sunlight-averse? What are the sad little things you do that nobody else understands?
As an example, a B3ta regular who shall remain nameless told us, "I spent an entire school summer holiday getting my BBC Model B computer to produce filthy stories from an extensive database of names, nouns, adjectives, stock phrases and deviant sexual practices. It revolutionised the porn magazine dirty letter writing industry for ever.
Revel in your own nerdiness.
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chthonic, Thu 6 Mar 2008, 10:32)
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Geeks versus nerdsAm I right, or isn't there a difference between nerds and geeks? Geeks have a penchant for Star Wars or Star Trek, role-playing games, et cetera. Nerds, however, enjoy books by Stephen Hawking and Aristotle, documentaries about anything and spelling out et cetera instead of just writing etc.
I am a nerd. Right now my Sigmund Freud action figure is perched atop my scanner/printer, right next to the Sigmund Freud version of the Tickle-Me-Elmo. I am a female and every article of clothing I own was either given to me, bought from a rock concert or I've had since high school. But I have spent $800 on books in the last six months.
Edit: Am I missing the point entirely on this one?
(, Sat 8 Mar 2008, 16:26, 3 replies)
I BEG TO DIFFERGeekiness, to me, implies some form of mild, possibly self-induced, OCD.
Nerditude, I would argue, stems from social ineptitude.
That's not to say they're mutually exclusive; quite the opposite as most geeks are quite socially inept as well. (Pot, kettle, black)
Geekiness is not something necessarily* shameful. I think it stems from knowing an awful lot about something that's not really worth knowing about (e.g.,http://b3ta.com/questions/nerds/post126832 for shameless self-reference).
Nerds tend not to be quite so obsessive, just a bit shy and bookish. Generally unwashed as well.
*At least, it's open for debate. Admittedly, I'm no longer proud of my Warhammer...
(, Sat 8 Mar 2008, 16:38, closed)
In Douglas Coupland's Microserfs...he makes a good argument (paraphrased, as all my books are packed away while we redecorate):
"Nerds are uncool, unfashionable and unsociable. Geek implies you have a marketable skill which is unusual or difficult, and usually well paid"
(, Mon 10 Mar 2008, 21:26, closed)
personally...I always took it that a geek is someone with knowedge of something 'non mainstream' - so knowledge of how to programme a computer rather than just look at the internet, can tell you lots of technical details about guitars rather than playing them, reads lots of books, has a huge dvd collection and home cinema, etc... fairly normal things, just taken to slightly obsessive levels that most people don't care about
A nerd I would say is a slightly more specialised version of a geek - the more obscure hobbies like trainspotting or stamp collecting (to pick the obvious choices) and more of a lack of social skills and 'style', whereas a geek can quite happily coexist alongside the general public (and is often in demand through knowledge that can be put to use fixing friends computers or helping setup the surround sound) the nerd tends to prefer his own company or that of similar nerds
There is always the gray area, some people are just socially awkward but not really 'nerdy' as such, and there are some 'nerds' who can be perfectly normal people.
Thats just my take on it at least.
(, Wed 12 Mar 2008, 10:31, closed)
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