The Geek Shall Inherit the Earth

erick99 writes "With so many self-proclaimed geeks here at Slashdot, this particular article concerning geeks seems fitting. The article covers the gamut from science fiction to comic books to the "mainstreaming of geeks." The author seems to conclude the it is not such a good idea that the geek may inherit the earth. But, hey, what does he know. "

Comments

scary...

[spangineer]

That's pretty scary considering Merriam Webster's first definition of "geek":

"a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake"
"Geek"

Re:Somebody get a dictionary?

[Anonymous Coward]

In the 1980s an anorak was used as slang in the UK for a certain type of person who would wear an anorak whether or not they were indoors or outdoors.

They tended to be male (99%), individualistic and not try to wear fashionable or nice clothes. This was due to poverty and also a greater interest in "anoraki" hobbies, like computing, chess, games like DnD, trainspotting.

Part of the reason for the popularity of the anorak was they were quite warm, and if you put one on in the morning, you could wear one all day, they covered you up, whatever the weather so you did not have to concern yourself with earthly matters like what you looked like.

Trendy

[Triv]

See, here in NYC, geekdom has become...trendy. It's now cool to know tons about comic books, to be an IP wizard, to be able to pull odd things from teh intarweb. If you're a mac geek, you're even better off.

The problem with this is the fucking hipsters of the geek wannabe persuasion. They manage to effectively mimic geek behavior but are much smoother (excuse me - smoover), much nicer looking and infinitely better at getting laid. So now all the look-alike "hey look, I can setup iTunes networking. I'm awesome and lovable and single! Bed me!" are stealing the small portion of women endowed by god with a geek-love gene. JUST when we're acceptable to the outside world, we get screwed by the trendiest people on EARTH. AGAIN.

But the worst part of it is, you turn into, like, that guy. You know, that guy who always grumbles about being ahead of the trend. The "I was listening to them when they were indie and they suck now" guy and everyone thinks YOU'RE the poser.

Please. Take me back to obscurity. At least I was getting laid when I was on the fringe.

Triv

The author has it backwards.

[Jaywalk]

The mainstreaming of geekdom means the mainstreaming of the geeks as well. If the only person who shares your interests is on the other side of the world, of course you are going to spend more time on your computer communicating with that one other person. But if there is someone you can talk to next door, you're more likely to walk over for a beer.

Computer geeks are now in the same position automobile geeks were when the auto was coming into its own. Automobiles used to be considered an oddity at best and a nuisance at worst. Few owned them and the majority didn't understand the attraction for the noisy smelly things. Horses required little maintenance and performed the same functions better. Motoring enthusiasts formed clubs in order to be with others who understood their peculiar hobby.

Fast forward to today. A knowledgeable mechanic is virtually guaranteed an audience when discussing his profession. Everyone has a car and everyone has a story or a problem for which a mechanic's expertise provides a welcome addition to the conversation. Nobody thinks of auto mechanics as isolated geeks.

It makes all the difference in the world when the others in a party are interested in hearing what you have to say, whether it's the details of automatic transmissions, the pros and cons of DSL versus broadband or the differences between the movie and the comic.

Saladin & Richard the Lionhearted

[chadjg]

for example... Two warriors that had different religions, were sworn enemies, but they did sit down and have a nice meal with eachother. The story goes that they were comparing weapons and Saladin threw a silk scarf up into the air, held out his scimitar and the silk scarf cut itself in two, by it's own weight. Richard put an iron bar on a block and chopped it in half with one swing of his sword. That sword bit may be grossly distorted,or a total fabrication, but people believed it for a long time.

In Euope, on the rare occasions that monarchs were captured, they were often allowed to take whole wagon trains of stuff with them and whole bunches of servants. They most certainly did not rot in a hole, and they often ate with their captors. Leaving aside the fact that the royal families of europe were a bunch of inbred freaks and that the vanquished was probably your cousin, it makes a point. But woe to the commoner that got uppity. They would be put down hard with no courtesy.

Yeah, warrior-kings tend to take care of their own, when they aren't busy chopping eachother up. Yesterday it was a joust and a feast, today 18 holes & lunch at the Yacht club. No difference.