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ZDNet on the Essence of Geek
sebFlyte writes "ZDNet has a feature on The Essence of Geek, which looks at the rise of the geek (and the fact that everyone's turning into one), in the years post .com boom." From the article: "For a few years, an interest in computers and technology became inextricable linked with wealth and power -- geek became chic. Technology companies suddenly became the focus of the kind of attention that had been reserved for the music or fashion industries. In the UK TV makers even went so far as to create a hip series, Attachments, based around the antics of a tech start-up."
After all, how different is dressing up for a Star Trek Convention and a Football game? Not much...
If brevity is the soul of wit, then how does one explain Twitter?
from TFA
The modern word surfaced in American slang in the early 20th century, according to the Oxford English Dictionary, and continued to refer to various kinds of oddballs. The OED records this example from the 1916 Wells Fargo Messenger: "A new Wells agent struck our town the other week, and say you never saw a more enthusiastic geek!" By the 1950s Webster's dictionary recorded that the word referred to a carnival sideshow weirdo "whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake".
At some point, the word began to be used to refer to people with an interest so obsessive that it puts them outside the mainstream -- as it still is used to talk about people with an inordinate knowledge of, say, Buffy the Vampire Slayer. However, it's most immediate association is now with technology, and particularly with people who actually make technology work.
I've found 'geek' to be neutral at best in common usage, and nerd always is negative. Now being 'rich' as opposed to being a 'geek'...I've found the former is always better socially, but is directly proportionate to the latter.
Thank you Dave Raggett
When did wealth mean "big credit lines?"
Most geeks I meet have negative net equity due to outrageous debt loads. Maybe it's just Chicago? It seems that every geek here thinks they can live like Sergei Brin.
I wonder if all the common people see are (leased) BMW's, (interest-only mortgaged) 5-bedroom homes and (almost maxed out) platinum cards when they see supergeeks?
Talk about keeping up with the Joneses.
We are in the midst of the Glorius Geek Revolution. Sure, high school sucks for geeks. It sucked for me, and it still sucks for most geeks today, but the life after high school has dramtically changed for the geek, for the better.
A lot of the rags to riches stories involves geeks. South Park's creators, Family Guy's creator, Matt Groenig, Woz and Steve Jobs.
We live better lives than our geek forefathers. A smart, industrious geek these days often earns a better living and lifestyle than our jock counterpart.
Society is getting geekier. Take cops shows. They used to be buddy films, the cool guys with street smarts driving cool cars in chase scenes. Now the top cop show is CSI. Geeks with badges, walking around with black lights, analyzing semen. NCIS, Law and Order, The West Wing, Adult Swim... culture has definately taken a turn for the geekier end of the spectrum.
Nerd girls are doing well as well. I read somewhere that SNL producers were worried about Tina Fey in glasses, but it turns out it totally works, and she has tremendous appeal and talent.
Of course, as we start having kids and they grow up, maybe they'll be jocks, and maybe they'll be teased unmercifully by the geeks.
From the article: "Eric Reynolds, author of the influential open source manifesto The Cathedral and the Bazaar ."
Um, what? Sloppy research or just a typo? These mainstream "Look how geek everyone is becoming! Even your has an iPod and is therefore a geek." articles really irritate me.
It is not that power corrupts but that it is magnetic to the corruptible.
You know, I feel blessed that I maintain the social graces and ability to interface with women on a fairly regular basis.... well my wife anyway :) I don't know that as a whole you all aren't grabbing at straws to justify your own position as a geek.
Truth be told, I'm called a geek, nerd, technogod, and addict by various people. Quite frankly the way I see it is if you are you know you are and it's not worth arguing about. It's more socially acceptable now for us to be infatuated with our technology and our abilities are becoming more appreciated (figured you would be happy not offended that you aren't the only one). I guess we are geeks for even arguing about what a geek is, constantly having a who's logical line is bigger over inconsiquential nonsense like this.
The first time I went off rambling about the latest linux kernel source structure (back when I was 16) and how clean it was with such enthusiasim as to make the listening party look at me with the look of "please god don't hurt me" I knew I was a geek.
For that matter, if you find you are consitently speaking with fellow nerds and it suddenly becomes very apparent they have no clue what you are talking about... you might be a geek.... neck?... sorry jeff foxworthy flashback
sweet god, I'm talking about nothing... damned coffee
Before, in the tech boom, people thought it was cool to be a geek because if you were good with computers, you must make a lot of money, and people don't want to work, so they want to be married to someone who makes a lot.
Nowadays people are actually interested in what we geeks are as opposed to just our earning potential (however misinformed they may be about that).
Buy Steampunk Clothing Online!
The way language is used changes over time. Just as "liberal" was not always a pejorative, the term "geek" is being used either in a different context or possibly in a completely new way. Part of the reason language can shift like this is because words are defined by examples of their usage. There is no clear and objective standard for judging when an activity is "fun" or a pigment is "red" (I challenge you to, on a 256 color palette, decide which shades are clearly red and which are clearly not red. If you put every shade in one category or the other, your best friend will probably disagree on at least some of your decisions, though you probably won't be confident about it either). So too, there is no clear definition of geek.
"Geek" was previously used to describe several, often overlapping groups of people; Geek described those who prefer math and computers to drinking or those who preferred Star Wars to women. Somehow, because of the correlation between "geekiness" and earnings potential, people felt the need to cast being in a geek in a more positive light and decided to focus on the relatively common (but not defining) tendency of geeks to be passionate about something. Passion bordering on fanatical zealotry that interferes in social interaction is not a requirement: I have heard people say things like "I'm a music geek" to mean as little as "I buy a few cds or 2 a month and go to a few concerts a year." As the common usage of the term changes, the definition changes. At this rate, in 10 years the term geek will be nothing but a meaningless modifier indicating slight interest.
The problem is that while people don't want to view all "geeks" in a bad light because they see positives to being geeky, not all geeks are going to be deserving of praise for their geekiness, and so either "geek" will remain a pejorative depending on context or some other term will fill the niche of the formerly derogatory use of the word. When I was younger, there did not seem to be a large difference between "geek" and "nerd", but perhaps now "nerd" will become the formerly negative connotation of "geek"? Who knows?
Language changes because we use many not quite equivalent definitions or examples to define terms, and as we shift from one definition to another, we change the canonical examples and alternate definitions. Do not be confused, though, geeks have not changed, only the usage of the term. Personally, I think that people changing the language I want to use is double plus ungood, but what can you do?
He was expelled from college because he stole computer time to develop the BASIC software that launched Microsoft.
Kids are still punished for their desire to learn in school
Jocks are still lauded throughout society, not just high school
BUT as we age, those things that were derided early on (book l'arnin', etc) allow "us geeks" to rise up much farther than the fat-head jock wrestlers who had their moments of glory in high school.
Geeks peak later.
And for grins, I'm posting the lyrics to Friends Forever by the Old 97s because it's a fantastic nod to the outcasts in high school. (of which, by geek definition, 95% of us were such)
Friends Forever
I was a debater
Was not a stoner nor an inline skater
Was not a player nor a player hater
I was just a bookworm on a respirator
Who's to say that's wrong
I was in the chess club
Didn't have a swimming pool much less a true love
Didn't have a dalliance much less a hot tub
I was just a brain whose brain never let up
Who's to say that's wrong
The twelve years after five
Are years we're lucky to survive
Hang in there friends forever
In memory far away
Hang in there friends forever
In memory far away
Went out for the football team
Found out the hard way that you can't live your Dad's dream
Had pretty thin skin to be in the machine
Then I found a guitar and the rest's a fanzine
Who's to say that's wrong
The moral of the song
Is that the high school kids are wrong
You know they have been all along
Come graduation day you'll be gone
Hang in there friends forever
In memory far away
(end)
Cheers, bitches. :)
You better watch out, there may be dogs about . .
http://www.catb.org/~esr/jargon/html/G/geek.html I cant belive no one have mentioned the Jargon files.
My -1 Troll is actually a +1 funny. And my -1 flame is actually a +1 insightfull.