One-Fifth Of Americans Are Proud To Be Geeks

Earnest Cavalli

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One-Fifth Of Americans Are Proud To Be Geeks



America: Land of the free, home of the geek?

In celebration of National Geek Pride Day (May 25), a survey released by IT staffing service Modis reveals some very interesting statistics about the nascent social acceptability of being a geek.

According to the survey, 17 percent of Americans self-identify as geeks. I don't have solid numbers in front of me, but I have to assume this is a monumental rise since the days when Robert Carradine was battling the dark powers of Ted McGinley [http://www.amazon.com/Revenge-Nerds-Panty-Robert-Carradine/dp/B000M341QY].

Speaking of nerds, the survey makes a special point of addressing the differences between that term and geek. It seems that though nearly one-fifth of our population would write the latter on their OKCupid profile, very few are willing to also label themselves as nerds. Though 61 percent of respondents would call themselves nerds, the vast majority (87 percent) see a tangible difference between "geek" and its seemingly pejorative cousin.

The key issue this survey raises, particularly among those antiquated folk who still consider "geek" an insult, is why the general public suddenly sees the word as a badge of honor. According to the survey's results, people see geeks as particularly suited to work in the now-lucrative fields of information technology. Specifically, 65 percent saw geeks as perfect for employment as game designers and 50 percent see the sub-culture as ideal for roles as technology engineers.

Of particular note to me, and my incredibly attractive, urbane colleagues, is the 37 percent of respondents who see geeks as well-suited for the fast-paced world of professional blogging. Based on my very existence, I'd say that's a pretty accurate stereotype.

That said, this raises an important question: Is the sudden societal affection for all things "geek" a passing fad spawned by the relatively modern ubiquity of all things technological, or have our societal norms simply advanced to the point that we are, as a species, more accepting of the quirks of others?

The optimistic part of my duality has its theoretical fingers crossed for the latter, but my more realistic side believes this new-found love for those once disdained as a caste of tech-savvy social lepers is just a ruse to convince our kind to offer free tech support to the Ogres [http://www.google.com/search?q=revenge+of+the+nerds+ogre&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:eek:fficial&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi&biw=1249&bih=688] of the world.

(Image: NeoGaboX [http://www.flickr.com/photos/neogabox/4564393024/])

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Erana

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Well, "Geek" denotes an intellectual interest, whereas nerd suggests a lifestyle/personality thing.
I don't necessarily take this as a good thing, because this could just as easily indicate that people want to identify themselves as intelligent and/or big enthusiasts of things that aren't mainstream, without any of the included social stigmas involved with them.
 

Mr. Omega

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JOOOOOOOOIIIIIIIIIIIN UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSS....

In all seriousness: I could have sworn nerd was the good one and geek was the bad one...
 

Fiz_The_Toaster

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Erana said:
Well, "Geek" denotes an intellectual interest, whereas nerd suggests a lifestyle/personality thing.
I don't necessarily take this as a good thing, because this could just as easily indicate that people want to identify themselves as intelligent and/or big enthusiasts of things that aren't mainstream, without any of the included social stigmas involved with them.
I have to agree with you on that. I think the word "geek" is thrown around way too much and has become the popular thing to be now, I'm sure in time it will go back to being a dirty word again.
 

ace_of_something

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I lot of hipsters, particularly females, identify themselves as geeks or nerds because they used to play Legend of Zelda or like watching Glee. They never know the pain of losing a date just because you said "why yes I do play D&D" or being barraged in dodgeball for your starfleet t-shirt, they don't know the DEDICATION of arguing pointlessly on internet forums about hypothetical situations between imaginary people, they don't know the pain of a wedgie or similar torment.
They want the nerd medal without running the nerd marathon.

Erana said:
Well, "Geek" denotes an intellectual interest, whereas nerd suggests a lifestyle/personality thing.
I don't necessarily take this as a good thing, because this could just as easily indicate that people want to identify themselves as intelligent and/or big enthusiasts of things that aren't mainstream, without any of the included social stigmas involved with them.
Or you could say it all clear, concise, and intelligently like Erana.
 

dex-dex

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cool!
even though my friends are nerds some don't like to admit it.
but none of us are american so it does not matter.
 

Keltzar

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http://xkcd.com/747/

I immediately thought of this halfway through the article. I agree with the creator that I always thought geeks were the ones who were considered weird and obsessed with something while nerds were the ones who were really good at math and science.
 

Jamash

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Jun 25, 2008
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Considering that the survey was conducted by a IT company, is it really one fifth of Americans or one fifth of people in the IT sector?
 

Earnest Cavalli

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ace_of_something said:
I lot of hipsters, particularly females, identify themselves as geeks or nerds because they used to play Legend of Zelda or like watching Glee. They never know the pain of losing a date just because you said "why yes I do play D&D" or being barraged in dodgeball for your starfleet t-shirt...
Uh, I'm a professional blogger who literally earns his entire living from writing about games, technology and geek culture, and I've never known "the pain of losing a date just because you said "why yes I do play D&D" or being barraged in dodgeball for your starfleet t-shirt."

It may have something to do with the fact that my fashion sense prevents me from going anywhere near Star Trek-themed clothing, or the fact that I'm physically appealing to the opposite sex -- OR it might have something to do with the fact that you seem to be linking the term "geek" to poor social skills and an inability to present one's self to possible mates without immediately dropping the "I love things that are stereotypically repugnant to members of your gender" line.

I'm not picking on you specifically Ace, but I think it's crucial that we not define geek as "someone who sucks at getting dates." That's as harsh a stereotype as anything the captain of your high school's football team might have thrown at you.

(Post script: I was also a starting Defensive End on a #1-ranked football team and enjoyed the hell out of high school, so either my career path isn't an indicator of geekiness (it totally is), or your view of "geek" is insultingly narrow.)
 

Therumancer

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Well, to be honest we have a rise in what is "nerd chic" out there simply because of the positive associations of "getting" technology and being smart. A lot of the people claiming to be geeks or nerds are not in any way social outcasts. A cute girl who plays the occasional video game and wears glasses as a fashion item is not a "nerd girl" by any stretch of the imagination, but will oftentimes present herself as one.

Simply put if nerds and geeks ever really reach 20% of the population we'll be mainstream, and thus by definition no longer nerds and geeks. It also means that instead of dwindling supplies of PnP RPG products (a dying industry) we'll have places selling them by the mega ton and going out of the way to have people come in and run games in their stores (as opposed to what Waldenbooks pulled in not wanting to deliver on the deals it cut with TSR back in the day, but that's a whole differant rant).

Basically as soon as you say "I'm a geek but I have a life and friends" your not a geek or a nerd. If you are, your by definition a social outcast because those things ARE your life. If they are simply only one small part of your life, then your not a nerd. It's sort of like how just about everyone reads comics growing up, but only a few people are really comics nerds who live this stuff, go to every con, and have their living space literally plastered with things related to comics at the age of 40. Likewise it involves being obsessive enough to take your interests and put them before a lot of mundane concerns, one of the reasons why nerds and geeks oftentimes have bad hygiene and so on. It's similar to the genius who is so wrapped up in his math that he forgets trivial things like that, except the nerd or geek is not interested in anything so practical. The term "I'm smart, but not in any practical way" pretty much summarizes what makes a geek a geek.
 

BehattedWanderer

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Jun 24, 2009
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I'm a nerd, in that I'm interested in the scifi/fantasy/video game/escapism sort of lifestyle. I'm a geek in that I'm intellectually very interested in those things, and history, and psychology, and philosophy, and a particular bend of movies. In that sense, I'm a history geek. I'm a gaming geek. I'm a nerd geek. And I am proud of it. Why shouldn't I be, it's how I have decided to live my life.
 

vxicepickxv

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RT-Medic-with-shotgun said:
Meh.

*goes back to his custom 40k terrain*
This is an acceptable response.

*goes back to building a custom bass guitar amp*