What is a geek?
This is a question I was genuinely asked once, not in a philosophical manner or anything like that. The question was posed by a gent of an older generation and was unfamiliar with the word that has suddenly become emblazoned across the t-shirts of many a student purchased from trendy hipster clothes shops. (These t-shirts piss me off by the way, but I won't go into a rant about that just yet.)
As always when confronted with a question like this, my ability the produce an eloquent and well thought out answer on the spot was non existent. Instead I will have fumbled out an incoherent jabber of words that may have slightly resembled a sentence. It's much easier to answer these things when you have the privilege of hindsight, time and the backspace key.
There is what I suppose is the accepted image of a geek/nerdy type. The word is synonymous with those who love science fiction & fantasy. Lonely greasy haired teenagers with acne who sit at computers gaming or having online debates about the finer points of lightsaber technology. That is a vert brief generalisation but I'm sure you get the stereotypical image I'm getting at.
The truth of the matter is, as stereotypical as that view is, it is accurate. However it isn't the full picture and only a small part of what a geek is.
I have thought long and hard about the best way to answer the question "what is a geek?" And the best way I can answer it is this:
Most people have hobbies or interests, geeks have obsessions.
Being a geek isn't just limited to the realms of sci-fi and fantasy, games and computing etc. If you have an obsession about anything to the point that you enjoy it so much it affects the rest of your life. It dictates the way you live, how you spend your time and your money. You can talk passionately and at great length with others who share the same obsession, debate and argue why your point of view is right as if your very life depended on it. Be it science fiction, cars, cameras, guitars, books, music, movies, phones, dogs, cats, vampires, cartoons, art, dragons, television, technology, computers, architecture, fashion. If you love something so much it brings you more pleasure than it has any right to, if you love it on an irrational level that it gives you that child like feeling of freedom and carelessness, you are a geek.
Most of all, it's not caring what others may think of it, and never concerning yourself with whether it's cool or not.
There is a lot more to it in all honesty, but in short this is what it's all about for me.
As always when confronted with a question like this, my ability the produce an eloquent and well thought out answer on the spot was non existent. Instead I will have fumbled out an incoherent jabber of words that may have slightly resembled a sentence. It's much easier to answer these things when you have the privilege of hindsight, time and the backspace key.
There is what I suppose is the accepted image of a geek/nerdy type. The word is synonymous with those who love science fiction & fantasy. Lonely greasy haired teenagers with acne who sit at computers gaming or having online debates about the finer points of lightsaber technology. That is a vert brief generalisation but I'm sure you get the stereotypical image I'm getting at.
The truth of the matter is, as stereotypical as that view is, it is accurate. However it isn't the full picture and only a small part of what a geek is.
I have thought long and hard about the best way to answer the question "what is a geek?" And the best way I can answer it is this:
Most people have hobbies or interests, geeks have obsessions.
Being a geek isn't just limited to the realms of sci-fi and fantasy, games and computing etc. If you have an obsession about anything to the point that you enjoy it so much it affects the rest of your life. It dictates the way you live, how you spend your time and your money. You can talk passionately and at great length with others who share the same obsession, debate and argue why your point of view is right as if your very life depended on it. Be it science fiction, cars, cameras, guitars, books, music, movies, phones, dogs, cats, vampires, cartoons, art, dragons, television, technology, computers, architecture, fashion. If you love something so much it brings you more pleasure than it has any right to, if you love it on an irrational level that it gives you that child like feeling of freedom and carelessness, you are a geek.
Most of all, it's not caring what others may think of it, and never concerning yourself with whether it's cool or not.
There is a lot more to it in all honesty, but in short this is what it's all about for me.
Comments
Post a Comment