This seems to be a topic that people aren’t clear on, so I’m going to do my best to make it a bit less hazy on the similarities and differences of what it means to be a nerd versus a geek. Since it’s apparently trendy now to hold onto a label that used to be attached to someone you wanted to insult, I’m also going to get into what doesn’t fall into the realm of nerdhood and geekery. And, for the heck of it, I’ll use myself as an example to show how a person can be both.
- What it means to be a Nerd:
Know what I think is a lot of fun? School. Not even going to hold back on this one, but I love learning and participating in class. I take the time to learn the concepts and find ways to incorporate what I’ve been studying into my everyday life. Except for physics, since all I understood and retained from that class was that North is not “up”. Not only that, but I pride myself on being someone that can join in class discussions and have something to contribute to the conversation. I don’t consider going to lectures to be a chore, even if they are at 8:15 in the morning. I value education, yo. - What doesn’t constitute as being a Nerd:
Your flannel shirt, high-waist jeans, and suspenders are not representative of your intelligence. Being quirky or having a beard, and wearing a pair of Raybans doesn’t reflect your ability to analyse post-post-modernist reflections of Molière. Can you recite five digits of pi? Can you differentiate between a credible and unreliable source? No – then find yourself a more fitting label. - What it means to be a Geek:
Do you have a thing that you like? Do you know a lot about it? There you go, you can be categorised as a geek. Anything that can be followed or consumed can grant you geek status if you’ve invested enough time into it. Music, books, tv shows, sports (and not just Quidditch), musicals, movies, video games, art, photography, comic books – if you have a deep appreciation for it and have taken the time to learn more about it or participate in it, then you fall into its fandom and can call yourself an X-geek. You can usually spot us by our respective fandom’s paraphernalia. Don’t even get me started on the fan-fics. - What doesn’t constitute as being a Geek:
When you call yourself a Harry Potter fan and have seen two of the movies. Saying you’re a trekkie because the one with the white dress and her hair in the big buns on the side of her head is your favourite. Pretending to like something (while either being clueless about it or straight up hating it) to impress someone. I’m pretty sure that you have something you can binge-watch or happily obsess over. Focus on that instead, because I can guarantee you’ll get more geek-rage than I’m already throwing your way if you say something like my above examples. - Where I stand:
I care so much about school. So much. I’ve had teachers cut me off from answering questions on the first day of class. The difference here, is that I’m studying classes that I want to be in, so of course I’m going to invest time and energy into what I’m taking in from a given lecture. I also love Harry Potter (scroll back to early March if you don’t believe me). I’ve read the books in two languages more than once, I’ve seen all of the movies many times over, and I have all of the soundtracks and other various paraphernalia. You need a Potter Trivia partner? I’m your girl. But I’m also deep into other fandoms – and other media. For example, I will “watch” a movie just for its soundtrack, especially if it’s mostly an original score. Could I tell you who plays what instrument in a given piece from a certain movie? No. Nor would I be able to recognise every instrument or note by ear. I appreciate it, but I haven’t studied it. I also have a strange addiction to binge-watching Let’s Plays on youtube, despite my inability to play the video games myself.
What I’m trying to get across is that you have to work for these titles. It’s not something you’re born into (let’s not spark a nature versus nurture debate about this), but something that is entirely up to you to maintain. So if you say you’re a nerd, I will ask you how quickly you dry out a pen. And if you claim to be a geek, you should know that a tri-force isn’t shorthand for the original Star Wars trilogy.
See You at BU 