____________________
15 geek events that dominated pop culture in 2016
what geek-friendly events (movies, tv, tech, and video gaming)
dominated pop culture in 2016?
* by victor stiff
--
in 2016, warring superhero factions, a zombie apocalypse, and an epic
space opera each took a moment to shine in pop culture's spotlight.
every year, more and more pastimes once reserved for geeks, nerds, and
dorks are gaining mainstream appeal. video games, gadgets, genre tv,
and comic book characters are now the foundation of today's pop
culture. time will tell whether geeks are becoming cool or everyone
else is getting geekier. for now, only one thing is certain: there has
never been a better time to publicly reveal your inner nerd.
the following list is ranked chronologically and consists of
geek-friendly events that dominated 2016's pop culture conversations.
in order to qualify, each entry had to attract an exceptional amount of
media coverage in its field or captivate an audience outside of its
--
spend your free time reading tech blogs, going to movies, or binging on
netflix, chances are your interests will converge with at least a
couple of entries on this list. here are 15 geek events that dominated
pop culture in 2016!
--
netflix sci-fi/horror series, stranger things, is the ultimate example
of geek culture crossing over to the mainstream. the show is a love
letter to 80's geekdom and audiences couldn't get enough of it. the
story focuses on a trio of dungeons & dragons playing kids who stumble
into a supernatural adventure. stranger things endeared itself to its
--
san diego comic-con logo
since its inception in 1970, san diego comic-con has highlighted geek
culture. way before transformers, super mario bros., and iron man
became mainstream, san diego comic-con provided an outlet for fandom to
--
* home
* lists
* 15 geek events that dominated pop culture in 2016
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fomo for new york comic con 2019? you can still geek out
by reed tucker
--
most popular today
1 fomo for new york comic con 2019? you can still geek out espn
announcer criticized for comment following death of lsu coach's
daughter-in-law 2 fomo for new york comic con 2019? you can still geek
out swanky canadian restaurant turns down meghan and harry 3 fomo for
new york comic con 2019? you can still geek out inside the nasty
twitter war between chrissy teigen and a wounded vet 4 fomo for new
york comic con 2019? you can still geek out cindy crawford, rande
gerber spotted having intense chat outside daughter kaia's apartment 5
fomo for new york comic con 2019? you can still geek out guy who got
tattoo of snoring wife must like sleeping on the couch
name(required) ____________________
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fan girls night out!
geek girl brunch nyc, a local meet-up for like-minded female nerds,
hosts its sixth annual comic con after-party, and all are welcome —
both geek boys and geek girls.
saturday at 7 p.m. $10. houndstooth pub, 520 eighth ave.;
you're reading
meet the geek behind egypt’s hit online science show
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meet the geek behind egypt’s hit online science show
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magazine
are 'geek' and 'nerd' now positive terms?
by kathryn westcott bbc news magazine
--
campaigners in sweden are trying to force a dictionary to change its
definition of "nerd". but after two decades of "reappropriation" has
"nerd" - and its sister word "geek" - now completely lost its
derogatory connotations?
--
the social network in 2010 came in a very different social milieu. now
a nerd, or a "geek", can be a driven machiavellian bent on success -
gordon gekko in a zip-up hoodie.
today when people think of "geeks" and "nerds" they might very well
name the likes of bill gates, steve jobs and mark zuckerberg - people
whose imagination and grasp of the technical made them billions.
historic geeks are celebrated, with alan turing and nikola tesla's
legacies provoking great passions. new york times blogger and geeky
statistician nate silver has been hailed as an unexpected star of the
us presidential election after correctly predicting the outcome. "memo
to wannabe presidents: hire geeks, not pundits," advises this week's
new scientist magazine.
--
singles on dating websites define themselves in their profiles as
"nerds" and "geeks" - in a positive way - and there is no end of blogs
listing stars like natalie portman as geeks or listing "nerdy power
couples" (like tim burton and helena bonham carter).
a slew of comedies over the past few years have had geeks as heroes,
such as tim bisley - the comics, video game and star wars-obsessive of
spaced - and sheldon cooper, the precocious physicist of the big bang
--
in skyfall, bond's gadget guru q has evolved into a slick computer
geek.
there's been a long period of "reappropriation" of the words "geek" and
"nerd".
--
to register a neutral sense."
the word "geek" is older, starting out in the early 1900s to refer to a
carnival performer (see box) whose only skill was the ability to bite
the heads off chickens.
it's easy to argue that "nerd" and "geek", with their very different
roots, retain different meanings, arguably with the former still more
derogatory than the latter. and some see a transatlantic divide, with
"geek" used in us and uk, but "nerd" somehow feeling less british.
stamper argues "nerd" now denotes a depth of knowledge in a particular
area, while "geek" appears to have taken on the more technical
overtones that "nerd" once had.
"we have evidence of people particularly taking the word 'geek' and
using it proudly to reclaim the best elements," says stamper.
--
many gay people have altered the meaning of the word "queer".
geeks
the oed suggests the term may have originated in the north of england.
in the us, "geek" was first used in the early 1900s to refer to a
carnival performer. at roughly the same time, it became a general
synonym of "fool".
by the 1950s, "geek" started referring to a person who was unsociable
and freakishly devoted to something, usually intellectual. by the late
1950s, the "intellectual" connotation had solidified, and we gained the
--
source: kory stamper, merriam-webster, and oed
the classic current use of "geek" as a self-description is typically
accompanied by something else - "stats geek", "physics geek", "history
geek" and even "cocktail geek" all being standard usages.
some lexicographers have been slow to reflect the new status of "nerd"
and "geek".
in sweden, an online petition to change the dictionary definition of
--
people sitting in front of their computers were cool - for time out in
the mid-to-late 1980s," says gaiman. "gibson described himself as the
geek who couldn't play baseball. someone at time out changed this to
'greek' because they said they hadn't come across the word.
--
teens were more than making money, they were changing the world."
surely the apotheosis for those dubbed "geek" came with world wide web
inventor sir tim berners-lee being cheered at the london 2012 opening
ceremony.
--
so as more and more people become enthusiasts, traditional "nerd" and
"geek" interests - star trek, comic books, anime, video games - are
moving into the mainstream. the record for biggest us movie opening
weekend is held by a movie based on comics.
--
but has anything been lost by this shift?
some of those who self-identify as nerds and geeks look back
nostalgically on the time their status felt rebellious, says benjamin
nugent, author of american nerd: the story of my people. "this didn't
--
but the hardcore take to forums like reddit to deride those who think
they are nerds and geeks but are perceived as lacking the right
credentials.
--
the word."
with the words "geek" and "nerd" primarily self-descriptions now, says
blogger and game designer jr blackwell, there are many different
interpretations.
nottingham
dungeons & dragons: the revival of a 'geeky' pastime
by liam barnes bbc news
--
boys holed up in dark basements and bedrooms. but as shows like
stranger things tap into the rose-tinted nostalgia of afternoons spent
playing dungeons & dragons, could it be that the geeks have inherited
more than middle earth?
--
and with celebrities like drew barrymore, vin diesel and dwayne "the
rock" johnson coming out as fans, it seems so-called geek culture has
come from behind closed doors and into the open.
--
to bring people in and get them involved.
"one of the things i love about it is i can have very geeky
conversations with my friends about anything."
"i'm not a geek, i'm a nerd," interjects sean colluney, 53, the games
master for the evening, who directs the adventurers along their quest.
image caption the combination of beer and fantasy is a winning formula
uk
forget brad pitt: women love a geek
geeks of the world, take a bow – because women adore you.
by jo willey
--
0
women love a geek women love a geek
brad pitt? well, he’s ok. george clooney too. but what women really
want in is a dorky geek who knows how to fix things.
in a survey of 3,000 women almost three quarters said they were more
--
only one in three said they would go for a muscley bloke who took pride
in his appearance. a spokesman for 24/7 technology support service geek
squad, which carried out the research, said: “these results will be a
severe blow for the millions of men who work-out in a bid to appear
--
in 20 women admit to dumping a guy because they knew more about fixing
gadgets than he did – “it’s not you, it’s me, i have this thing about
geeks”.
researchers also found that the one chore women really want their men
[karapers.jpg]
tokyo: once described as a geek who stuffed himself with snacks in
front of his computer, mark karpeles (pic) rose to head a firm that
once claimed to handle 80 per cent of the world’s bitcoin transactions.
--
by 2011, he had bought his own cryptocurrency exchange mtgox, which
stands for “magic: the gathering online exchange” – referring to a
“magic” card-swapping platform beloved by japanese “otaku” or “geeks”.
this grew rapidly until, at the height of its powers, it claimed to
film
the new nerds: how avengers and game of thrones made everyone geek out
fans have followed – and pored over – the incredibly long, detailed and
complicated narratives of the marvel universe and the westeros saga for
a decade. will we ever scale such heights of geekdom again?
steve rose
--
in our speeded-up world, last weekend could be considered uneventful,
but in one respect it will go down in human history. this was peak-geek
weekend – a moment of unprecedented, unrepeatable pop-cultural
excitement – that was global in scale. never, in the field of human
geekdom, has so much geeking out been done by so many, over the
long-awaited climaxes of two of the most supremely geeky properties
ever made.
--
violent, labyrinthine westerosian power-politics, and have just three
episodes left. while we’re at it, let’s not forget another colossal,
geek-friendly saga is coming to a climax this year, with star wars
episode ix: the rise of skywalker – the finale to a triple trilogy that
began more than 40 years ago. will we ever scale such heights of
geekdom again?
this is not the first time in modern history a hit movie or tv show has
--
karen gillan as nebula in avengers: endgame. photograph: null/ap
geek status used to connote a small subsection of society who took an
obsessive interest in stuff the mainstream didn’t and invariably paid
the price in terms of social exclusion. now you’re an outcast if you’re
--
we have been scaling this nerd mountain for some time now, steadily
placing geekier personalities at the helm of the movie industry (steven
spielberg is still at it, alongside upstarts such as jj abrams, edgar
wright, phil lord and chris miller) and the tech industry (mark
zuckerberg, bill gates, steve jobs). as well as superheroes and fantasy
dynasties, this trend has made modern heroes of geeky outsiders such
as, say, the stranger things posse, the it crowd, the big bang theory
team, hacker-with-dragon-tattoo lisbeth salander, or unthreatening
--
now cultural events and comic-con is as cool as coachella.
now that geeks have inherited the earth – or pop culture at least – do
terms like “nerd” hold any meaning any more? outsider status used to be
part of what it meant to be a geek or nerd, but that’s difficult to
claim now that everyone’s in on it. when the president of the us is
referencing game of thrones to gloat at his adversaries, and kids who
would have been bullied for their geeky interests are now themselves
accused of being bullies, we appear to have come full circle. abrams, a
self-identified geek, acknowledged that the meaning has changed. “when
i started, a geek was an undeniable loser,” he told the guardian in
2011. “long-necked, trips over his own feet, a complete outcast. and
now geek means someone who likes science fiction. when i was a kid, it
was a huge insult to be a geek. now it’s a point of pride.”
nakia, t’challa and okoye in black panther.
--
yet that pride can be corrosive. along with the general rise of online
bigotry and incivility, we have seen uglier extremes of geek culture
entering the mainstream in recent years. there was gamergate, for
example, in which female game developers and critics of video game
--
community. a similar hate campaign – comicsgate – was directed at comic
book creators deemed to have embraced progressive, feminist or leftwing
values, on the part of what could be seen as a far-right geek fringe.
one comic’s artist claimed they were “standing up against what they see
as a hard push by social justice warriors into their hobby”. the hatred
--
able-bodied white men who are socially awkward and/or not good at
sports,” she says. “it’s incredibly frustrating how this misperception
persists, because it’s such a narrow view of who geeks are and can be,
and it contributes to a lot of problems with things like misogyny,
racism, ableism, cissexism and heterosexism in geek culture.”
these elements reveal how geek culture can be policed from within as
well as without. it is no longer a matter of the mainstream rejecting
sci-fi nerds and comic-book fans; now it is the other way around. the
“outsider” status can lead to claims of victimisation, and an impulse
to attack and exclude others. a 2012 essay by the academics kom
kunyosying and carter soles refers to geek status as a “simulated
ethnicity” – a term they use “to describe the way geeks
melodramatically cast themselves as members of a marginalised identity
to foreground their validity and authenticity”. portrayals of non-alpha
white males, in particular, in popular culture, have cast geekdom as “a
put-upon status equivalent to the markedness of a marginalised identity
such as that of a person of colour”.
--
exclusive clubhouse.”
in that sense, at least, the mainstreaming of geek culture has removed
these gatekeepers. there are no longer “real” geeks and “fake” geeks
any more. we are all on a spectrum that permits varying levels of
engagement. as the sci-fi writer and geek champion john scalzi put it:
“geekdom is a nation with open borders. there are many affiliations and
many doors into it … many people believe geekdom is defined by a love
of a thing, but i think – and my experience of geekdom bears on this
thinking – that the true sign of a geek is a delight in sharing a
thing.”
--
which is not to say that there are no issues of representation in
mainstream geek culture, looking at, say, the lingering orientalism in
the marvel universe (tilda swinton’s ancient one makes a return in
avengers) or its representation of women of colour (you can count them
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denton women express love for nerd culture through geek girl brunch
august 2016 disney karaoke brunch (big brothers big sisters geek girls
do better brunch)
denton women express love for nerd culture through geek girl brunch
january 30
18:46 2017
--
darth vader and mimosas are a much better pairing than you may think.
at least that’s what nerd culture lovers at geek girl brunch denton
believe.
ggb denton is an organization of women who geek out and fangirl
together, typically when alcohol and food are involved. every month,
the members of ggb denton meet up for brunch, usually an official
--
are.”
geek girl brunch launched in 2014 from a circle of women in new york
who began to have geek-themed brunches together.
“we wanted a space for women to feel safe and nerd out about things,”
--
“we didn’t know that it would blow up the way that it did,” ggb
co-founder yissel ayala said. “it was completely unexpected. we didn’t
realize how necessary geek girl brunch was and so we were getting all
these requests from all over the state and nationally.”
--
even a complete year after their launch.
“there’s a rule in society to what’s cool to be geeky about and what’s
not,” campbell said. “i feel like there is sort of a stigma, but that’s
what geek girl brunch is for.”
ggb denton consists predominantly of women in their 20s and 30s, but
--
ggb denton members strive for a community of women of all ages,
gryffindor or slytherin, to geek out together with no judgement.
“age plays a role in it because when you’re an adult, they say, ‘you
--
females in the community aren’t necessarily as open about their
interests, and ggb brings us together and shows us that there are a lot
more geeky women out there than we thought.”
denton’s mix of young college kids and older entrepreneurs bring
together a unique yet cohesive blend of people to the organization.
rowser said it is a type of diversity that geek culture embraces.
“i think there’s a lot more nostalgia that we have that’s a little
different from some of the younger folks out there,” rowser said. “but
what’s really amazing about geek culture is that everybody’s always
watching things that are new and old so we can still connect.”
--
thousand dollars for a venues.”
the link between denton’s pro-local element and its ranges in geeky
women has proven to be a win-win for everyone in ggb.
--
featured image: august 2016 disney karaoke brunch. courtesy
tags
geek girl brunch
: nasa and unt team partner up to launch full-scale rocket
: the implications of president trump’s muslim ban
news
grange academy maths geek is crowned scotland's 'teacher of the year'
chris smith, who teaches at grange academy, was given the prestigious
--
could not subscribe, try again laterinvalid email
a self-confessed maths geek has been crowned scotland’s ‘teacher of the
year’.
--
“hopefully this helps to put maths back on the map, where it belongs.
i’m just a wee maths geek who wants to enthuse students about the
subject.
1 of 59
mcm london comic con is the biggest geek and pop-culture event hosted
in the uk, with this year's first event held between friday may 26 and
sunday may 28.
--
* flash gordon and the incredible hulk 'separated' as 'fight erupts'
fans who arrive in costume are known in the geek community as
cosplayers.
--
since its humble beginnings, the comic book convention quickly grew in
size and began to encompass more than just comics – video games, anime,
manga and everything that is part of geek culture.
mcm comic con convention sebastian kettley
parker2 pr
anyone can be an honorary geek for the night
soon people showed up expecting mathematics. but it had to be
--
matt will perform at london’s soho theatre march 7 to 16
people are demanding geek entertainment. they want to be able to
scratch their brain while having their ribs tickled. with fellow nerd
stand-ups helen arney and steve mould we have toured the uk several
--
i think a huge part of it is because we live so much of our lives
online these days. the internet has made it so nerds, geeks and
miscellaneous boffins of all flavours can find each other.
which is why calculator unboxing videos are now a thing: there is an
online community of geeks who demand to be entertained. and we try to
sweep everyone else up with us.
--
like a rubik’s cube made of jokes we think we’ve solved it, so anyone
can be an honorary geek for the night. so if you think you were cheated
out of connecting with your inner-geek by a boring school experience
check out the wealth of youtube videos exploring the whole range of
fascinating maths and science (if you have a reluctant teenager of your
own you may even pick up a few tricks to wow them).
and you can even go full-geek and come along to one of our nerdapolooza
shows. just keep an eye out for the people wearing calculator
appreciation society t-shirts. and that’s not a joke.
spectrum
ex-blue peter presenter konnie huq reveals why a new game show for geeks is
right up her street.
--
if you ever happen to bump into tv presenter konnie huq, don’t forget
to call her a nerd – it’ll make her day. konnie wears her geekiness
like a badge of honour, making her the perfect host for sky 1’s new
game show, king of the nerds.
--
based on a hit us show, king of the nerds has taken an assortment of
geeky types from all over britain – who specialise in everything from
doctor who to pokémon, from game of thrones to venomous snakes – and
put them together in a big country house, dubbed nerdvana.
show ad
are you a geek or a nerd? scientist creates graph that explains the
difference - and shows where you are on the scale
* software engineer burr settles studied the words used in 2.6
million tweets
* he also sampled tweets that matched the query terms 'geek' and
'nerd'
* by comparing tweets in each query settles devised an equation to
discover the words most used by geeks and nerds
* these words were plotted on a chart along a geeky and nerdy scale
by victoria woollaston
--
comments
the debate about the differences between geeks and nerds has been
raging for years but a scientist believes he has come up with a
mathematical equation that may finally put the argument to rest.
--
software engineer burr settles from pittsburgh studied the language
used in 2.6 million tweets, and also sampled tweets that appeared when
he searched for the terms 'geek' and 'nerd'.
by comparing tweets in each query, settles devised a mathematical
equation that established the probability of a particular word
appearing in a geeky tweet, or a nerdy one.
a pittsburgh software engineer studied the language of 2.6 million
tweets to discover the words and topics which can determine if someone
is more geeky or nerdy. a pittsburgh software engineer studied the
language of 2.6 million tweets to discover the words and topics which
can determine if someone is more geeky or nerdy.
pittsburgh engineer burr settles studied the language of 2.6 million
tweets to discover the geekiest and nerdiest words and topics. the
further along the horizontal axis, pictured, a word appeared, the more
nerdy it was. the higher a word appeared on the vertical, y-axis, the
more it was associated with being a geek
the words that separate the geeks from the nerds
the most nerdy subjects revolved around the words 'cellist',
'neuroscience', 'goths' and 'gamer.'
on the geekier end of the scale, words included 'culture', 'shiny'
'trendy' and 'webcomic'.
settles said geeky words are 'more about stuff, while nerdy words are
more about ideas.'
'geeks are fans, and fans collect stuff; nerds are practitioners, and
practitioners play with ideas.'
--
data fall in between the two, along the diagonal.
geeky people were shown as more interested in brands, such as apple,
and technologies such as linux.
in terms of hobbies, more geeky pastimes related to toys and japanese
comics, such as manga, while nerdy hobbies were shown to be chess and
sudoku.
put more simply, settles worked out which words were used and
associated most by geeks or nerds, and what the differences in subjects
and topics were.
--
the higher a word appeared on the vertical, y-axis, the more it was
associated with being a geek, and geek-related
for example, the most nerdy subjects revolved around the words
'cellist', 'neuroscience', 'goths' and 'gamer.'
on the geekier end of the scale, words included 'culture', 'shiny'
'trendy' and 'webcomic'.
commenting on his findings, settles said: 'in broad strokes, it seems
to me that geeky words are more about stuff, while nerdy words are more
about ideas.
'geeks are fans, and fans collect stuff; nerds are practitioners, and
practitioners play with ideas. of course, geeks can collect ideas and
nerds play with stuff, too.
--
the traditional weapons expert role
are you more of a geek, like dr sheldon cooper from tv's the big bang
theory, or a nerd, as typified by ben wishaw, seen playing q from
skyfall, the latest film of the bond franchise
the research also found that all derivatives of the word 'collect' were
in orange, meaning they fell on the geekier end of the scale. this
included 'boxset'.
geeky people were found to be more interested in brands, such as apple,
and technologies such as linux.
in terms of hobbies, more geeky pastimes related to toys and japanese
culture, while nerdy hobbies were shown as chess and sudoku.
in terms of hobbies, more geeky pastimes related to toys and japanese
comics, such as manga. image from the life and art of osamu tezuka -
god of manga, pictured in terms of hobbies, more geeky pastimes related
to toys and japanese comics, such as manga. image from the life and art
of osamu tezuka - god of manga, pictured
--
hobbies were shown to be chess and sudoku
in terms of hobbies, more geeky pastimes related to toys and manga. an
image from the life and art of osamu tezuka: god of manga book is
pictured left. while nerdy hobbies included chess and sudoku, pictured
right
the definition of geek and nerd
according to the oxford english dictionary, the definition of the word
geek is someone who is 'unfashionable or socially inept'.
it goes on to describe geeks as knowledgeable and obsessive
enthusiasts, or 'computer geeks.'
the word 'geek' comes from german dialect for geck, which means fool or
freak.
--
the similarities and subtle differences between the traits were also
highlighted by the fact words such as 'intelligence' were shown as
geeky, but 'education' and 'intellectual' were found to be nerdy.
similarly, books are nerdy, according to the graph, but 'ebooks' fall
on the geeky end of the scale.
according to the oxford english dictionary, the definition of the word
geek is someone who is 'unfashionable or socially inept'.
it goes on to describe geeks as knowledgeable and obsessive
enthusiasts, or 'computer geeks.'
a nerd is described as 'a foolish or contemptible person who lacks
--
share or comment on this article:
are you a geek or a nerd? scientist creates graph that explains the
difference - and tells you where you are on the scale
star wars fanatics, a double first from cambridge and obsessive cosplayers:
meet the geeks battling it out to be crowned britain's biggest nerd in tv
contest
--
it may once have been an insult, but in today's it-obsessed world,
being a nerd is something of an accolade and the country's greatest
geeks are now battling it out to be crowned the uk's biggest spod on
tv.
--
that she learned to read and write dwarfish runes.
however, her 'geek weakness' is that she doesn't know anything about
japanese anime and she finds working in a team challenging as she
'often says inappropriate things at inappropriate times'.
--
the film and drama graduate used his radio experience to produce
bi-monthly podcasts for an east london radio station, debating sci-fi
films, geeky places to visit and general 'nerd news'.
if he wins the sky 1 show, marj said he would use the prize money to
--
kenny lam
kenny, 23, from bracknell, is a classic cosplay geek; happily immersing
himself in fantasy lands he can spend hours piecing together costumes
to make sure they are absolutely perfect.
--
share or comment on this article:
meet the geeks battling it out to be crowned king of the nerds
*
show ad
beauty and the geek: they're brash, brainy and (handily) have fortunes to
make midas weep. no wonder the new tech nerds are attracting the world's most
desirable women...
--
of social media websites and obscure internet companies are the new
must-have mates.
the pairing of beauty and the geek has never been more in vogue - now
with amber heard and elon musk added to the list
the pairing of beauty and the geek has never been more in vogue - now
with amber heard and elon musk added to the list
the pairing of beauty and the geek has never been more in vogue - now
with amber heard and elon musk added to the list
--
billionaire behind tesla cars, and has just posted a picture on social
media of him covered in her lipstick, to model lily cole and kwane
ferreira, the pairing of beauty and the geek has never been more in
vogue.
--
blonde rival maria sharapova.
the geek: alexis ohanian, 33
shy, bearded and 6ft 5in, ohanian set up social network site reddit,
--
£5.5 million she was awarded in her divorce to charity.
the geek: elon musk, 45
musk is a firm believer in his own genius — and has an £11 billion
--
using recycled plastic, fabric off-cuts and the like.
the geek: william ‘mack’ knight, 35
a princeton graduate from a wealthy new york family, he works with his
--
north circular, and build up a fortune of roughly £8 million
the geek: kwame ferreira, 39
he describes himself as a ‘helicopter pilot, veggie barbecue enthusiast
--
klossy – and a net worth of £12million.
the geek: joshua kushner, 31
harvard graduate kushner, on the other hand, is worth more than £100
'it's not just a bit of gel!' channel ten stylist reveals the simple trick
that turned bachelor star matt agnew from geek to 'tom ford model' ...after
his makeover sparked surgery rumours
--
but a channel ten senior stylist has revealed to news.com.au that it's
just a simple trick that took him from geek to chic.
wardrobe genius renee wanna said she worked hard on working out a new
--
ford model'.
'not just a bit of gel!' on sunday, a channel ten stylist revealed the
trick that turned matt agnew from geek to 'tom ford model' after his
bachelor makeover sparked surgery rumours
'not just a bit of gel!' on sunday, a channel ten stylist revealed the
trick that turned matt agnew from geek to 'tom ford model' after his
bachelor makeover sparked surgery rumours
'not just a bit of gel!' on sunday, a channel ten stylist revealed the
trick that turned matt agnew from geek to 'tom ford model' after his
bachelor makeover sparked surgery rumours
--
the fruit vibes!' fans highlight...
[14967106-0-image-a-160_1560907925220.jpg] what happened to the
'geeky' bachelor? matt agnew looks very...
[10651692-0-image-a-24_1551881685830.jpg] the bachelor 2019
revealed: 'handsome but nerdy'...
what's on
a new shop for 'geeks and nerds' will open in whitefriargate
there are also some exciting plans for the future in the pipeline
--
could not subscribe, try again laterinvalid email
a new shop perfect for "geeks and nerds" will soon open in hull in a
bid to revitalise one of the city’s shopping streets.
drinking in westeros and alexandria: what it's really like to run a
geek-themed pop-up bar
by gillian mcdonald
friday, 5th may 2017, 12:00 pm
updated friday, 6th september 2019, 6:16 pm
events team the pop up geeks create themed bars based on popular tv
shows, films and games (photo: pop up geeks / facebook)
when it comes to pop-up bars, you need to stand out from the crowd to
--
video game fandoms of the moment.
that's exactly what the pop up geeks are doing with their pop-up bars
in edinburgh, drawing inspiration from series like game of thrones and
the walking dead.
--
but choosing your theme is just the beginning.
geek culture and immersive events go hand in hand
"we discovered that there was very little out there which successfully
merged geek and drinking culture without being too heavy on the novelty
value."
linden wilkinson, pop up geeks co-founder
linden wilkinson and his partner rachael carpenter came up with the
idea of an events team specialising in immersive events inspired by
geek culture whilst living in london.
"after visiting a number of events and themed bars, we discovered that
there was very little out there which successfully merged geek and
drinking culture without being too heavy on the novelty value, or
sacrificing the quality of the drinks," wilkinson explains.
they decided to take things into their own hands, and the pop up geeks
began running one-off events in london, norwich and edinburgh.
--
scale pop-up bars the pair now run.
a harry potter themed cocktail potions class was one of the team's
first events (photo: pop up geeks / facebook)
deciding edinburgh was a place where their concept would flourish,
--
big references and small details which fans will love."
attention to detail is important when it comes to creating a themed bar
(photo: pop up geeks / facebook)
it's also important for wilkinson and carpenter to feel invested in the
--
passionate about them."
linden wilkinson, pop up geeks co-founder
"we are huge fans of the shows that inspire our bars and because of
--
after the success of the blood & wine pop-up earlier in the year, the
pop up geeks have followed it up with survive, an immersive pop-up
inspired by the walking dead.
--
has never put a focus on that aspect.
the lucille cocktail will pay homage to the walking dead in several
ways (photo: pop up geeks)
"this has meant that our focus has instead shifted to offering a menu
--
being able to create a high quality themed bar with lots of 'easter
eggs' like this for fans to enjoys is something the pop up geeks pride
themselves on.
things to do hotels restaurants nightlife cascais time out market city
guide more
worldwide europe portugal lisbon the geek guide to lisbon
the geek guide to lisbon
videogames, comix books, action figures or board games. here there are plenty
of options. take a look at our geek guide to lisbon
by time out lisbon editors | posted: monday february 6 2017
--
ciberdúvidas, a portuguese website that informs, debates and promotes
the portuguese language, clarifies: geeks are people who “are in love
by computers and with everything related to the virtual world”. the
word, that initially had a negative connotation (introverted four eyes
--
with videogames, cinema, comic books and other pop culture means of
expression. all of this to say that in lisbon there are plenty of
places to be a happy geek. you don't believe? take a look at our geek
guide to lisbon.
the geek guide to lisbon
museums, science and technology
#are you a nerd or a geek? 6 q’s about the news | art man of alcatraz
weekly news quiz | sept. 16-22, 2014 rss 2.0 alternate
--
the new york times
the learning network | are you a nerd or a geek?
(button) search
--
____________________ (button) search
are you a nerd or a geek?
--
gadget wristwatches are all the rage. “the big bang theory” often tops
tv ratings. gaming is definitely mainstream. has society embraced geek
culture?
are you a nerd or a geek?
__________________________________________________________________
--
and, as you may have heard, apple last week introduced a new version
of an old geek totem — the gadget wristwatch. with millions watching
via computer, tim cook, the apple chief executive, who has an
industrial engineering degree, unveiled three versions of the watch,
--
worn by the calculus crowd.
never before has the boundary between geek culture and mainstream
culture been so porous. beyond mr. munroe’s popularity and the
national obsession with apple products, other examples abound.
--
students: read the entire article, then tell us …
— are you a nerd or a geek?
— has our society fully embraced geek culture? can someone now declare,
without shame or embarrassment, “i am a nerd”? is being a nerd or a
geek something to be proud of?
— is it cool to be a nerd or a geek in your school? or, is being good
at science, or the high scorer on the math team, still not going to win
a teenager any popularity awards?
--
graham september 23, 2014 · 11:10 am
i can be a geek when it comes to computers and technology, but i don’t
think i really fit the nerd/geek stereotype. honestly, i think people
are so judgmental about those people who are judgmental, someone could
say that they are a nerd without being mad fun of. if someone makes fun
--
tate september 23, 2014 · 11:12 am
i dont think im a nerd nor a geek but i think that is perfectly okay in
today’s society to be a “nerd” or a “geek”. although, people will still
not consider them popular or cool even though they will probably grow
up to make the most money.
--
i am a nerd, and i do not think society has completely embraced the
nerd/geek culture. while being a nerd/geek is something to be proud of,
i have learned that if you are a male, you can stand up and say, “i am
a nerd/geek,” and no one will judge you. however, if you are a female
and you stand up to say, “i am a nerd/geek,” you are going to get
bombarded with phrases like, “you’re a fake geek girl!” “lol i bet you
haven’t seen the last season of big bang theory!” “silly girl, get back
into the kitchen and make me a sandwich!” i guess it’s pretty okay in
my school to be a geek/nerd, in some classes more than others.
lauren september 23, 2014 · 11:13 am
i don’t think being a nerd or a geek is something to be ashamed of, but
i feel like some peers might put other students down because of their
natural abilities in academics.
kara september 23, 2014 · 11:13 am
i’m a geek, but honestly i don’t see the difference, other than the
interests. nerds (in my community) are those who are into comics,
superheroes and things like that. geeks are those who are into
computers, are technology savvy and like anime, (for lack of other
word) geeky tv shows, and such.
i don’t think the society has fully embraced it, it’s “okay” for a
teenager-young adult to be geeky or nerdy, but if you’re an adult and
you are still watching or reading those things, you’re seen as weird
and you’re kind of pushed out of the social circle in the adult world.
it’s perfectly alright to be a nerd or a geek in our school, how i see
it, the kids here don’t really mind what you like or don’t like, they
just let you kinda do your own thing.
cade september 23, 2014 · 11:14 am
i think i would be a geek because i like to watch space movies and
medieval fiction movies. i think that we have embraced being nerds or
geeks just because of doing what you like. i don’t think you can say
“i’m a nerd” without being a little embarrassed still. i don’t think it
is something to be proud of. it’s not really cool to be a nerd or geek
in my school, it isn’t the “cool” thing. joining the math club doesn’t
help you at all.
--
people that study all the time, where glasses, plaid shirts, braces,
etc. it’s just the symbol of a nerd in today’s society.
being a nerd/geek is still something to be proud of yourself for
because then you have confidence in yourself and being a nerd/geek
means your intelligent.
3. my school specifically i do not thing being a nerd/geek will make
you popular, because most of the more popular kids in the school are
either people with high humor or are in sports.
nathaniel september 23, 2014 · 11:15 am
i don’t think that it is necessarily cool to be a geek or a nerd, but i
think it is cool to try as hard as you can in everything you do. on the
other hand i think that it is not cool to try not to do as good as you
--
preston september 23, 2014 · 11:16 am
i am more of a geek than a nerd, but i am a little bit of both. i don’t
think that our society has fully embraced geek culture. there are
people that are nerds and our proud of it. there is nothing wrong with
being a nerd or a geek. it is cool to be anything at our school. you
should not worry about what others think and should just be what you
want to be.
--
i think i’m a nerd because i enjoy new gadgets and new things. i think
society still hasn’t really truly accepted being a geek or a nerd but i
also think in a way it is being accepted more widely. being a nerd or a
geek is accepted in our school because some of the things nerds and
geeks do are like their “sport” and we have a great school and everyone
pretty much appreciates what one another does.
parker september 23, 2014 · 11:17 am
--
academically and that is what i picture when someone says nerd but
there is so much more to it than just academics. i believe most of
society has embraced geek culture because the so called geeks are
usually the more open minded people and they have the best chance to
come up with the great future ideas. in the movie and tv part though, i
think in shows such as “the big bang theory,” lets people laugh at the
geeks or nerds portrayed in the show, while in the comic book movies
they are liked because they are action packed. in school, i don’t think
that being a nerd or geek will win any popularity points because some
students take that if someone is smarter than them or if they don’t
like the same stuff as them, then they will not like that person.
jake september 23, 2014 · 11:17 am
i feel like that i am more of a geek. i am much more fascinated by
technology rather than books. i love books but i think it is really
cool when people can build things like robots that can do things on
their own. i think that our society has embraced geek culture as a
large majority of our population is fascinated and rapped up in
technology much like geeks. i think being a nerd or geek is something
you can be proud of because it shows what you like. i wouldn’t say that
being smart wins you popularity awards but it can in some cases. being
--
jianan september 23, 2014 · 11:18 am
i can proudly say that i am a geek. i think our society has embraced
the look of nerds or geeks. most people in my opinion when saying their
a geek or a nerd aren’t fully a nerd or geek. if your’e a geek, don’t
be afraid to say it. you should embrace who you are. to be a nerd in
school can or can not be cool. if you don’t have the look or
--
jack september 23, 2014 · 11:19 am
i guess i’m more of a geek. i’m still not sure exactly what the
difference is between a nerd and a geek. i usually just think of them
as the same thing. i know a bunch about comic books, game of thrones,
and video games. i play dnd (dungeon and dragons) sometimes with
friends. that’s pretty geeky. it’s really fun, so i don’t mind. i watch
shows like dragonball z and game of thrones. i’m in love with lord of
the rings. i think it can be cool to be one in our schools if you do it
right. there are definitely fake nerd/geeks. who want to be like one
because it’s cool right now.
lyndan september 23, 2014 · 11:19 am
i am a geek. i think our society has embraced geek culture but it’s
still not something that you can proclaim without being made fun of or
looked down upon. in my school, if you’re a nerd or geek you fit in
with that crowd but you are not popular with the entire school. you may
get made fun of or laughed at because of it, but i think that if you
--
michael s. september 23, 2014 · 11:20 am
i would say that im a geek and a nerd. i love syfy shows like doctor
who and i love giving facts to people.
james c september 23, 2014 · 11:20 am
i am definitley a geek (hipster), and with the society that we are in
today it has become more popular among people to say yes i am a geek or
yes i am a nerd but society has not yet fully accepted that some people
are geeks or nerds. in my opinion it is something to be proud of, it is
saying that you are diferent from most people and will not go with the
crowd a good way to summerze this is the term ‘hipster’ or is different
and not afraid to share that fact. in my school it is not neccisarily
cool to be a geek or nerd or hipster, you are usually looked down upon
or considered an outstider or uncool. sometimes it is better be smarter
and different.
allie september 23, 2014 · 11:24 am
i am a geek and that i am certain of. i feel like now with social media
and new t.v. shows everyone is a geek so yes i think society has
accepted the geek culture. being a nerd or a geek is definitely is
something to be proud of. you are showing your love for something and
that is not something to be ashamed of. being a nerd or a geek is not
all the way accepted but it’s making its way into the society at my
high school.
whitney september 23, 2014 · 11:25 am
i feel like i am more of a geek in a way that i have very deep
interests in certain things like netflix or volleyball. i am not
academically geeky i would say i do enjoy reading and certain “geeky”
tv shows.
alex september 23, 2014 · 11:25 am
i think i am a geek because i like the shows that are kind of geeky. it
shouldn’t matter if your a geek or a nerd if your smart that’s okay
because you try your hardest and you don’t just want to fail at
everything. so trying you don’t have to be a geek or a nerd. you cant
be one you just are one.
tori 42 september 23, 2014 · 12:57 pm
i believe i am more of a geek, because, although i may not be
interested in technology, and i am most definitly not tech savy. also,
i definitly am not very much interested in science. with that being
said, i also am a nerd, because i may not be full fledged academically
excellent i do believe i excell. in my opinion, one is neither just a
nerd or a geek, but a mix of both.
deirdre r. 42 september 23, 2014 · 1:01 pm
i believe that our society has fully embraced geek culture, but not
necessarily the word “geek” or “nerd.” many teens probably would
probably not refer to themselves as geeks or nerds, and most likely
would not declare it out loud, but of course there are a few
exceptional people. being a nerd or geek is prideful for some, and for
others it could be considered torture. it is honestly up to whoever you
are talking to. i consider myself to be somewhat nerdy and geeky, and i
am more neutral to it. i am not really proud of it, but it isn’t
something that is a flaw of mine either. in our culture now though, i
believe a lot of people are a little geeky or nerdy.
zoe42 september 23, 2014 · 1:02 pm
regarding the article i spent quite a lot of time deciding between if i
was a geek or a nerd! though, the two are very similar, in the end it
came down to one thing, fandoms! which falls into the category for me,
a geek.
i found student questions two and three very odd. because if i love
doctor who, sherlock, supernatural, anime etc. who cares what anybody
else thinks! i would like it if nobody watched it. but luckily this day
in age, there are tons of geeks and fangirls like me! and i’ve met some
of my best friends because of it.
even in school, being a geek is cool! i’ll often find when i wear a
fandom shirt, from either an anime or one of my favorite series. i will
get lots of compliments! in my school we literally have clubs for
fangirls like me. so if i had to some this response all up. geeks are
accepted, and even if they weren’t. i would be one anyways.
amber september 23, 2014 · 1:03 pm
i’d have to say i’m both a nerd and a geek. in today’s society, i
believe that being a nerd/geek is becoming more and more popular. with
it becoming more and more popular, you get people who pretend to be a
nerd/geek just to fit in. for us true nerds/geeks this is highly
frustrating. we can now declare that we are smart or in to comic books
and not feel like we’re going to be ridiculed. however that is not
--
grace 4m ta september 23, 2014 · 1:06 pm
some of the geeks/nerds have more popularity from people lately because
people choose to make that their personality. they are fake nerds. they
strut around telling everyone “i’m a geek,” or “i’m a nerd.” when it’s
not really who they are. a so-called “geek/nerd” can walk around and
dress like a geek, and say they are a nerd when in reality, they never
really are either. they might not even like dungeons and dragons, but
everyone thinks they do. in my point of view, the “geeks” are trying to
get attention. to them it is a social status, and none of the star wars
movies or the marvel nightcrawler comic books even matter to them. a
true nerd/geek is someone who can act like a nerd, and like nerd/geek
things without it being so much of a social status and more of a way of
living.
northern ireland
computer 'geek' stereotype puts girls off subject
by robbie meredith bbc news ni education correspondent
--
computing is seen as "a male-oriented domain consisting of anti-social
'nerds, geeks or hackers'," it said.
the study looked at why comparatively few girls choose to study
--
"this could explain female students' refusal to take up supposedly
'male' subjects such as computing, as this would prevent others
attributing them as 'geeks'," added the report.
"it is the stereotyping of computer users as male, socially awkward and
technology
is this good? the eclectic, electric geek artist collective
by dougal shaw technology reporter
--
first impressions suggest that chris cairns's world is one colonised by
feral geeks.
components and kit are strewn across the space: arduino boards,
mathematics
geek + nerd = ?
mathematics is a despised subject - and yet modern life depends on it
--
recent research shows that many young people are rejecting mathematics
because of widespread ignorance of the true nature of the subject and
its practitioners. they blame popular culture for presenting a geeky
and stereotyped image of mathematics.
--
the real problem, i suspect, is not confined to mathematics. the words
"geek" and "nerd" were both coined in the usa, where they reflect a
general tendency to despise all types of intellectual activity. any
interest other than television or sport is viewed as weird, be it
--
much easier to accept these things as some kind of "magic" than to
appreciate the intellectual effort that goes into them, simpler to call
something "geeky" than to admit that you don't understand it.
can we combat this lack of awareness? yes, but only to a limited
simon pegg
in defence of geek culture
simon pegg suggested that fandom was infantilising society – but people
--
* share via email
pondering retirement from geekdom ... simon pegg at the launch of his
film, man up.
[ ] pondering retirement from geekdom … simon pegg at the launch of his
film, man up. photograph: hannah mckay/epa
few things hurt more than being called childish, which is why last week
was an upsetting one for fans of simon pegg. the actor and film-maker’s
claims that geek culture has dumbed down society left many people
feeling hurt and betrayed. i mean, isn’t escapism the whole point of
cinema – especially the kind he often makes?
--
“sometimes [i] feel like i miss grownup things,” he continued. “and i
honestly thought the other day that i’m gonna retire from geekdom.”
he didn’t (and so far hasn’t). and in response to the outcry, pegg took
--
the praises of tomorrowland – a movie that shares the name of a disney
theme park (and is also influenced by disney’s vision of utopia). pegg
isn’t wrong about our zest for “geek culture” or for the franchises of
our youths or even our misplaced priorities in terms of pop culture
over social awareness. (that’s something we all need to work on.) what
pegg is wrong about is the importance of fandoms – for everyone.
geek culture has spread and engulfed us all. in a subculture once
(seemingly) reserved for sci-fi, it now encompasses shows as diverse as
the walking dead, game of thrones and the simpsons. once a specialist
--
twist in dallas.
because that’s the thing: geek culture itself isn’t new. it has always
existed in various forms before we saw fit to name and define it. for
some of us, escapism through pop culture provides an outlet that we
--
now the folks at mccann-erickson.)
but regardless, there’s nothing wrong with an inclusive geek culture –
or even an extended adolescence. without it, we wouldn’t have anybody
to write movies and tv in the first place.
comic-con
has geek culture finally embraced gender parity?
female fans attended the san diego comic-con in equal numbers to their
--
in spandex. when the pop-culture circus comes to town, the thinking
goes, the immature, soft-tissue male emerges from his parents’ basement
and treks to the showroom floor, geeking out to collectibles and comic
art almost exclusively with members of his same chromosomal tribe.
now, in 2015, we may not have sufficient data on how many nerds reside
on subterranean floors at parental expense, but we do know this: as the
geeks have inherited the earth in more recent years, the gender balance
of fandom has shifted markedly. and this year, at the 46th comic-con
international in san diego, parity was upon us.
--
than 2,100 respondents in 48 us states and territories were surveyed.
rob salkowitz, who developed and analysed the data, says that fans have
driven the push for geek-culture parity.
“last year, the numbers showed we were trending in that direction. this
--
and salkowitz notes how gender parity is not some absolute across all
types of geek fandom.
“we polled across multiple fandoms, ranging from comics to gaming to
--
their fandom by certain measures.”
so how did geek culture arrive at gender parity with such seeming
rapidity? macdonald, a longtime writer for publishers weekly, points to
the rise of online life.
--
my grandmother and mother read comics to me,” she says of her new
jersey upbringing. “it was the resistance to this idea that flourished
in the 80s and 90s, with men thinking that ‘geek stuff’ like star trek
and comics were ‘their safe space.’ i think it was this impulse that
birthed so many gatekeepers to keep girls away from comics.”
science fiction books
geek critique: neil gaiman and kameron hurley pick apart pop culture
two new nonfiction collections – gaiman’s the view from the cheap seats
and hurley’s the geek feminist revoluton – present contrasting
perspectives on geek culture today. so what’s the state of it?
damien walter
--
guardian
geeks were once like victorian children: seen, but not heard; talked
about but mocked, rarely given their own voice. but the newfound
popularity of the culture – video games, comics, the mainstream cool of
crossover hits such as game of thrones or star wars – makes geeks some
of the loudest voices today. this week, two new nonfiction collections
– neil gaiman’s the view from the cheap seats and kameron hurley’s the
geek feminist revolution – showcase the spectrum of diversity that
exists in the culture today.
gaiman has had a view from the front row seats of sci-fi and geek
culture over the last three decades, but the title of his latest
collection nods to the sense of being on its fringe, a second-class
citizen within the mainstream. but no one epitomises geek culture like
gaiman: his 2.4 million twitter followers represents a cross-section of
the sci-fi readers, comic nerds, cybergoths and other alternative
cultures that have been rolled into the geek identity.
essay after essay in the view from the cheap seats are on gaiman’s view
on contemporary storytelling, but told from its epicentre, the belly of
the beast. it is a love letter to geek culture, packed full of gaiman’s
musings and reflections on his time creating in the field, as well as
insights into some of its greatest figures – terry pratchett, diana
--
while simultaneously revering as a fan. he writes fondly of the bliss
of immersion in fictional worlds, novels, comics, movies and games, the
gravitational force around which planet geek has formed. he even
recalls his 12-year-old self reading lord of the rings for the first
time and believing it “the best book that ever could be written”. it is
this side of geekery, the “traditional” writing that evolved from the
likes of tolkien that gaiman pays tribute to here.
in comparison, hurley’s first nonfiction collection, the geek feminist
revolution, is a loving call to arms for geek culture’s deconstruction
and rebuilding in a new image. while little known beyond the internet,
hurley has a strong audience, built from a breakthrough moment when her
--
online feminism, where women have to shout to be heard against a
cacophony of digital misogyny. but hurley’s is also the voice of the
outsider, one that looks in at geek culture and announces its
shortcomings, its failings. if hurley’s geek feminist revolution has an
aim, it is to stop us revering stories and to start us questioning them
– which, crucially, frees us to make our own.
--
so we have a voice from the establishment (gaiman) and one from the new
guard (hurley). is geek culture in a state of confusion, simultaneously
reverent of what came before and intensely critical of it? i think the
publication of these two books says something very healthy about geek
culture today – signifying both the love of storytelling and fantasy,
and a keen awareness of the real power those stories have beyond sheer
entertainment. yes, the conflict between old and new voices can be
bitter at times – see the recent hugo awards drama – but this week’s
reading makes me feel geek culture is in good health.
* neil gaiman’s the view from the cheap seats (headline) and kameron
hurley’s the geek feminist revolution (tor) are both published on
31 may.
deadpool
deadpool's success accelerates the inevitable: total geek domination
ryan reynolds’s sexually-fluid superhero is set to clean up at the
--
guaranteed. but deadpool doesn’t just offer up a hero it thinks the
fanbase will love, it offers up an entire world. it is one of the best
articulations of “geek culture” to reach the big screen. and if it can
pull off big numbers at the cinema with an exclusively adult audience,
it will presage not only more movies like it but bring geeks one step
closer to what they truly want; control of the entire world.
--
read more
here are a few of the ways in which deadpool mirrors geek taste. its
hero is a young white male who’s also the ultimate outsider. it’s built
on layer upon layer of cultural reference, where the fun comes not from
--
basically deadpool is reddit: the movie. it’s highly enjoyable, and
very well made, but it’s also a marker, a moment where a massive
multi-million dollar bet has been made on geek culture being not only a
mainstream proposition but an adult one too. i’m not saying it’s bad
for that. even if i did despair for our common humanity, it’s delivered
--
willingness to feel the burn will get you. if the box office
predictions prove correct and deadpool is just a sign of things to
come, i for one welcome our geek overlords.
topics
not-actually-real-problem of “nerd appropriation”.
“why are these cultural hipsters trying to appropriate nerd/geek
cultures?” cried a reddit user.
--
torture and in breach of international law.
a geek girl’s guide to christmas
read more
--
actor mayim bialik released a video blog called “hurts to be
different”, in which she complains about how hard it is to be a nerd.
she argues that while “geek” and “nerd” may be fashionable labels now,
it doesn’t make it any less hard to live the life of a quirky smart
person interested in quirky smart person things, in a world of “cool
--
the conversation surrounding this term started gaining in popularity
around 2013 with the release of a video questioning the ethics of the
representation of geeky and nerdy stereotypes in reality shows and
films. by presenting “nerd” as an identity, bialik and others are
trying to attach themselves and the community to identity politics
--
it’s quite the misdirection. not only is a little nerdery mainstream
now, it’s damn profitable and sends her – and anyone else starring in
the latest works about nerds, geeks, outcasts or superheroes – a lot of
big fat cheques. “nerd” has reached a capitalist crescendo.
--
phones for such information.
deadpool's success accelerates the inevitable: total geek domination
read more
science and scepticism
the brutal oppression of the nerds and the geeks
the use of the term ‘nerd’ doesn’t quite match the terrible history of
--
hats off to him.
he also said that using the terms “nerd” or “geek” to describe people
is the same as using the worst of racial slurs. his actual quote is “i
feel these words are as insulting as nigger.” this, many would probably
--
whether or not the term “boffin” is disparaging has been discussed here
before, but to compare geek and nerd to the n-word? granted, geek and
nerd have been used in the past as disparaging, insulting terms, nobody
is questioning that. they may have taken on more positive meanings in
modern times, you even see people (ie women) being mocked and
criticised for not being “real” geeks.
but if geek and nerd have been “reclaimed” as many would argue, it
illustrates that they needed to be reclaimed in the first place. nobody
deserves to be mocked, bullied or shunned purely because they have an
--
that this happened so often (and still regularly does) is a bad thing.
but to compare “nerd” and “geek” to the most offensive of racial
epithets is surely ridiculous? you may think so, but what you’re
overlooking is the fact that this isn’t just some random opinion; it’s
a wealthy middle-aged white man’s opinion! ergo, it must be considered
in all seriousness. and, if you look into the tragic and brutal history
experienced by geeks and nerds over the centuries, you will see that it
is a very fair comparison.
there are many different explanations for the differences between nerds
and geeks, but the truth is the terms are interchangeable. the terms
come from the fact that nerds and geeks originate from what was known
as the country of nerdrovia, located in the geekistan sea, hence the
two names were used by the different colonial powers in play at the
time the geek and nerd people were “discovered”, and have since become
common.
nerdrovia is a large island but the treacherous geekistan sea prevents
easy crossing, so the indigenous population was essentially stuck to
their island, meaning accelerated morphological evolution. nerdrovia
has many strange properties, which resulted in many bizarre features
that shaped the development of the nerd and geek people. the volatile
geology and unusual weathering led to spontaneous formation of natural
laboratories and studios, where the people could study and create
--
gunpoint to design better and more efficient guns, as these first ones
weren’t too reliable, and then they took those better guns and started
rounding up nerds and geeks for export to the home nations.
nerdrovia quickly became a battleground as the rival empires sought to
exploit its useful population and natural resources. nerds and geeks
were scattered across mainland europe, where they were ruthlessly put
to work, inventing things and working out complicated problems for the
various governments and ruling parties. given their tendencies and
abilities, nerds and geeks weren’t recognised as actual people and were
usually classed as “a type of abacus”, having no legal rights
whatsoever.
as such, it was not uncommon for wealthier individuals or families to
have several geeks and nerds living in their mansions, working in
cramped custom-made labs and workshops to invent amusing things for
their “hosts”. despite their abilities, nerds and geeks could regularly
expect to have their pants pulled up over their heads, or be made to
sit on their own in the lunch room.
this continued for some considerable time, until societal changes led
to geeks and nerds being recognised as individuals, with rights and
some measure of dignity. despite this, considerable prejudice remained.
geeks and nerds were barred from holding high-level jobs or from
marrying outside their communities. they were regularly ghettoised,
forced to live in unhygienic but surprisingly efficient slums. given
their marginalised position in society, geeks and nerds regularly fell
inwards and turned on each other, leading to lasting and bloody
disputes over minor details in celebrated works of science fiction.
maybe these days the terms nerd and geek have been reclaimed and can be
used affectionately, but they still stem from the terrible legacy of
what the geeks and the nerds went through to get to this point.
when you consider all this, then harding is right to compare geek and
nerd to the most offensive of racial terms. because if everything
written above is total and utter gibberish, then harding has
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geeks versus nerds - what's the difference?
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both nerds and geeks might wear glasses, but a nerd rocks prescription
lenses because who has time to mess with contacts?
both nerds and geeks might wear glasses, but a nerd rocks prescription
lenses because who has time to mess with contacts?. elisabeth lhomelet
/ getty images
--
updated january 27, 2019
you may consider the terms "geek" and "nerd" to be synonymous. while
geeks and nerds share certain common traits (and it's possible to be
both at once), there are distinct differences between the two groups.
geek definition
the word "geek" comes from the english and german words geek and geck,
which mean "fool" or "freak". the german word geck survives to the
present day and means "fool". in the 18th century europe, gecken were
circus freaks. in the 19th century, american geeks were still circus
freaks, but they upped their game to include feats of freakishness,
like biting the heads off of live rats or chickens. modern geeks aren't
known for acts of barbarism but retain a flair for eccentricity. they
also tend not to be fools, unless you consider their penchant for
bleeding edge tech to be foolish.
modern geek definition: a person with an intense interest in one or
more subjects. a geek will have encyclopedic knowledge about these
topics and may be an avid collector of tech or memorabilia related to
the areas of concern.
--
modern nerd definition: an intellectual who is focused on learning all
there is to know about one or more topics and mastering the skills of
the discipline. some would say a nerd is a geek who either lacks social
skills or else simply prefers solitary pursuits. urban dictionary
definition: "a four-letter word with a six-figure income."
how to tell a geek and a nerd apart
you can distinguish between a geek and a nerd based in part on
appearance, but mainly by actions. any person you meet in a social
situation is more likely a geek since nerds tend to be introverted or
reclusive.
trait geek nerd
appearance hipsters style themselves after geeks. geeks often wear
t-shirts displaying their object of interest. nerds are unconcerned
with how others perceive them and may appear carelessly dressed.
social geeks, whether introverted or extroverted, can talk ad nauseum
about their interests. often comes across as pretentious, but truly
knows his stuff. nerds tend to be introverted. they may not lack social
skills, but prefer to spend time engaged in an activity or study rather
than talking about it. typically knows more than heʼs saying.
tech a geek will own incredibly awesome tech, typically before it
becomes mainstream. nerds have the best tools of their trade, which
could be a computer, paintbrushes, aquarium supplies, etc.
--
continue reading
* make a wish!
need a geeky gift idea? we have you covered
* performer standing with arms outstretched on stage in theater
what are the lines of the comedic female monologue in 'cinema
this article is more than 5 years old
comic-con lands in moscow as sign of geek culture’s global domination
this article is more than 5 years old
--
once almost exclusively the domain of japan and the us, self-proclaimed
“geek culture” has gone global. the moscow iteration of comic-con is
the latest of a series of new destinations on the map. after the delhi
comic con launched in 2011 and the middle east comic-con appeared in
--
for the thousands who have waited in line, the convention’s appearance
in moscow was an inevitable next step. “i’ve wanted to come for years,”
says 31-year-old elena formina. “there have always been geeks and fans
here, it’s just now they call it comic-con. american, russian – all
fans are the same. they love their heroes. it’s about sharing that
select page
comic cons, geek culture and the mission of christ
apr 1, 2019
--
people attended one of the three penny arcade expos located in seattle,
boston, and san antonio. these are just a small sampling. there are
literally hundreds of “nerd” or “geek” conventions, and these terms are
no longer pejorative.
--
over.^3 sci-fi, superhero, and fantasy are among the most widely loved
and successful film genres. and yet, the church’s default reaction to
geek culture in recent history has ranged somewhere between guarded
skepticism and ignorance.
--
spiritual health.^5 it has been documented, however, that playing video
games in moderation relieves stress, improves brain function, and
boosts creativity.^6 while video games and geek culture certainly
contain their share of graphic violence, sexual objectification, and
addictive qualities, much good can be found in these mediums as well.^7
--
reflect simultaneously god’s goodness, truth, and beauty as well as
humanity’s sinful excesses.^8 our affection for goodness, truth, and
beauty should compel us to investigate geek culture with careful
discernment. however, the ultimate reason we should care about comic
cons is much simpler. i am convinced that, given the opportunity, jesus
--
a massive neglected mission field. most christians probably don’t think
of the people at comic cons as their enemies, but when we default to
ignoring or looking derisively on geeks and geek culture, something is
amiss. chris gwaltney, director of gamechurch, a nonprofit ministry
dedicated to bridging the gap between the gospel and the gamer,
--
year, gamechurch raises up missionaries to attend thirteen to fourteen
conventions across the country. each year, the missionaries pass out
more than 30,000 gamer bibles and point thousands of geeks to the hope
that is found in christ.
--
as missionaries, where they pointed countless people to christ.
gamechurch is not the only christian organization that attends geek
culture events. it’s not uncommon to find professing christians outside
conventions condemning people for their hobbies. recently at dragon con
--
collectors” (luke 7:34), but we will be accused of associating too
closely with people who don’t align with the cloistered values of many
christians. we are a nation of geeks and gamers. it’s time to count the
cost and prayerfully consider what we, as christians, are going to do
about that.
* press kit
the world's 20 biggest geek conventions
* by alex matsuo
--
* in the biggest
conventions in the world of geek typically consist of three days of non
stop madness, as hundreds of thousands of people gather to celebrate
their passions. there's cosplaying, panels, workshops, booths, and even
the chance to take a picture with your favorite writer, actor, hero,
designer... the possibilities are truly endless. ever since geek
went chic, these cons have been bursting at the seams and attendance is
steadily growing year on year.
there are conventions year-round, all over the world. from anime fans
to doctor who lovers, there's a place for all geeks to come together
and celebrate their favorite movies, video games, television, anime,
manga and more with their community.
the following twenty are some of the most popular geek conventions
around the world. whether you're new to the convention scene or a con
veteran, there's a convention here for everyone to attend and enjoy.
--
the emerald city comicon is an annual convention held in seattle,
washington with a focus on comic book culture. it's the largest geek
convention in the state of washington and is held over the course of
three days.
--
place in the hearts of many, as it's one of the most popular and
long-standing and iconic cons in the world. starting in 1970, sdcc has
grown to become one of the largest geek conventions in the united
states and internationally.
it has become the major go-to convention for the biggest marvel and dc
stars, and is the official start to the summer for many geeky
superfans. with major celebrities in attendance and cosplayers who look
like the real deal, sdcc continues to grow and enrich the geek
community in innumerable ways.
--
via hipj.net
if there's anyone who knows how to host a geek convention, it's the
city of paris, france. japan expo started in 1999 and has grown to host
over 240,000 attendees each year.
--
* extreme
* the biggest
* the world's 20 biggest geek conventions
leave a comment
#memeburn » feed memeburn » comments feed memeburn » billionaires,
icons and movie stars — why geek is now chic comments feed alternate
alternate
--
general tech • 20 may 2015
billionaires, icons and movie stars — why geek is now chic
by gary newe
--
facebook http://www.facebook.com/hyperxpphotography
we’ve seen the unstoppable rise of the geek over the past few years.
from popular culture to big business, the geeks have inherited the
earth. they’re the billionaires, the modern day rock stars, and their
many achievements have resulted in a significant change to their status
in popular society. they are now often championed, given the limelight
or even imitated – geek is now chic! so let’s take some time out to
look at how the geek — and our perception of the geek — has evolved.
the geek revolution
before the dawn of the information age, being an it expert was
associated with social ineptitude, a stereotype amplified by films such
as ‘revenge of the nerds’. although this negative stigma has not quite
been completely reversed, the rise of the geek has been prolific,
driven by the mainstream rise of tech and the acute relevance of
previously niche skills.
--
technologies, making it experts and their knowledge indispensable.
employment of ‘genius’ assistants in apple stores show the change in
status and dependence of society on the geek, as customers compete for
the attention of who can fix their gadgets. the behaviour of geek idols
such as mark zuckerberg and bill gates also helped make geeks cool, by
having the audacity to drop out of (a harvard) education to follow
their dreams.
the omnipresent geek
popular culture too is now exploring the techie as an unorthodox hero.
this is perhaps most evident on the screen, demonstrated recently
through television shows such as ‘the big bang theory’ and ‘the it
crowd’, which explicitly focus their stories around stereotypical
geeks. ‘the social network’ saw an entire film made about the rise of
the it genius. characters are by no means portrayed with model good
looks and bulging muscles, but the idea that the geek can ‘win’ is
becoming more prevalent.
--
as an optional accessory rather than an optical necessity, and have
been embraced by stars and schoolchildren alike. t-shirts emblazoned
with the words ‘nerd’ or ‘geek’ are hugely successful; it seems the
implication of intellect, whether genuine or ironic, is now considered
fashionable.
geek power
if society has progressed through the iron age and the industrial age,
we are undoubtedly in the tech age. it geeks have done amazing things
with their inventions and innovations: sir tim berners-lee
revolutionised global society by giving life to the world wide web; the
--
through social media – just try to escape social networks today!
despite geeks hitting the headlines for all the right reasons, there
remains a significant gap between the level of demand for staff with
specialist knowledge and the number of prospective employees who
--
the success of tech companies and individuals has seen expert knowledge
come to be associated with entrepreneurial flair, with the stories of
innovators like zuckerberg carrying the geek into the unchartered
realms of, dare we say it, coolness.
[logo-compact.svg]
the mothership: comic-con and the health of geek culture
brett molina usa today
--
[636676144454784181-gty-1001905778-101591303.jpg?width=1080&quality=50]
it's that time of year for cosplay, movies, comics and all things
geekdom. here at san diego comic-con 2018 (july 19 to 22), they have it
all. the new cast of "doctor who" (from left) matt strevens, chris
chibnall, jodie whittaker, tosin cole and mandip gill pose at comic-con
--
dia dipasupil/getty images
the greatest nerdy event of the year is here, just as geek culture
appears embroiled in crisis.
san diego comic-con is underway, as attendees get to gush over the new
movies, tv shows, comics, and other geeky goodness arriving this year
and beyond.
but the event kicks off at a time where many of us worry whether geek
culture has grown too toxic.
on this week's episode of the mothership, the geek culture podcast from
the usa today network, we're joined by jill pantozzi, the soon-to-be
deputy editor for geek blog io9. we chat about the health of current
geek culture, what needs to change, and whether it's even worth saving.
have thoughts about the podcast? reach out to us on twitter
--
pop culture. hosted by tech reporter brett molina, film critic brian
truitt and entertainment writer kelly lawler, each week our roundtable
of experts dissects the latest in geek culture, from superhero movies
to sci-fi tv shows to the latest and greatest video games. we're saving
the world from bad comic-book adaptations every friday on apple
why bad looks good
comic-con: where it is cool to be a geek
celebrating geek culture in community.
posted jul 31, 2019
--
this event every year? research has some answers.
cons celebrate geek culture
dale peeples et al. in "geeks, fandoms, and social engagement," (2018)
explain how events like comic-con bring together like-minded
enthusiasts.[i] although they focused on the virtual community and
“geek culture,” defined as including cosplay, as well as comics,
fanfiction, and gaming, they make some valuable observations relevant
to offline gatherings such as cons, many of which grow larger every
year.
the authors recognize the increasing popularity of geek culture,
noting, “with the rise in popularity of the superhero movie genre and
video gaming in the early 2000s geek culture has greater social
relevance and recognition, drawing more into the fold.”
what is a “geek?” they list one defining trait as “obsessive interest
and knowledge in a given field,” which arguably applies to many of
us. accordingly, peeples et al. observe that as the term loses its
--
they note that the internet has made it easier to share what they term
“traditional” geek interests that were comparatively obscure.
indeed, the research by peeples et al. focused on what they term
“obscure media,” which includes comic books, gaming, and genre
literature, as well as on more traditional geek pursuits within the
domains of technology and science. they note that among those defined
as geeks, strong friendships are cultivated with others who share
interests, although this does not create a more expansive social
network in a traditional sense.
--
peeples et al. discuss the allure of “cons,” which they describe as
multigenre conventions often geared to geek pursuits, featuring a
variety of activities. as illustrated by the popularity of san diego
comic-con, cons involve both media participation and engagement.
--
using popular examples such as star trek and star wars, they explain
that merely watching a science-fiction movie does not make someone a
geek. rather, it is the passion that motivates subsequent discussion of
the movie with friends and creating something personal around the
film.
--
the festivities are there to engage. consequently, comic-con has become
among the most influential events within pop culture.[ii] to the extent
they are well represented at every con, geek culture appears to be
pretty cool after all.
references
[i]peeples, dale, jennifer yen and paul weigle," geeks, fandoms, and
social engagement." child and adolescent psychiatric clinics of north
america 27, no. 2 (2018): 247-267.
--
* 7comments
it's a shame geekiness became
submitted by anonymous on july 31, 2019 - 4:42pm
it's a shame geekiness became cool, because now the cool kids don't
want geeky people in geek culture.
* reply to anonymous
* quote anonymous
--
submitted by anonymous on august 1, 2019 - 11:47am
i'm someone who's been called a geek all your life, left or even chased
out of things. the cool kids in geek culture are abundantly showing
that they'd like to do the same in geek things, both in person and
online.
--
i'm not sure if anyone would want to come out of the closet and attend,
but the current climate has made me wish for specfically incel-friendly
geek events on a few occasions.
perhaps we could even have an incel-friendly comic con.
--
submitted by anonymous on august 13, 2019 - 1:16am
wendy, sdcc thinking flash mobs hounding one lone geek was okay is
something that just isn't acceptable.
--
comic-con: a healthy dose of non-reality
psychology of cult tv: better living by "geeking out"
end bullying! responding to cruelty in our culture
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freaks & geeks: a cultural history of the term “geek”
emma louise backeonoctober 17, 2014/7 comments
--
by emma louise backe
as a blog interested in the anthropological study of geek culture, we
are also concerned with what it means to be a geek. as a part of our
new series unpacking what it means culturally and personally to be a
geek, this post will give some etymological and historical background
to the term, written in a spirit of linguistic geekery.
to start off with, where does the word “geek” come from? looking at
etymology online (a great destination for all your word origin
questions), geck means “’fool, dupe, simpleton’ (1510’s), apparently
--
mock, cheat’” (etymology online 2014). but it wasn’t until sometime in
the early 19^th century that, “the scottish word geck, meaning ‘fool,’
changed to geek and began being used to describe a certain kind of
carnival performer. geeks specialized in eating live animals, including
biting the heads off live chickens” (mental floss 2008). according to
the online etymology dictionary, “the modern form and the popular use
--
society or culture as “normal.” although the term designated a sense of
social stigma and shame, circus and sideshow performers adopted the
term “geek” as a collective and positive form of identity. while the
general public could come to gawk at the freaks, performers referred to
themselves as geeks, established in opposition to the norms and rubes
in the audience. in katherine dunn’s cult classic geek love (1989), the
binewski family of self-made freaks represent the sense of union and
kinship amongst those who self-identified and celebrated their geek
status.
source: http://blog.ongig.com/uncategorized/the-evolution-of-geek
source: http://blog.ongig.com/uncategorized/the-evolution-of-geek
to be a geek, therefore, was to be set aside from “normal society.”
freaks or geeks were a community separated by physical difference, as
well as social taboos and codes of morality at the time. as robert
bogdan explains, “’freak’ is not a quality that belongs to the person
on display. it is something we created: a perspective, a set of
practices—a social construction” (1990:xi). to a large extent,
freakishness or geekishness were performed identities that capitalized
on the spectacle of deformity or difference. bogdan elaborates, “how we
view people who are different has less to do with what they are
--
conventions that often enter into subversive dialectics with that
stigma” (2008:25). as a cultural rather than an overtly physical
condition, freakery/geekery meant, to a certain extent, “to be accepted
into a community unified on the basis of shared marginality” (adams
2001:42). the identity of the geek, therefore, has historical
precedents in stigma, exclusion and nonconformity.
congress of freaks – baileys circus (1924) source:
--
ry-23236/
the meaning underlying the word geek, however, has changed since the
mid-1900’s. Éva zékány argues, “it can be assumed that the term
extended its meaning to computer users after 1960, when the fist
--
introduction of new technology spurred the creation of a digitally
oriented community devoted to understanding, mastering and developing
this technology. in 1994, for example, the “geek squad” was founded to
provide 24-hour tech support. but the term did not merely denote
tech-savviness, but also suggested that technological interest and
knowledge came at the cost of a “normal” social life. additionally,
according to lars konzack, “a “geek”, however, is obsessively
fascinated with particular subjects […] thus a “geek” has the
compulsion and drive to learn vast quantities of knowledge about a
particular field such as computers, or star trek trivia” (2006:2).
geeks tended to be interested in elements of culture that were not
typically considered popular. the stereotypical geek of the 70’s and
80’s was someone who loved comic books, played rpg’s like dungeons and
dragons, spent hours in their rooms with the latest sega game, had a
star wars rebel alliance t-shirt, and spoke klingon. the online
etymology dictionary references anthony michael hall’s character in
sixteen candles (1984) as a classic example of a geek.
for many years, geeks were ridiculed for their supposed lack of social
graces and interest in obscure, weird or unusual forms of cultural and
digital media. once again, geeks were typified by their marginality and
their difference. the representation of geeks in pop culture have
replicated and almost cemented the validity of geek stereotypes. geeks
are often seen with glasses and a poor sense of style, socially
bumbling and ever pining for the beautiful, popular girls they’ll never
date. while geeks can be male or female, and of various races (such as
jaleel white’s steve urkel, data wang in the goonies or oscar wao in
the brief wondrous life of oscar wao), they tend to be characterized as
--
their interests and lifestyle.
as technology has changed and adapted, geek culture has also grown.
judd apatow’s show freaks and geeks (1999-2000) spotlighted the
marginality of geeks while exploring the dimensions of what it truly
means to be different. throughout the show, sam, neill and bill—the
consummate geeks who completely own their geekiness—are the true
heroes, while lindsay’s “freak” friends represent the contingent of
disaffected youth that seem to care about very little. the geeks are
admirable in their self-confidence and sense of community held together
by mutually held geeky interests.
contemporary geeks may larp (live-action role play), go to otaku
conventions, play endless hours of world of warcraft, or have read
every superman comic ever, but are also starting to move out of the
social margins. the big bang theory (2007-) is an undeniable (though in
my opinion inexplicably so) pop culture phenomenon, and many news
sources have hailed the “triumph” of the geek (westcott 2012; harrison
2013; the economist 2014). while comic book movies were once seen as
fringe interests, marvel and dc continue to pump out television shows,
movie and video games to support the massive comic franchise the wider
public now craves. interests and activities that were once deemed weird
and othering have slowly become (dare i say it?) cool. geek culture has
diversified and spread around the world, manifesting in forms like
hikikomori in japan (jones 2006) or steampunk communities (feuer 2014).
while geek identity may have become more socially acceptable, many feel
that the geek identity has been cheapened and fabricated by certain
groups of people. the “authenticity” of geekiness has become a focal
point of contention within the geek community. who are the gatekeepers
of geek culture? although geek culture has historically existed at the
fringes, it seems as though certain members of the geek community want
to maintain a sense of distance from popular culture. these divisive
attitudes have launched debates about “fake geek girls” and the
gendered dimensions of geekery.
source: http://www.weregeek.com/2013/02/04/
source: http://www.weregeek.com/2013/02/04/
the identity of the geek at the moment is therefore a contentious one,
in which certain individuals are called upon to prove their geekery
based off of a set of arbitrary interests or activities that often
replicate stereotypes rather than acknowledge the complex dimensions of
geekery. i, myself, have been questioned about the decision to identify
as a geek. there are many elements of popularly understood geek culture
that i do not participate in or know in depth, but that does not
preclude the fact that i spend much of my time reading, watching,
creating, writing or cosplaying within a geeky context. part of the
reason why i identify as a geek was the sense of inclusion i felt
within the culture. i would spend my saturday nights streaming soul
eater or cartoon network’s justice league; i learned elvish and
--
sarah from labyrinth (1986). my interests made me feel different
amongst my peers, but, as john scalzi states so beautifully, “it’s the
sharing that makes geekdom so awesome” (2012). when you find others
that share your interests, and want to engage with the fandom as much
as you do, that’s when you know that you’ve found your people. i will
end on a quote from the rest of john scalzi’s post “who gets to be a
geek?” because i think it perfectly encompasses everything i wish i
could say:
geekdom is a nation with open borders. there are many affiliations
and many doors into it. there are lit geeks, media geeks, comics
geeks, anime and manga geeks. there are larpers, cosplayers,
furries, filkers, crafters, gamers and tabletoppers. there are goths
and horror geeks and steampunkers and academics. there are nerd
rockers and writers and artists and actors and fans. some people
love only one thing. some people flit between fandoms. some people
are positively poly in their geek enthusiasms. some people have been
in geekdom since before they knew they were geeks. some people are
n00bs, trying out an aspect of geekdom to see if it fits. if it
does, great. if it doesn’t then at least they tried it. many people
believe geekdom is defined by a love of a thing, but i think — and
my experience of geekdom bears on this thinking — that the true sign
of a geek is a delight in sharing a thing. it’s the major difference
between a geek and a hipster, you know: when a hipster sees someone
else grooving on the thing they love, their reaction is to say
“oh, crap, now the wrong people like the thing i love.” when a geek
sees someone else grooving on the thing they love, their reaction is
to say “zomg you love what i love come with me and let us love it
together.” (2012)
for me, the geek friends that i had didn’t judge my differences or my
interests. we simply wanted to love the same things together in our own
personal ways. i found the same kind of community with the other
writers and editors at the geek anthropologist.
source: http://amandaonwriting.tumblr.com/post/46386884303
--
and how does being a geek relate to being an anthropologist? lee
drummond discussed a conversation with an editor at anthropology news
who said, “that most of the anthropologists she speaks with describe
themselves as “outsiders” – individuals who have gone through life
believing that they never really belonged” (2000:6). perhaps to be a
geek, to exist on the margins but with the initiative to share, is not
so much unlike being an anthropologist.
--
imagination. chicago: university of chicago press.
apatow, judd (2003-2005). freaks and geeks. apatow productions and
dreamworks television.
--
http://openanthcoop.ning.com/profile/leedrummond
dunn, katherine (2002). geek love. new york: vintage books (random
house, inc.).
--
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/16/travel/steampunks-at-sea.html
floss books (2008). “geek vs. nerd vs. dork: what’s the difference?”
mental floss.
http://mentalfloss.com/article/19524/geek-vs-nerd-vs-dork-whats-differe
nce
“geek (n.)” (2014). online etymology dictionary.
http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=geek
goffman, erving (1963). stigma: notes on the management of spoiled
identity. new york: simon & schuster, inc.
harrison, andrew (2013). “rise of the new geeks: how the outsiders
won.” the guardian.
http://www.theguardian.com/fashion/2013/sep/02/rise-geeks-outsiders-sup
erhero-movies-dork
--
ll
konzack, lars (2006). “geek culture: the 3^rd counter-culture.”
proceedings of the inaugural “fun n’ games” conference. pp. 71-78.
http://vbn.aau.dk/en/publications/geek-culture(aa7e41a0-afa4-11db-8b72-
000ea68e967b)/export.html
scalzi, john (2012). “who gets to be a geek? anyone who wants to be.”
whatever.
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/07/26/who-gets-to-be-a-geek-anyone-who-
wants-to-be/
the economist (2014). “the geek shall inherit the earth.” dragon con
2014.
http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21615623-more-americans-wis
h-they-had-super-powers-geek-shall-inherit-earth
westcott, kathryn (2012). “are ‘geek’ and ‘nerd’ now positive terms?”
bbc news magazine. http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-20325517
zékány, éva (2012). the gendered geek: performing masculinities in
cyberspace. lambert academic publishing.
--
related
tagged: anthropology of geek culture definition of geek etymology freak
shows freaks and geeks geek anthropology geek definitions history
about emma louise backe
--
2.
reply
origin of “geeky”: thank a sideshow freak today! march 1, 2018 at
22:41
[…] more information, i followed the history explained by the great
geek anthropologist blog. in the 1510’s, geck was a low german term
meaning “simpleton or fool.” the word is derived […]
likelike
3.
reply
sejarah munculnya budaya geek | goldilocks zone february 14, 2018
at 03:53
[…]
https://thegeekanthropologist.com/2014/10/17/freaks-geeks-a-cultura
l-history-of-the-term-geek/ […]
likelike
4.
--
craig christopher powell february 9, 2018 at 13:52
if you like this, then you may be interested in the article i wrote
about how to define geek:
https://www.geekwishlists.com/geekdefinition
likelike
5.
reply
world anthropology day: grokking as a geek anthropologist | the
geek anthropologist february 16, 2017 at 12:00
[…] and social outsider whose identity is intrinsically linked with
their ostensive marginality. while the original concept of the geek
as a sideshow freak known for biting the heads off of chicken…—the
dragon-master, tech-savvy, klingon-speaking modern geek
stereotype—the term geek continues […]
likelike
6.
reply
geek word wednesdays: the definition of geek - girls got game
february 23, 2016 at 21:13
[…] as a term, and as an identifying label. the original article in
its full glory can be found over here, and it’s definitely
something that every geek out there should read. for purposes of
this […]
likelike
7.
reply
top 10 posts of 2014 | the geek anthropologist february 9, 2015 at
06:01
[…] freaks & geeks: a cultural history of the term “geek”, by emma
backe […]
likelike
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before, but a survey of the career of bong joon-ho backs up the
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carry the torch of geek movies forward into the future. come with us as
we explore the life and themes of this unique, innovative creative
force.
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up trapped in their pet issues, revisiting similar themes to
diminishing results, he’s always poking into new worlds and new ideas.
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15 geek events that dominated pop culture in 2016
what geek-friendly events (movies, tv, tech, and video gaming)
dominated pop culture in 2016?
* by victor stiff
--
in 2016, warring superhero factions, a zombie apocalypse, and an epic
space opera each took a moment to shine in pop culture's spotlight.
every year, more and more pastimes once reserved for geeks, nerds, and
dorks are gaining mainstream appeal. video games, gadgets, genre tv,
and comic book characters are now the foundation of today's pop
culture. time will tell whether geeks are becoming cool or everyone
else is getting geekier. for now, only one thing is certain: there has
never been a better time to publicly reveal your inner nerd.
the following list is ranked chronologically and consists of
geek-friendly events that dominated 2016's pop culture conversations.
in order to qualify, each entry had to attract an exceptional amount of
media coverage in its field or captivate an audience outside of its
--
spend your free time reading tech blogs, going to movies, or binging on
netflix, chances are your interests will converge with at least a
couple of entries on this list. here are 15 geek events that dominated
pop culture in 2016!
--
netflix sci-fi/horror series, stranger things, is the ultimate example
of geek culture crossing over to the mainstream. the show is a love
letter to 80's geekdom and audiences couldn't get enough of it. the
story focuses on a trio of dungeons & dragons playing kids who stumble
into a supernatural adventure. stranger things endeared itself to its
--
san diego comic-con logo
since its inception in 1970, san diego comic-con has highlighted geek
culture. way before transformers, super mario bros., and iron man
became mainstream, san diego comic-con provided an outlet for fandom to
--
* home
* lists
* 15 geek events that dominated pop culture in 2016
more
(button) closesearch copyblogger... ____________________ search
headlines that work: has science finally settled the geek/nerd debate?
written by jerod morris
--
share
pin
headlines that work: has science finally settled the geek/nerd debate?
welcome to headlines that work, a new regular feature here at
--
but wait … are we really nerding out about headlines … or are we
geeking out about them? is there even a difference?
yes! and finally science has stepped up to settle the debate.
--
here is the headline:
at last! science draws a line between geeks and nerds
so why does this work?
--
this notion of finality is then backed up by invoking science
immediately — “science draws a line…” — suggesting that the reader will
no longer have to guess about where they fall along the geek/nerd
spectrum. the answers can be found right here!
--
but you build your “headline intuition” over time with practice.
cnet is an online publication for geeks and nerds (and probably dorks
too). it is about technology and electronics and all kinds of different
gadgets. the target audience of cnet consists largely of people who, it
is safe to assume, appreciate and respect science and empiricism, and
who have probably pondered at some point in their lives whether they
are a geek or a nerd.
the headline plays perfectly on this knowledge and does so,
--
as we also explain in magnetic headlines, credibility is key. invoking
science lends credibility to the promise this headline is making to
readers: that a real, evidence-backed line has been drawn between geeks
and nerds, and clicking to read the post will unveil it.
--
instincts for what works and what doesn’t.
the geek/nerd post has 4,400 likes on facebook right now, as well as
hundreds of tweets and +1s. but these numbers only mean something in
relation to a typical cnet story.
--
we are passionate goonies. we are misfits doing meaningful work. and
we’re clearly nerds and geeks … but which one more than the other?
i originally thought geek worked better. a colleague of mine, however,
cast his vote for nerd. so i wanted to see what the differences between
the two are.
it turns out, the characteristics i had been associating with the term
geek are more generally associated with nerds. for example:
geeks are fans, and fans collect stuff; nerds are practitioners, and
practitioners play with ideas.
or, as chris pirillo put it:
nerds love knowledge for the sake of knowledge; geeks love knowledge
for the sake of unapologetically making you feel stupid for not
having the same level of knowledge as they do.
--
mark brinker says
november 19, 2013 at 7:02 am
thanks for clarifying “geek vs nerd”. i’ve always used them
interchangeably. however, based on the definition in your post, i
am definitely a nerd! great post, jerod.
--
i had too! but clearly there are distinct lines separating the
two, and it depends on the topic as well. you can be a nerd
about one thing and a geek about something else.
2.
james says
--
dan erickson says
november 19, 2013 at 7:50 am
so that’s why my headlines don’t work. i’m not a geek or a nerd or
a dork or a goonie. i’m a poet and a musician and an artist. i
study the art not the marketing. that said, i am going to begin
posting less in 2014. but perhaps i’ll really work on tweaking the
headlines. but do i have to become a geek or a nerd?
+
jerod morris says
--
magnetic headlines ebook, then keep it handy for easy
reference. that way, you can just be dan, instead of a nerd or
geek, and still writer killer headlines.
4.
jon negroni says
--
“brainiacs,” the official definition is quite simple: a highly
intelligent person. so i’d say that i’m in favor of it.
whether we are geeks or nerds, we should all be brainiacs. 🙂
5.
demian farnworth says
--
either, but i figured there would be hair-splitting
differences that defined the two. sure enough. i was just
surprised that my own definition for geek was basically the
scientific definition for nerd. i was way off. robert wins
again. 🙂
--
rita says
november 19, 2013 at 10:16 am
i’ve always thought that geeks are what you say nerds are. nerds
were people without social skills. many nerds are also geeks–if
they are deeply into some subject and possess a deep well of
knowledge about it. some nerds are just nerds, though. you can be
--
of that!
i know this post is really about headlines, but all i can focus on
are the distinctions between geek, nerd, dork, etc. because i’m a
word geek. or nerd. or something that means words to me are what
just about anything is to a squirrel.
+
--
november 19, 2013 at 11:13 am
he has weighed in via twitter: “until your post today, i
considered myself a geek. i always thought nerd = math,
lack of social skills, and geek = star wars.” based on
the scientific definition, chris is definitely a nerd.
who else is kinder and more giving of such an enormous
--
headlines and i know it, so i keep reading here and everywhere,
trying to learn. this was a great headline and i’m going to go
suggest my geek and nerd friends come read it. we were just talking
headlines.
+
--
hey jerrod,
i love this article, as a certified newbie i enjoy all the articles
on copyblogger because it has me geeking out all the possibilities
to what i can do. awesome article!
+
--
november 19, 2013 at 4:20 pm
thank you chris! ladies and gentlemen … a self-proclaimed
geek! 🙂
13.
maikel michiels says
--
really a nice read and a great headline discussed here.
for me, i think the best part of the headline (“at last! science
draws a line between geeks and nerds”) is the fact that it
generates a lot of curiosity. curiosity might kill a cat or two,
but it can definitely make a blog post come to live and stay alive!
--
jules webb says
november 19, 2013 at 5:14 pm
i always thought of myself as a geek. but i’m not much of a fan,
well maybe a fan of info, and i’m not a collector, unless its
knowledge or tools. crap, i’m a nerd! …who knew!
--
article in my inbox were “headlines that work”.
jerod’s use of those particular words is what prompted me to click
through to the article. the content itself, geeks vs. nerds, holds
no interest to me whatsoever.
but those three clever words at the beginning caused me to click,
--
nicolia whyte says
november 19, 2013 at 6:37 pm
i think the cnet headline works because the whole nerds-vs-geek
debate has been going on for a long time. like you mentioned,
science does give it credibility, but then you’ll have some people
who’ll click on the link just to express their ‘geekiness’. you
know, to find a way to discredit what is said in the article. so,
even though the headline claims the debate is settled, it will
--
november 21, 2013 at 5:40 am
i thought the headline had a tongue-in-cheek, humorous quality that
i liked. it communicated wry acceptance of geek or nerd status
despite the originally negative connotation (in high school, at
least) of these words. and yet also rejoiced in geekiness or
nerdiness.
22.
--
juliet rich says
december 3, 2013 at 8:41 am
i’m going to continue to call myself an out and proud geek
regardless of how other people (including science!) try to define
me. 🙂
--
doug kessler says
december 9, 2013 at 3:20 am
great post — but i’m not buying the original nerd/geek distinction.
both groups have a subset called ‘assholes’.
if it were a venn diagram with the geek and nerd circles
overlapping a bit and the asshole circle dwarfing them both but
grabbing a slice of each.
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home / entertainment / nerds and geeks: learn the difference
nerds and geeks: learn the difference
by alyssa boedigheimer on may 21, 2015
--
let’s get one thing straight: there is a distinctive difference between
a nerd and a geek. many people go about their day never giving a
thought to this distinction that basically makes the universe go round,
but this ignorance will one day place these people at the mercy of a
nerd-that-they-thought-was-a-geek. so, in order for these ignorant
people to avoid their unfortunate end, they should learn the difference
early on.
a geek is a person who is passionate about a game, show, or book/story.
keep in mind, a geek is not a fangirl/boy. a fangirl/boy is a person
who is overly enthusiastic about a character, actor, etc. a geek, on
the other hand, may by overly enthusiastic about something, but it is
usually a wider spread than just a character.
for example, a geek could be very enthusiastic about harry potter or
legend of zelda. geeks can have different levels of geekiness in
different areas. some people are only a little geeky about one thing,
others are very geeky about a lot of things. this is called the
“geekometer.” yes, i just made that up.
a geek may also be very passionate about a certain topic, such as
zombies or unicorns. a geek is very prone to get into arguments about
which of these two fantastic creatures would win in a battle for world
domination.
--
a nerd could be very passionate about a subject such as art or music.
a person is not necessarily defined into “geeks” and “nerds”. a person
can just as easily be a combination of both of these areas, or they
could be neither of these and just live on without being interested in
share
geek events: nerd up your summer
may these geek events be with you
by adam lubitow @adamlubitow
--
5k race benefiting the palmyra-macedon high school.
these are just a few of the many geek-friendly events taking place
around rochester this summer. keep an eye on city's website
(rochestercitynewspaper.com) for more events that are worth leaving the
--
jun 19, 2013
tags: summer guide, rochester, nerd, geek, atari, cosplay, pirates,
festival, renaissance, drive in, movies, events
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feature: the geek guide to rochester
nerd is the word
by willie clark @_willieclark
click to enlarge geek_guide_cover_copy2.jpg
photo illustration by matt deturck
let's be honest: rochester is a pretty geeky city. everybody knows
about the strong's national museum of play, which currently sits on
various national lists as a must-see geek destination, especially with
its burgeoning international center for the history of electronic
games. but that's only the tip of the nerdy iceberg. last year
--
by the website insidecollege.
so yeah, we have some major geek mojo.
while some of you may have already graduated from the hallowed halls of
--
sharpen your pencils, and clip on those pocket protectors. it's time to
level up your nerd cred. welcome to an introduction to some of the
geek-friendly enterprises of rochester.
computer science 101: introduction to 'hacking'
--
"it's a completely different definition," manning says. "it's what we
think the original definition has always been, but it scares the crap
out of my grandparents and mom. i just tell them we're a geek
workshop."
--
(meetup.com/hackshackersroc)
advanced dungeons & dragons 252: the rochester sci-fi/roleplay geek
meet-up group
you've probably at least heard of dungeons & dragons. the dice, the
characters, the marathon-length games are often sources of mockery for
geek culture. but the truth is, d&d and role-playing games like it are
an opportunity for people to get together and build characters, level
up friendships, and adventure in worlds otherwise unknown. the
rochester sci-fi/roleplay geek meet-up group brings together area
aficionados of card games, rpgs, and board games, all in one space
where they can hang out, organize events, and socialize with others who
--
"especially for someone who wants to come out of the so-called closet -
yeah, i'm a geek, these are the people i hang out with - we give them
the experience saying, hey, this is a great group of people to hang out
with," says bill horst-kotter, current assistant organizer of the
--
for more information and an events calendar, visit
meetup.com/rochester-sci-fi-roleplay-geek-meetup-group
similar local groups: rochester board game society
--
fantasy fans (rochesterfantasyfans.org).
geek-friendly businesses
boldo's armory (891 monroe ave, boldo.com) sells an expansive selection
--
wonderland comics 1620 penfield road. 248-0450.
local geek-related events
simcon (march 30-april 1, university of rochester riverside campus,
--
many guests and panels.
tags: culture, geek, nerd, interlock, larp, live action role-playing,
star wars, convention, sci-fi, cover story
3. extraordinary stories
4. extraordinary stories 2019
5. geek chic in the 21st century
extraordinary stories
geek chic in the 21st century
27 mar 2019
geek chic in the 21st century
now that nerd culture is so pervasive, what does it mean to be a nerd?
--
by courtney suciu
believe it or not, there was a time when being called a nerd or geek
was an insult. but these days, nerdiness and geekdom are mainstream.
having a passion for comics and anime, being tech savvy, possessing an
intellectual curiosity – these are no longer characteristics of an
--
professor at johns hopkins university and, despite his influence on the
crossover of nerd and pop cultures, dolby admitted, “i am no more
comfortable in my geek skin now than in 1982.”
to understand why it was so bad to be considered a nerd in the 1980s,
--
however, the internet has played a major role in changing perceptions
of what it means to be a nerd, and who identifies as a geek.
in the same times article, dave goetsch, co-executive producer of “the
--
the evolution of nerd culture
in his dissertation geek cultures: media and identity in the digital
age^3, jason tocci focused on cultural developments which led to the
transition of “labels like 'geek' and 'nerd' from schoolyard insults to
sincere terms of identity.”
he explained, “though such terms maintain negative connotations to some
extent, recent years have seen a growing understanding that ‘geek is
chic’ as computers become essential to daily life and business,
retailers hawk nerd apparel, and hollywood makes billions on sci-fi,
--
in order to understand this transition, tocci’s “ethnographic study”
reveals that the “emergence of geek culture represents not a sudden
fad, but a newly visible dimension of identity that demonstrates how
dispersed cultures can be constructed through the integration of media
--
in other words, the “nerd” identity isn’t homologous – in fact “nerd”
and “geek” (which he explains, despite attempts to define them
differently, are synonymous and can be used interchangeably), have
multiple, contradictory meanings which yield to and defy stereotypes,
--
tocci found that there are four basic nerd identities: “misfit, genius,
fan, and chic.” however, his research focused on the types of nerd that
pre-existed – and contributed – to the emergence of “geek chic.”
technological developments resulting in “financial successes of
high-profile geeks [like bill gates] have popularized the idea that
nerdy skills can be parlayed into riches and romance” so that the
advantages and appeal of being a certain kind of nerd were suddenly
--
coordinate creative projects and social gatherings; and faster and
more widespread circulation of symbols - from nerdcore hip-hop to
geek-sponsored charities – confirming the existence of a whole
network of individuals with shared values.
--
for example, starting in the early 2000s, such a crossover movement
manifested within hip hop culture. on one hand, there was the emergence
of “nerdcore,” (also known as “geeksta rap”) defined in the 2008
documentary nerdcore for life^4 as “geek rap, nerd rap, as rappers who
rap about video games, computers, technology, stuff like that.”
--
american cinema after 1980. available from academic complete and
proquest one academic.
3. tocci, j. geek cultures: media and identity in the digital age
(order no. aai3395723). available from proquest dissertations and
theses database and proquest one academic.
#the stanford daily » feed the stanford daily » comments feed the
stanford daily » nerd is the word, geek is the speak comments feed
alternate alternate
--
opinions
nerd is the word, geek is the speak
by mindy perkins on april 21, 2015
“in a perfect world, all the geeks get the girls” — at least, according
to american hifi. for those unversed in punk rock from the mid-2000s,
this song outlines a boy’s unexpectedly successful romantic/sexual
--
“get lucky,” encouraging audience empathy with the “loser” protagonist.
the song, aptly titled “the geeks get the girls,” is just one early
example of an ongoing trend: the inclusion of geeks and nerds in
popular culture. in many ways, this movement is heartening progress
towards recognizing a group of society’s historically unpopular
outcasts. while geeks and nerds of yore were almost unilaterally
considered to be off-putting, socially inept brainiacs, today the terms
are less insulting and more inclusive — a result of the changing
attitudes toward technology in the digital age. along with these new
definitions comes the prospect of greater acceptance for nerds and
geeks themselves.
by today’s popular usage, what is a geek or nerd? the question is a
loaded one, and i won’t encapsulate the whole debate here. a popular
distinction is that geeks are enthusiasts and fans while nerds are
intellectuals and practitioners — so a star trek geek will tell you
what class of starship kirk commands in the original series, and a star
trek nerd will build it for you (or try). the terms are not mutually
exclusive; many nerds are geeks and vice versa, and theoretically one
can be a nerd in one area and a geek in another. a number of
traditional dictionary adjectives, such as “peculiar,” “unfashionable”
and “awkward,” need no longer apply, although in popular
--
so does popular culture’s mantra that “smart is the new sexy” really
imply greater social acceptance for the awkward, the peculiar and the
unfashionable? or do people feel kindly toward nerds and geeks on the
screen but not on the street?
there is reason to think that the attitude toward geeks and nerds — not
just their celebrity counterparts — is changing. in this regard, the
technology boom of the modern era has been a real boon. society’s
--
for nerdy engineers and programmers to exercise their talents for ends
nearly everyone appreciates. one educational psychologist suggests that
“geek” and “nerd” have lost many of their negative connotations in our
generation because the shift from the manufacturing to the information
age has made more traditionally geeky or nerdy inclinations
economically and socially valuable.
--
just obscure the subset that is still singled out? this is a difficult
and complicated issue to tackle. an indirect but hopeful sign of
progress is the individual’s choice to identify as a geek or nerd,
often as a symbol of pride (think “geek chic” or “nerd nation”). those
who voluntarily adopt an identity are less likely to feel like
outcasts.
furthermore, the internet gives geeks and nerds a refuge and a
community. instant access to themed discussion forums, chat rooms and
posting/blogging environments like tumblr give people an easy way to
meet others that share their interests. for geeks, this is a rich
opportunity to share one’s enthusiasm with similarly enthusiastic peers
and to discuss news, advice and personal experiences with others who
understand one’s obsessions and struggles. fandoms are a prime example
of online geek havens, which form what analyst henry jenkins calls
“knowledge communities” dedicated to the “dynamic and participatory”
acquisition of information related to a common interest. one needs look
no further than thinkgeek to see that fan communities have even
penetrated the market.
whether we embrace our obsessions with “lord of the rings” or particle
physics, or whether we really believe that the geeks get the girls,
there’s no better time than now for putting aside concerns of social
awkwardness and focusing instead on the interests and inclinations that
#slackpropagation » feed slackpropagation » comments feed
slackpropagation » on “geek” versus “nerd” comments feed machine
learning and social science: taking the best of both worlds encoding
human thought processes into a computer alternate alternate
--
language, psychology, social science
on “geek” versus “nerd”
posted by burrsettles on june 3, 2013march 16, 2017
to many people, “geek” and “nerd” are synonyms, but in fact they are a
little different. consider the phrase “sports geek” — an occasional
substitute for “jock” and perhaps the arch-rival of a “nerd” in
high-school folklore. if “geek” and “nerd” are synonyms, then “sports
geek” might be an oxymoron. (furthermore, “sports nerd” either doesn’t
compute or means something else.)
in my mind, “geek” and “nerd” are related, but capture different
dimensions of an intense dedication to a subject:
* geek – an enthusiast of a particular topic or field. geeks are
“collection” oriented, gathering facts and mementos related to
their subject of interest. they are obsessed with the newest,
--
or, to put it pictorially à la the simpsons:
geeknerd-simpsons
both are dedicated to their subjects, and sometimes socially awkward.
the distinction is that geeks are fans of their subjects, and nerds
are practitioners of them. a computer geek might read wired and tap the
silicon valley rumor-mill for leads on the next hot-new-thing, while a
computer nerd might read clrs and keep an eye out for clever new ways
of applying dijkstra’s algorithm. note that, while not synonyms, they
are not necessarily distinct either: many geeks are also nerds (and
vice versa).
--
do i have any evidence for this contrast? (by the way, this viewpoint
dates back to a grad-school conversation with fellow geek/nerd bryan
barnes, now a physicist at nist.) the wiktionary entries for “geek” and
“nerd” lend some credence to my position, but i’d like something a bit
more empirical…
--
“you shall know a word by the company it keeps” ~ j.r. firth (1957)
to characterize the similarities and differences between “geek” and
“nerd,” maybe we can find the other words that tend to keep them
company, and see if these linguistic companions support my point of
--
data and method
(note: if you’re neither a geek nor a nerd, don’t be scared by the
math. it’s not too bad… or you can probably just skip to the “results”
subsection below…)
i analyzed two sources of twitter data, since it’s readily available
and pretty geeky/nerdy to boot. this includes a background corpus of
2.6 million tweets via the streaming api from between december 6, 2012,
and january 3, 2013. i also sampled tweets via the search api matching
the query terms “geek” and “nerd” during the same time period (38.8k
and 30.6k total, respectively). yes, yes, yes… i collected all the data
six months ago but just now got around to crunching the numbers. it’s
--
where in this case p(\cdot) is the probability of the word(s) in
question appearing in a random tweet, as estimated from the data. for
instance, if we let v = “geek,” we compute the log-probability of a
word w in the “geek” search corpus, and subtract the log-probability of
w in the background corpus.
--
with that in mind, here is a scatterplot of various words according to
their pmi scores for both “geek” and “nerd” on different axes (ignoring
words with negative pmi, and treating #hashtags as distinct):
geeknerd-plot-01
many people have asked for a high-res pdf of this plot, so here you go.
moving up the vertical axis, words become more geeky (“#music” →
“#gadget” → “#cosplay”), and moving left to right they become more
nerdy (“education” → “grammar” → “neuroscience”). words along the
diagonal are similarly geeky and nerdy, including social (“#awkward”,
“weirdo”), mainstream tech (“#computers”, “#microsoft”), and
sci-fi/fantasy terms (“doctorwho,” “#thehobbit”). words in the
lower-left (“chores,” “vegetables,” “boobies”) aren’t really associated
with either, while those in the upper-right (“#avengers”, “#gamer”,
“#glasses”) are strongly tied to both. orange words are more geeky than
nerdy, and blue words are the opposite. some observations:
* collections are geeky. all derivatives of the word “collect”
(“collection,” “collectables”, etc.) are orange. as are “boxset”
and “#original,” which imply a taste for completeness and
--
“oxford”) are also blue.
* the science & technology words differ. general terms (“#computers,”
“#bigdata”) are on the diagonal — similarly geeky and nerdy. as you
splay up toward more geeky, though, you see products, startups,
brands, and more cultish technologies (“#apple”, “#linux”). as you
splay down toward more nerdy you see more methodologies
(“calculus”).
* [del: #hashtags are geeky. ok, sure, hashtags are all over the
place. but they do tend toward the upper-left. and since hashtags
are “#trendy,” i take it to mean that geeks are into trends. :del]
(i take this one back. the average pmi score for all hashtags is
0.74 with “geek” but 0.73 with “nerd.” the difference isn’t
statistically significant using a paired t-test or wilcoxon test,
or practically significant using a common-sense test.)
* hobbies: compare the more geeky pastimes (“#toys,” “#manga”) with
the more nerdy ones (“chess,” “sudoku”).
* brains: the word “intelligence” may be geeky, but “education,”
“intellectual,” and “#smartypants” are nerdy.
* reading: “#books” are nerdy, but “ebooks” and “ibooks” are geeky.
* pop culture vs. high culture: “#shiny” and “#trendy” are
super-geeky, but (curiously) “cellist” is the nerdiest…
the list goes on. if you want to poke around yourself, download the raw
pmi scores (4.2mb) and let me know in the comments what you find. since
many people have asked: i computed pmi for all words appearing in the
search tweets with “geek” and “nerd” (millions) and then manually
scanned roughly 7,500 words with positive pmi scores for both. the
scatterplot contains about 300 words that i hand-picked because they
--
conclusion
in broad strokes, it seems to me that geeky words are more
about stuff (e.g., “#stuff”), while nerdy words are more
about ideas (e.g., “hypothesis”). geeks are fans, and fans collect
stuff; nerds are practitioners, and practitioners play with ideas. of
course, geeks can collect ideas and nerds play with stuff, too. plus,
they aren’t two distinct personalities as much as different aspects of
personality. generally, the data seem to affirm my thinking.
--
finally, when i mentioned to a friend that i was going to write up this
post, she said “well, i guess we know which one you are.” but do we
really? i may be a science nerd, but i’m probably a music geek…
update (june 25, 2013): woah. this has gotten more attention than i
ever anticipated. a few impressions. (1) prior to writing this, i had
no idea there was a “geek vs. nerd” holy war in certain corners of the
internet; fueling these flamewars was certainly not my intent. lighten
up! (2) i fear i’ll be better known for this diversion than for any of
--
techniques — which could use a grant, grad student, and/or more than an
afternoon — for uncovering this all-important “truth.” (3) for those
interested in the etymologies of “geek” and “nerd,” i found this cool
writeup.
--
related
geeknerdpointwise mutual informationsociolinguisticsstatisticstwitter
post navigation
--
july 31, 2013 at 2:37 am
interesting that attributes tend to be nerdy, but products and
consumables tend to be geeky.
reply
2. danny yee says:
august 13, 2013 at 6:39 am
the problem with this is that anyone using twitter is ipso facto
pretty nerdy and geeky… so this doesn’t give you good coverage of
how, or if, a typical person distinguishes “nerd” from “geek”.
reply
1. rudeboybert says:
--
true, this is not generalizable to the entire population since
there is a selection bias going on. but on another level,
people who aren’t geeks/nerds probably don’t care about the
difference to begin with!
reply
--
september 20, 2016 at 4:57 pm
i’m not sure about that last statement. i’ve always
envisioned geeks aspiring to be nerds as congressmen from
the house aspire to be in the senate.
3. gill bates says:
august 20, 2013 at 3:11 pm
please produce a venn diagram of geek and nerd attributes, there is
a lot of overlap.
reply
--
april 29, 2016 at 1:09 pm
that would not be as useful as the scatter plot is. it shows
trends upward into geeky and forward into nerdy. but it’s
impossible in this case to definitively say one word is geek
only and other is nerd only, etc. even the demarcation that
appears in this chart due to the color choices is not entirely
accurate. it would be better served with a gradient from top
left to lower right where in the middle along the slope the
words are most likely to be associated with either geek or
nerd.
reply
4. mathgrant says:
august 20, 2013 at 10:01 pm
as a boardgamegeek user, i’m disappointed that “board games” aren’t
on there (aside from the one “chess”). 😦
reply
5. uldissprogis says:
august 24, 2013 at 2:26 pm
the real problem starts with your definitions of geek and nerd.
they both use inaccurate and overlapping words which don’t uniquely
define one or the other. perhaps you should try to redefine geek
and nerd with precision and not make dubious statistical
associations without a one to one correspondence. i have redefined
--
statistical associations to give them meaning. the book is called
scientific thesaurus and it currently has no definition of nerd or
geek. if you come up with a logical accurate definition i will add
it to my list of logical words and give you credit for it. best
wishes. uldis
--
october 3, 2013 at 3:44 pm
good stuff. may i ask how you selected the terms to test for
co-ocurence with geek and nerd? also did you impose a cut-off for
p(w)?
reply
--
october 4, 2013 at 6:35 am
to see how the pmi relates to relative probabilities suppose we
choose the word “genetics” which has pmi(nerd)=5.4 and pmi(geek)=4
(i am reading off the graph here to the left of the word). then the
relative probability that a tweet which contains “genetics” comes
from a nerd tweet to a geek tweet or
p(nerd)/p(geek)=exp(pmi(nerd)-pmi(geek)) where exp() is the
exponential function (which all nerds will know and love). so for
“genetics” p(nerd)/p(geek)=exp(1.4)=4 so it is 4 times more likely
to come from a nerd tweet as a geek tweet (also assuming there are
equal numbers of nerd and geek tweets). if you want to do these
sums and don’t have a calculator handy then type “exp(1.4)” into
google and it will give you the answer. nerds of course know this
--
of exp(1)=2.7.
if you understand all that then you are probably a nerd – if you
are a geek and don’t understand that i suggest you print it out,
frame it and add it to your collection.
reply
--
13. joy says:
october 4, 2013 at 8:37 am
am definitely a geeky nerd!
reply
14. stephanie darrall says:
--
wear glasses and like james garner movies.
apparently this explains why i am neither a successful nerd nor a
committed geek.
reply
17. boehr himself says:
--
18. robynmcintyre says:
december 21, 2013 at 12:02 am
in my corner of the world (santa cruz, ca), a geek is a technophile
with an extreme interest in scifi and/or fantasy and science who is
fairly cool and hip. a nerd may have similar interests but isn’t
--
december 24, 2013 at 5:26 am
interesting stuff! i especially like how you point out that people
can be a “geek” in one subject and a “nerd” in another– they really
are two distinct terms.
reply
--
22. panika m. c. dillon says:
july 21, 2014 at 3:29 pm
as a word nerd, i’ve always felt that “geek” referred to a “nerd”
whose subject(s) is(are) either pop culture or new technology
related. in essence: all geeks are nerds, but not all nerds are
geeks. this clears up the tendency to use “tech” and “geek”
interchangeably. it also clears up the fact that i am not a
practitioner in a scientific field, but consider myself to be
“nerdy”, not “geeky”, about several scientific areas of study. i
can’t claim to be “geeky” about anything. it just feels wrong–even
when applied to contemporary poetry or politics (both of which i
follow, am a practitioner of, and have collections related to).
--
november 13, 2014 at 9:25 pm
reblogged this on napowblog and commented:
ever wanted to know the difference between “geeks” and “nerds”?
check this blog out to find a scientific explanation.
reply
--
27. lexidanielle98 says:
february 20, 2015 at 6:39 am
i believe that while geek and nerd have negative connotations
neither of them are bad things. most of the time these are both
just used as insults that are used to someone that tends to do well
--
march 25, 2015 at 4:15 am
this is the most brilliant blog on the difference between nerds and
geeks. thank you, burr, for creating this incredible chart. it has
enlightened all of us in both the geek- and nerd-doms.
reply
29. th0rtilla says:
--
34. eric rawlins says:
october 9, 2015 at 7:12 pm
inre your follow-up indicating stoking the geeks vs. nerds flame
wars, i’ve never understood this whole xbox vs. playstation,
northern california vs. socal, patriots vs. giants thing. i grok it
--
comes to a home console means i can have twice (oh, wait, there’s
nintendo, too – thrice) the fun of the warring, raging, flaming
fanboys around me. can’t we all just geek/nerd along?
reply
35. cevdet bartu saraÇ says:
--
36. anish says:
april 25, 2016 at 10:42 pm
lol, i’m both nerd and geek.
reply
37. tinker duck says:
may 26, 2016 at 10:47 pm
“….the average pmi score for all hashtags is 0.74 with “geek” but
0.73 with “nerd.” the difference isn’t statistically significant
using a paired t-test or wilcoxon test…”
--
august 17, 2016 at 4:17 am
i find it interesting that your data shows people more likely to
either self-identify or not feel bad when identified as a geek
rather than a nerd. i’m the opposite – i do consider myself a nerd
but am more ambivalent on the possibility of being a geek, and
being called a geek rubs a little wrong in a way that being called
a nerd doesn’t. it seems that in my main social circles –
washington state and my corner of tumblr – agree that “nerds” are
better than “geeks”.
that said, i’ve heard some explain “nerd” as primarily
fandom-oriented and “geek” as primarily real-life-science oriented
(in which case, i’m both). this seems to be the definition my
social circles tend to use. but i’ve never seen any data, let alone
--
39. raider badlands says:
december 28, 2016 at 4:40 am
a geek is someone who bites the heads off of chickens for money.
reply
40. j.q. says:
#hostelbookers.com blog feed hostelbookers.com blog » feed
hostelbookers.com blog » comments feed hostelbookers.com blog » 11 geek
festivals around the world comments feed alternate alternate
--
*
11 geek festivals around the world
*
--
*
11 geek festivals around the world
* may 30, 2012
--
* 0
* events & festivals
* comic con, geek festival, geeks
geek festivals around the world geek festivals around the world
we’re celebrating all things geeky here at hostelbookers this month.
don’t forget to tell us about your favourite geeky place to visit to be
in with a chance of winning a personalised action figure – stephen fry
and ryan penagos have already given us theirs!
from star wars to true blood to the vampire diaries and manga comics
there’s a geek convention for everyone. here are just a few of the
biggest and best geek festivals around the world…
#1 course of the force
--
€€? from £6pp
#5 board game geek
what is it? board game geek is a convention for… board game geeks. but
not your average weekend monopoly lover, this is for serious, hardcore
gaming chiefs. there’s a game library with more than 3500 games,
--
€€? $110 for 4-day pass
few more geek festivals for you…
#6 star wars celebration | 23-26 august 2012 | orange county convention
--
time of posting.
remember to tell us about your favourite geeky place to visit too!
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* the best travel apps
* geek travel tips
* share your geek travel tip and win!
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