Nerd vs. Geek
An important distinction. (Found via this post at Almost Infamous.) Here is my comment:
Thank you for your post. Nerd vs. Geek is an important distinction, and I think you elucidate it well.
I disagree with the specificity of your geek criteria though. While I think they capture exactly the flavor of geekdom, one must remember that people can "geek out" on different things. For example, I meet criteria 1, 2, 7, 8, and 10 with flying colors. I almost meet criteria 4. But 3, 5, and 6 not so much, and 9 not at all. Nonetheless, I consider myself a geek and score pretty highly on those geek inventories one finds on the net.
One can be a geek without playing Dungeons and Dragons or loving comic books or being an anime fan, as long as one engages fervently in mental activities of a similar nature and with a similar obliviousness to social consequences. That is geekdom to me. Using these more abstract criteria, it is possible to identify geeks from other cultures and other time periods.
Comments
I agree that the criteria are a little limited. It doesn't capture, for example, a geek enamoured with Greek Classics for example.
Nevertheless, I find it interesting how much -in common- many geeks have. I don't think LawyerWriter's tests were meant to be exhaustive.