However, I find out that when you meet new people, and they slowly come to realize you are a geek, certain assumptions start arising within their heads, and they come to use these assumptions as a basis for their concept of YOU. (These are called prejudices, but prejudice carries a negative connotation, and these are hardly all negative, so I will use the word assumptions).
First and foremost, I have to cover a mighty fallacy people use. This fallacy is the Ner-Geek Paradigm. What is the difference between a nerd and a geek? Is there one? Which term should be used?
Most people use the two terms interchangeably. They are not, however, interchangeable. I'll put it this way: being a geek is far and away preferable to being a nerd, and calling a geek a nerd can be mightily offensive.
A nerd is an anti-social creature. They wallow in their genius, and use it as an excuse to avoid contact with the outside world. These are the folks who smell of rancid Cheetos and tuck their shirts into their underwear (not always, but this is the image I want you to have). They wear thick-rimmed, high prescription glasses, utilize nasal sprays even when they are not sick and collect archaic computers just for the fun of it. While some of these features DO crossover with some geeks (especially the computer collecting), the difference is that nerds do this with an interior air of superiority that they use to scare people off. Their lack of social skills are both their most-used weapon and their greatest flaw.
The above is a nerd. Nerds ALWAYS have a wide-breadth of knowledge, knowing a little something about everything (except for how to interact with other people).
Now geeks. Geeks have embraced their nerdiness. They understand that they are, indeed, a tad bit nerdy, and so come to flourish, evolve and become geeks. Their embrace of their nerdy side allows them to come to terms with it and also allows them a knowledge of a realm forbidden to nerds: a social life. Geeks have friends, often other geeks, but not necessarily. They shower frequently, eat foods that actually have some nutritional value and spend their weekends going to see movies with buddies rather than torrenting them alone at home. A geek CAN have a wide-breadth of knowledge on many subjects, but can also specialize in one area. For instance, there are history geeks, music geeks and computer geeks. Geeks can also pick and choose from a variety of subjects.
That is Wil Wheaton, a king among geeks. Basically that is also what a common geek looks like. Note the slightly nerdy, albiet clean shirt, the shit-eating grin and the well-groomed hair.
Now, when people learn that you are a geek they start assuming shit. The following is a brief selection, although there are many, many more.
1) You lack a social life and/or play World of Warcraft: as stated above, this is simply untrue. Geeks ALWAYS have some form of social life. And while a geek MAY play WoW, it is usually not to the extreme that World of War-crackheads take it.
2) You can fix any computer program: occasionally true, but totally not necessary to be a geek. Some geeks (notably those who fall into the Computer Geek category [and I bet I'll eventually write a post on the categories of geeks]) can indeed fix your computer in any fashion. Some have a reasonable knowledge of how to fix it or stop it from crashing. Others can't do diddly-shit. There is no set rule for this, just like there is no set rule for the common man.
3) You enjoy Star Trek, have seen every episode/movie and/or speak Klingon: Once again, occasionally but not necessarily. I, personally, don't really watch Star Trek, and the only Klingon word I know is from the Simpsons.
4) You have never had any alcohol to drink ever OR have never smoked OR have never toked: while this can be true (there are abstainers in every clique), I hardly see this as the case. And, really, where in God do people get these ideas. Whenever I drink for the first time with someone who recently came to understand my geekhood, they always express shock. I just don't get it.
5) You enjoy anime and/or manga: This is one that even other geeks make, probably because it is relatively prevalent. However, it is totally untrue. I stopped watching anime at 13, when I discovered "real" television. (I'm preparing for a beating about that one).
There are probably more, but this post isn't as funny as I wanted and I want to take a nap. So I guess I'll have to return to this topic later.
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