Geek!? Nerd!? BOTH!?!?
Most anyone surfing the Internet has come across those time wasting tests that tell you if you are a Klingon or a Romulan or what anime character you are but the ones I come across mostly are the geek or nerd tests. I have taken a lot of these tests in my countless hours of procrastination web surfing and I find that these tests are some of the most interesting and sometimes frustrating ones out there. The question I’m going to propose here is what is a measure of Geekdom or Nerdom and what are the overlapping interests and social traits…. I personally like to consider myself a Geek because in my mind a Geek is a person that is well versed in computer hardware and things related to the physical being of the computer such as building, modding repairing. On the opposite end, in my opinion, is where the Nerd excels, computer programing, computer engineering, anything dealing with the analytical side of computing. I’m definitely not saying that only geeks can fix a computer and only nerds can write programs I’m just making a generalization based on the people I know and what traits they have that I would consider nerdy or geeky. Now of course there are a lot more factors that lead themselves to personality traits than what you do with computers if you deal with computers at all. Lets just list off some things that may lend themselves as a trait geeks carry.
Geeks
Computer Repair, Modding, Repairing. Video games, genres, FPS, RPGS, Action, Survival Horror. Can possess some social skills but would rather not deal with other humans and if they must have to talk down to some one that does not understand technology like they do.
This is by no means a complete list at all just what I am able to think of right now. Now on to the Nerds.
Nerds
Computer Programing, Computer Engineering. Video games, genres, RTS, Simulations. Reading. Tabletop gaming (D&D, Risk, CCGs Etc.) Typically lacking in social skills but is eager to help anyone that asks for it with out making them feel stupid.
Once again not a complete list but you get the idea.
Mostly I think most people exhibit traits from both categories. I think that I’m a geek with nerd tendencies as most of the geek section applies to me but I enjoy D&D and other table top games. My wife I would consider a nerd with geek tendencies as she likes reading and writing but also is very good with fixing computers and possesses good social skills.
So the question again is witch one are you Geek, Nerd or Both?
