Geek

From Freepedia

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A geek is a person who is fascinated, perhaps obsessively, by obscure or very specific areas of knowledge and imagination. Geek may not always have the same meaning as the term nerd (see nerd for a discussion of the disputed relation between the terms).

The definition of geek changed considerably over the years. Below are some definitions of the word "geek". All are still in use.

  • A person with an encyclopaedic knowledge of random trivia especially those bordering on the highly obscure. Trivia geeks are often also known as übergeeks.
  • G.E.E.K. as an acronym came from the United States Military. It stands for General Electrical Engineering Knowledge. It is unclear if this was the origin of the current meaning for geek, or if the acronym was used in a joking way toward the pre-established meaning for geek (a backronym).
  • A physically weak, often sickly person who exists in order to be mistreated for the entertainment of others; a bully target. The popular song Pencil-Neck Geek exemplifies this use of the term.
  • A person who swallows live animals, bugs, etc., as a form of entertainment at fairs etc. This often included biting the heads off of chickens. The Geek would usually perform in a "geek pit." This probably comes from the Scottish geck, meaning 'fool', in turn from Low German. 19th century
  • A derogatory term for one with low social skills, often with merely average intelligence. Late 20th century
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In an exhibitionist social experiment, Dr. Simon Ronald, a computer geek from Adelaide, Australia set out to determine public reaction to the term "geek." He arranged white teeshirts with GEEK printed on one and CODER1 printed on another. These are observations from lunchtime walks through the busy streets of Adelaide over a six month period. "CODER1 raises a few eyebrows, but GEEK is a reliable headturner. Pedestrians breaking out into smiles as well as spontaneous sniggering and finger pointing. Strongest reaction is pity from the blue collar demographic where perhaps the word geek is associated more with vulgar social connotations. When quizzed about geek, people quipped: 'awkward', 'nerdy', 'space cadet', and 'socially incompetent'. Some said, 'Hey I like your t-shirt', but those tended to be tech types as well.

Geek has always had negative connotations in general colloquial usage, where being described as a geek tends to be an insult. Although self-indentified geeks have come to the conclusion that the term has recently become less condescending, or even a badge of honor, this viewpoint simply isn't supported amongst the general populace. A geek is defined by certain negative attributes, primarily a lack of basic social skills, and this hasn't changed since the term became associated with a specific personality type. One can't be a geek in the public mind if one lacks these deficits, and since geeks don't have a monopoly on the definition of the word these deficits are inherently associated with the word.

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Geeks have long held that they are intellectually superior to non-geeks, yet a study conducted at U.C. Berkeley found that both self-identified geeks and those who can be classed as geeks depending on their score on the Asim-Berg Personality Inventory are no more intelligent than the population at large. Both geeks and non-geeks are distributed in a similar fashion along the bell curve when subjected to a variety of intelligence tests, with no significant differences between the two groups. The idea that geeks often possess greater intellect than non-geeks is nothing more than an urban myth, most likely propagated by media stereotypes and geeks themselves (probably in an effort to compensate for the inferiority complex that comes with in inability to properly relate to people in normal social contexts).

Another myth, this time shattered by a study conducted out of the University of Washington, is that most computer experts ("hackers") are also geeks. In this study of over one thousand computer professionals and several thousand computer sciences students, it was determined that geeks are no more in evidence in the field of computer science than in any other endeavor. While the association between computers and geeks may very well be true in the sense that geeks spend more time on computers than non-geeks do, skilled professionals in the computer sciences aren't any more likely to be geeks than skilled professionals in other areas of expertise. Again, this is nothing more than a media stereotype, probably in combination with an erroneous self-image among geeks who spend large amounts of time working on or with computers and estimate their own skill level to be far beyond what it actually is (i.e., the "power user" syndrome).

According to several other studies, most notably from the University of Oregon and the University of Chicago, only two specific attributes define geeks: a noted lack of common social skills, easily identified by even casual acquaintenances; and arrested maturation in pubescence extending well into the adult years. Another common (although not universal) attribute is strong misogynistic behaviors and attitudes, coupled with the inability to accept any woman regardless of qualifications as the geeks equal or superior. According to the University of Chicago study misogynism is in evidence among geeks even more than in 'traditionally' misogynistic environments, such as construction and the armed forces, and is more likely to be associated with violent thoughts and fantasies towards women.

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Possible causes

It is commonly accepted that several hallmarks of the Geek personality, paticularly technological obsessiveness and difficulty with conventional social interaction may be explained by Autistic Spectrum Disorder, paticularly Asperger's Syndrome. Further anecdotal evidence for this is the similar sex ratios in traditional geek fields and ASD, as well as the significantly increased levels of AS (which has at least a partly genetic component) in "geeky" areas such as Silicon Valley.



See also

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/Geek.html"


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