What is a Geek?

In the fourth episode of the netcast I tried working out the definition of geek. Here is the written version of that definition. Listen to episode for for more detail.

Borrowing from various definitions around the web I have cobbled this definition together and this is me, The Geek of Geek, Actually. See if any of this sounds familiar.

A Geek is someone who is generally not athletic, and probably the uncool kid in high school, but secretly you thought was not so bad.

A Geek is usually on good terms with his or her inner child and enjoys playing on their computer (even if they don’t have anything in particular to do), watching movies (genre films like Star Wars, Blade Runner, Lord of the Rings etc. are particular favourites) and genre television (Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Smallville, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica are good examples), playing computer games, reading comic books,  and being on the internet. A Geek’s internet use isn’t limited to  webpages and email though; ftp, bittorrent, IRC and usenet (amongst others) are all common terms to a geek. You don’t know some of these terms? Ask a geek, he or she will tell you all about it and much much more, put aside a couple of hours and grab a notepad :-)

Geek is commonly used as a term for someone who is obsessed by their computer, and has achieved a high level of expertise in their chosen area. I’ll buy this with the exception of the last part. I think it would be fair to say that geeks acquire high levels of expertise in their chosen area and in whatever other various things that interest them.

Example: Let’s say a geek is a very good web designer, he or she will learn everything there is to learn about that job and then learn everything else around it even if they don’t really need to. They will learn about video encoding, audio production, advanced Photoshop, animation techniques and network engineering. When geeks hook on to a new TV show, they really hook on. They will not only learn everything about what is on screen, they will also learn everything off screen too. Geek fans are the most rabid fans in the world, they become their favourite show. Ever been to a Star Trek Convention? It is way cool and Klingon is such an interesting language to listen to!!! 

Commonly, the term “Geek” is short for computer geek and is in reference to an individual with a passion for computers. I choose to expand this and feel we can say “Anything” Geek and is in reference to a an individual with a passion for whatever. And, used in the nice way, it is someone who seems to know everything there is to know about their interest. 

Okay, that’s it. Let me know if this rings true with you or not. Got anything to add to this? I am thinking about making it a permanent page so input is welcome.