Nerds and Geeks: the Distinction

Why not, because we're one or the other and likely both in some way, right? (I won't assume that the casual can withstand my rants so by process of elimination...)

Nerds, geeks, dorks, queers, freaks, and so on... They're all kind of used synonymously and not exactly with actual ignorance or negativity. A lot of words in slang use are 'misused' or 'abused' and... well, I'm not exactly a word purist myself so it doesn't really irritate me much at all. Overuse is really the only crime and that's down to my gripe with repetition of any kind. I'm of the mind that you can use any word you damn well please as long as it's working to create understanding. It might be limited in understanding (inside jokes and experimental use are not a crime) but unless it's complete gibberish (and reeking of malignant elitism), go for it.

So! That being said, I still find definitions to be worth knowing. Know it to bend it, a personal policy of mine. Understanding a word's etymology, its anatomy and parts, is crucial to maintaining or enhancing the understanding.

Let's Google these bitches to start...

geek

ɡēk/

noun

informal

noun: geek; plural noun: geeks

1. 1.

   an unfashionable or socially inept person.

   • a knowledgeable and obsessive enthusiast.

     "a computer geek"
2. 2.

   US

   a carnival performer who performs wild or disgusting acts.

verb

verb: geek; 3rd person present: geeks; past tense: geeked; past participle: geeked; gerund or present participle: geeking

1.

engage in or discuss computer-related tasks obsessively or with great attention to technical detail.

 

nerd

nərd/

noun

informal

noun: nerd; plural noun: nerds; noun: nurd; plural noun: nurds

1. a foolish or contemptible person who lacks social skills or is boringly studious.

   "one of those nerds who never asked a girl to dance"

   synonyms:

   bore; More informaldork, dweeb, Poindexter, nimrod, geek, drip, loser; techie "the nerds running the world's technology are certainly getting the last laugh"

   • a single-minded expert in a particular technical field.

     "a computer nerd"

      

Ouch, dictionary... you're not pulling any punches with the first definitions, are you? These definitions are certainly why dedicated fans are hesitant to embrace these words, but also why I keep pushing the positives hidden within.

 

And in this case, at the sad bottom of the list. Let's top it up, shall we?

 

Where geek is concerned, the obsession/passion is actually the distinction I can agree with, but I've seen language often deviate geek away from the 'computer' limitation. In fact, stripped down to its best, a geek is simply passionate about their hobbies, not one in particular. You can 'geek out' about a particular area, but it's not a restriction or even necessarily deep. I'd say that geeks are simply engaged in where they direct their attention and while they CAN be thorough, it's the simple act of being absorbed in it that counts. Geeks writing fanfic would be more inclined to experiment with possibilities than insist on facts.

As for nerd, again, bottom definition of a single minded expert in a technical field. Again, scratch technical since a fandom doesn't require technical base. Nerd is largely a designation given to the hyper-detail-oriented, the ones that DO develop single-minded obsessions. When you talk with the typical 'nerd' they are the ones most likely to get irritated or unable to resist correcting you when you contradict a fact. They might be a nerd in several or all areas they are interested in. Nerds writing fanfic would, of course, tend to be opposite of geeks; they would support facts more strongly than endeavor to bend or take liberties with the material.

The 'socially inept' part is always misleading in these. They aren't always general population level social but since passion and precision are areas that take a lot of devotion with time, they are often unaware of what hyper-social types would consider general knowledge. They are out of YOUR loop, but get them around their fandoms and good luck seeing any signs of awkwardness (or even getting them to shut up). Unless they're engaging in consuming those fandoms together, in which case, it can get pretty serious and silent. Yeah, they might not give a shit about fashion and be less than meticulous in hygiene, but this doesn't mean they're all uncoordinated slobs. 

So yes, when I use nerd or geek, my top meanings are usually this:

Geeks- passionate fans that enjoy participating in the possibilities and the enthusiasm.

Nerds- critical fans who file details, stricter to canon but still engaging in theoretical development of that area.

As far as what fandoms or interests or expertise qualify, I'm not sure you can exclude anything. You can have doll geeks/nerds, veggie geeks/nerds. Expertise and/or passion for a subject often gives people similar qualities that keep within the context.

In my experience, geeks are more likely to be accepting of new fans, simply because of the flexibility of their devotion. Nerds have the tendency to display more elitism and largely because they catalog and prioritize their devotion. A generalization nonetheless since I've known prickly geeks and chill nerds, so it really comes down to the individual in how sensitive they are to other fans.

I don't mind explaining myself when people seem to be offended or not on the same page. I'm really not insisting that my definitions even become the norm if someone thinks otherwise. I steer clear of labeling anyone directly until they know how I feel about certain labels and understand with more than my tone what is meant by it.

It's important that we create context even when a word is rather set in its definition, one that hasn't budged since it began. When we take liberties, it still means we should angle to drive the context. Poetry is quite different, just like music, where rhythm, rhyme, and structure is sometimes the higher or only priority rather than strict communication. If you read Eminem lyrics, they can come off as really silly, cheesy or stupid at times, but when you hear the way he chains and presents them, you suddenly understand why it's so important to prioritize what he does with them.

Words are everything to a writer. It can be intimidating to accept the responsibility of a risk to the rules, but worth it to establish what they mean to you, to guide the reader to that meaning as simply and interestingly as possible. I get when you're out to be a word-nerd (the rhyme is irresistible by itself) but it's worth it to infuse it with a little geek. Get passionate and experimental with the precision, even if it means keeping a journal to track what you play with on the side.

Nerd, geek, whatever you are, you can make it mean whatever you want. Every day, we redefine what it is to be man and woman, simply by being what we are regardless of the standards.

And fuck the socially inept part. Tell my grandma that I'm socially inept and you'll piss her off by making her laugh when she spits soda through her nose. She'll admit I'm weird or quirky or thoughtful, but my social choices are not due to ineptitude. They're just not limited to acceptability.

So, what's your favorite fan assignation? Do you like geek/nerd or are you sick of the stigma and go for a word like fan, aficionado, connoisseur, master-chief (if this is where you stop, you're a Halo geek/nerd in DEE-NAI-YAL!)? Drop your prestigious titles below!

The Sci-Fi Fantasy Battles

Science fiction isn't fantasy, if you believe the detractors. Yet to me, this is just nerd battles of denial among those gatekeepers and purists we must wade through in every fandom ever.

Science fiction can be fantasy.

Fantasy can be science-fiction.

But science fiction is based on a possible future while fantasy is sword and sorcery (I'm going with the simplest argument or we'll be here all century.)

Not wrong, but you know it's not wholly honest either. 

Science fiction is certainly about heavily exploring science, logic, possibility, droids, space operas... The future is certainly distinct from your medieval-based dragon and knight combo, but either argument is like stick a couple flags in the desert and considering it fully explored. The minute you walk it, you're in for a world of cacti and quicksand.

The thing is not every part of science fiction is cushy in its base of science and logic and some of the elements are purely fantasy. There are elements like the Spice in Dune or even elements/metals that don't exist and have properties that defy logic. It's not always a feasible possibility like space travel being as easy as a cab ride or touchscreens. Time travel and teleportation are very unlikely possibility that are essentially fantasy for that very reason.

Don't think I haven't seen the argument that they are based in the real world so that makes them science fiction. As resented as the genres are by purists on both sides, urban and dystopian fantasy is often largely and even exclusively based on what it meant to be our world. I know that science fiction is protected as being more technical less whimsy, but only the nerds make Star Wars technical forays in their free time and not all hardcore fans do more than just love the hell out of it for what it is. Fantasy nerds can ALSO be technical with building the logic. You can create dividing lines between reason and whimsy all you want but there is nothing in either genre that suggests they aren't perfectly comfortable bedfellows.

(I'm not using 'nerds' in a negative sense since I do enjoy nerdliness. I'm using the purest form here, which are simply the ones that dissect the fandom down to the nooks and crannies. In the same way that geeking is simply the passionate consumption of its existence.)

Fantasy, no matter how medieval or downright primal often evolves purely into the realms of sci-fi. Worlds change and timelines with horses and swords sometimes age into flying cars and ray guns. Purists of EITHER will brag about the infinite possibilities yet place some pretty absurd lines on what you can call the main or subgenre or twitch at combining them at all. People can be hardcore fans of Star Wars and Lord of the Rings alike, but god forbid they share the same spaces. Is it just information overload that keeps people from appreciating the blends?

Hard to say. Writers often cringe at the possibility of being compared to this writer or that, so the same must go for fandoms. I can admit I've had some pretty jarring moments of realization when I made parallels between my work and others, but really, my perceptions were not lines that everyone would draw and was it REALLY as bad as I thought?

In many ways, I believe the dread of comparison is that being better or worse does not work in your favor. Does sci-fi or fantasy do certain themes better and does it really matter? Fan-fiction exists to disrupt canon or satisfy a desire unmet in the original work. It's not meant to be better and most fanfic writers do so with reverence, not arrogance. While I would draw the line at monetizing it or deceiving others into calling it part of the original universe, I think the concept is flattering. Whether a writer is capable of original work or not is moot-- more often than not, they truly love and admire the work they're using and want to play there. As the creator-god in my worlds, I feel benevolent about people wanting to borrow my playground. Play away, but regard my rights to its existence.

Straying just a bit there, but I truly feel the same way about genre. I've never felt some purist guardianship over things I love. It's certainly disappointing when a series I like starts to go downhill. A series will still sell long after it loses its appeal for people and I'd never say it shouldn't. People still enjoying it should be able to without worrying that my dislike will ruin it. Most TV series lose me by the end of the third season. Most books I've enjoyed get a maximum of ten books before I'm done (generous since really, most don't hold me beyond 7). It's not that I don't still play in those worlds, it's mostly that I no longer want to be directed through it.

So, yes, I can be particular, but the difference is, I don't expect my preferences to hold some sway in what is canon to genre. In my mind, genres are meant to be tested and deviated and crossed. Purists want things to be easier for them, but it stifles the progression of ideas to maintain these things, to boot out all rule breakers for the preservation of their particular standards. It essentially makes it difficult for readers who are bored with safety, yet the divisions of genre required to separate everything also end up being a nightmare for the purists. They (general example here) don't want you to use the term 'fantasy' at all if it's not HIGH fantasy or it's not sci-fi if the technology is based in magic. Romance/erotica being allowed to use 'fantasy' at all really irks some of them, even though if you ask someone what their fantasy is, it's usually immediately thought to be a sexual question. Epic fantasy/romance themes like I write really suffer where purities are concerned because essentially it's both and neither where genres lay out the rules. That constant separation completely defeats any claim in infinite possibilities. You might like a LOT of possibilities, but once the boxes are checked, you've become particularly low-res in the scheme of things.

I get that 'you like what you like', but discovering a great read really shouldn't be easy. If it is, that's also where you tend to run into a lot of bored elitism, ones that always claim to always be able to spot the cream of the crop but on observation, really just latch onto debuts that the publishers themselves market the shit out of. They seem more concerned with being 'first' than really exhibiting why it's 'good' and if they do say why, it's never unique to what you'd find in EVERY review. In order to maintain they know their shit, they have some warped sense that parroting these things means that they essentially inspired all of it.

Phew, call me dark, but deflated egos are still a fun shit-show to watch. I am never the one to pop them, but I'm grabbing the popcorn when someone else does...

All right, I won't pick on the most disturbed of my fellow nerds/geeks. I'm sympathetic to what draws the need for an obsession, so I can't say I'm in to see people be completely destroyed by any upset to their traditions. Rattled, yes-- we all need a hard shake from time to time, but the science-fiction/fantasy wars will never end no matter how much more eloquently someone argues it than me. There will always exist a vocal minority that will gain and lose ground with opinions. Wouldn't have it any other way actually. On rare occasion, someone does have a point I haven't looked at, but not every new point is pivotal and most are absurd, Some 'new' points are just reworded or fancier analogies.

Just to shoot the shit, I've actually seen a vegan argument devolve into comparing detractors to pedophiles, cannibals, Nazis... Every argument was an exaggerated analogy, completely using emotion and personal morality to unsuccessfully shame. When their facts can be refuted with other facts (mass agriculture being just as harmful as mass factory farming), then it's back to an emotional temper tantrum. Really, once you've seen how they thrash in the net, everything else is just so tame by comparison.

All right, no more controversy. Fans of everything, you do you. And only you, maybe, because the world is meant to be a colorful place. Oranges and all (if you get how I struggle with orange, this makes more sense. I no longer hate orange, but it took some maneuvering).

Speaking of color (that was not an accidental transition), COLOR-PORN TIME!

As promised, we have the controversial Melchior.

For hair, I went with Persian Plum as the base. He's meant to have unnaturally red hair, but I wanted to steer away from anything to orange and go just a tad into a more purple/pink to cool and darken it. I searched through the crimsons for this one. I never saw him as the strictest redhead-- no green eyes, freckles, skin that doesn't tan but burn. I saw old blood, flame, and bitterness in him so his redheadedness is symbolic of atypical traits as well.

As for the eyes? I found freightliner blue for this one. I always find it fun when sliding around yields a 'named' color in the Encycolorpedia. I wanted yet another dark yet vivid color. In the book, I call it a cobalt blue, but the 'pedia's cobalts were a bit too light and purple for my Crayola memories of this color. I wanted the saturation to play well for this combination.

I don't typically write 'bad' villains. He wasn't born bad or rotten or necessarily IS, for that matter. When I look at these colors, I still see enough light to reflect a human rather than a trope. However you place a villain on the morality scale, creating a conflict in the reader can be a rewarding attempt.

I won't give away too much of Melchior's back story or story here. I consider many of his angles to be pivotal and it would be tough not to spoil anything since his meddling bleeds into so many plots, directly and indirectly.

There won't be any color-porn in the next post (although that's just not in the plans-- doesn't mean I won't change my mind). I don't just want to limit it to a way to talk about my characters at least. I may continue it as a color-for-inspiration theme. I've thought about random picture prompting as well, but I'll throw it around in my head, see what sticks. Either way, we'll see. I did schedule all of these posts within a two-day period, just to be able to push blogging aside to work on UnSung. The next posts might actually contain some updates on that and more since I'm squirreling away time to focus more tightly on those priorities. Will I have some sketches or progress to share? Not sure, but I like to attempt new things on a whim, so let's leave it up to that!

I like to end posts by posing questions, so back on the original topic-- do you think it's important to separate the distinction of sci-fi and fantasy? Marketing ploy, valuable tool for selection; what do you think? If you do feel strongly on genre separation, I'd especially love to hear it. It's the other side of my coin, so feel free to be the devil's advocate!