Binary Candies

The past few years, everyone seems to have started referring to themselves as a nerd or geek.

People seem to forget that in the past that these were derogatory terms. People who these terms were used on were outcasts.  80′s TV shows, Movies you see bullies beating up on them, and them being the butt of all jokes, and now everyone wishes to be them.

So, what does it mean to be a nerd or a geek?

According to Wikipedidia, a nerd is a person who avidly pursues intellectual activities, technical or scientific endeavors while a geek is a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things.  Now if you look at so many of these people who are now referring to themselves as nerds, most of them has no clue what the point of Calculus is, and then geeks, while they tend to have odd hobbies, almost never are overly obsessed over it.  What is it about this image that is so attractive then? It is doubtful that people are masochistic enough to to actually want to become like the stereotypical outcasts of the 80′s being thrown into the nearest trash can by the random jock, or is it that they would rather be trashee than the trasher.

People these days are far more in touch with the hardships of those who are not as fortunate as they are.  While the general public may not be ready to stand next to them and live out those hardships, they want to be able to relate.  By taking on the title, I think that people are taking steps towards accepting each others hardships.  Not only that but as they grow, people realize that the nerds and geeks of yesterday are the engineers, programmers, doctors and professors that lead the way into the future.

After a difficult childhood of being an outcast and taking years to accept that being different isn’t necessarily a bad thing, I have learned to hold these labels with pride.  And while it does bother me that so many people who hasn’t gone through the rite of passage just give themselves the title, it does make me happier to know that it is not only I, but society as a whole that has come to accept us.

But then again there may be an even bigger geek/nerd out there who thinks the same thing about me.  If you are out there and reading this, I am sorry that I am using this title while being unworthy.

Tags: Geek, Nerd, Normal Life