The Herd & The Nerd

"Be nice to nerds. Chances are you’ll end up working for one. "

-- Bill Gates

I’d always sorta considered myself a nerd. Or a geek. Though I never thought of either as a negative connotation. But, lately, I’ve encounter more than one person who cast the label around as an insult, or generally conceded it was an allegedly bad thing to be considered nerdy.

I subscribe to a completely different perspective. But, I guess, like most labels, each person can determine its value and power in their own mind. And a pervading atmosphere can make some people more susceptible to group-think, or the nuances of a given region.

I listen to a lot of podcasts (a nerdy pastime), and I heard the author of American Nerd: The Story of My People interviewed in an episode of American Public Media's THE STORY. The author had some very specific ideas about what constitutes a nerd, and I often found myself disagreeing with him.

I've always intuitively felt there was some manner of distinction between nerds and geeks. In my mind, the nerd is someone dedicated to knowledge and who somewhat (or wholly) eschews a deep connection to sports or outdoorsman activities -- except, perhaps, bird-watching. And, really, that's outdoors, but not outdoorsman. Bookish. Nebbish, even. Content to forego (or oblivious to) the trappings of the popular clique. Also, I think nerds find solace in worlds outside the mainstream and becoming fascinated with comic books, or science fiction television, or J.R.R. Tolkien, or anime, or message boards in the corners of cyberspace.

The geek, I figure, is more of a techno-nerd. Able to program computers and up on the latest gadgetry and technology. Dedicated to scientific awareness.

Sure, the two share a common subset. But, being one is not necessarily being the other, in my opinion. But, being either is a good formula for success. Perhaps not social stardom, but often career/life happiness.

And I'm at a loss to comprehend why some members in society view nerds disparagingly. What's not to love?

I realize there are competing definitions out there. And it is hard to pin down a thing when there are ten different descriptions of it across the crowd of a dozen people. But, I still assume I’m a nerd. Or part nerd. But, not so much geeky. Though perhaps infected with an attenuated toxin of geekiness.

Or maybe I'm just a dork.