Sometimes I wonder: have I been a geek? Or am I not?
Maybe...maybe...I am 70%. But, it also concerns which field I'm considering. When it comes to Computing stuffs (excluding Math and Probability and First Order Logic), I'm good at picking things up quickly. I can understand them more easily (in most cases). Perhaps my brain is wired for absorbing these stuffs—stuffs with little to memorize but stuffs that can be re-reasoned when needed.
Where does 30% of the geekness of me go? Well...even in the same computer science field, there are some stuffs (I estimate them 30%) that I can't just simply get easily or I could not even get after a long long time. So for them, I reserve 30%.
This is where I am good at. But, just because I'm good at CS modules does not mean that I'm the god of all. I can't be good at everything. A "B" for accounting can explain I'm as good as an ordinary students (like everyone else who are suffering from CS modules also) in other areas. More than that, my LSM modules are not giving me the best grades as well. A "C+" in a module probably explains I'm really not good when it comes to having to memorize a lot of things.
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Hmm...in this case, I have all along been taking a geek as someone good at something. So, I think everyone is a geek at something. If you are good at Math, you may be a Math geek; if you are good at sport, shall I say you are a, say, Tennis geek?
But, a nerd, I take, is someone who has gone extreme at something. I'm not sure if it's a right meaning, but I take it as it is. So, it's more important not to become a nerd from a geek. If you are really into DJ, then you may be a DJ geek (yeah..a geek coz you can "create" music that people just love and this is a rare ability) but when you bring that DJ thing into every word you say, perhaps you have become a DJ nerd.
So, maybe it's right to say that it's OK to be a geek at work (yeah, some work really need your expertise) or at school classes, but it's necessary (or good) to leave the geekiness behind when you are not at work or not with people with the same interest as you, or when you are people with little or no interest in the area where you are geek at.
Looking at myself, I wanna ask if I have been some percent of a nerd? Have I gone extreme at my interest? Have I been taking it so seriously? If I read on some extra computer science topics (maybe they will be useful for my job), am I a nerd?
As far as I know, I don't discuss these matters unless my colleagues are also from that field and they would like to share their knowledge or unless the other party is so keen on it. (If you ask me one thing and I answer and if you keep asking and listening, I would probably take it as you are interested in it and I will explain it at length coz I don't believe in keeping knowledge from someone who wants it. So, if you are not keen on it but happen to be asking me something and I explain at length, plz just tell me to stop at an "appropriate" point;
appropriate point coz I might get awkward if you suddenly stop it.) And, I keep things personal when I am with personal friends (and close friends and a special friend), or at least I try my best to (coz sometimes I might find something is really interesting and may benefit my friends as general knowledge, and then I would share it a bit).
This is what I see myself though. But, where does the fine delineation exist between a geek and a nerd? I want some fair and good criticisms on what I have been and I will try to improve on them.
If just being good at CS modules is defined as being a geek and a nerd at the same time, I just wanna be someone who takes one minutes to get the answer of 23 * 34. Or I'd rather study a different major (a Business major perhaps) and not do well in it.
