Why You Treat Me Like a Dog?: Nerd, Geek or Dork

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

This afternoon, one of the nurses I work with pointed out to me that he was a geek because the first page he opened the newspaper to was an ad for Fry's, a gadget and electronics store. I told him I actually thought that made him a nerd, and we began a discussion about what the difference was. We really couldn't arrive at a decision, so I decided to look it up when I got home.

From Wikipedia, a nerd is someone "who is perceived to have above-average intelligence and whose interests (often in science and mathematics) are not shared by mainstream society." Whereas a "geek is essentially a person who is fascinated, perhaps obsessively, by obscure or very specific areas of knowledge and imagination." The lines dividing a geek from a nerd seem blurry and difficult to me. Furthermore, in this day and age, does an interest in gadgetry and electronics make someone any different from the mainstream? Perhaps, when carried to an extreme.

In my research, of course, I came across a test that I hoped would help distinguish for myself at least whether or not I was a geek or a nerd. To make matters more complicated, the test I found also included dork as an option. Dork is defined as a person who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions. My results:

Pure Nerd
69 % Nerd, 47% Geek, 47% Dork

So there you have it. For some reason, I always saw myself as more of a geek. Maybe that's because that's what they told me I was in high school. It turns out that nerdiness, geekiness and dorkiness can all coexist. It is possible to be a little of all three. If this post wasn't enough to prove it, I now have proof documented by rigorous testing that my nerdiness predominates. I trust that nerdy traits would predominate in most bloggers, as the act of blogging is in and of itself a nerdy trait. Funny thing is, after re-reading this post, I feel most like a dork. Go figure.

- posted by wanderer @ 10:35 PM

Comments:

Joe Normal
39 % Nerd, 43% Geek, 8% Dork

Wanderer: couldn't resist taking the test...that's my results.

How boring, just a normal girl (who would have thunk it)

# posted by

cruisin-mom : 2/23/2006 9:16 AM

Pure Nerd
60 % Nerd, 17% Geek, 43% Dork

I suspected I'm [still] a nerd. I was correct in my assumption; is that nerdy or what?

# posted by

torontopearl : 2/23/2006 11:50 AM

Pure Nerd
86 % Nerd, 21% Geek, 21% Dork

I am a complete and total nerd. But I already knew that! :)

# posted by

Stacey : 2/24/2006 7:07 AM

Wow, this is humiliating..I'm the only normal one in the bunch ;)

# posted by

cruisin-mom : 2/24/2006 10:12 AM

CM - yeah you are kinda weird for being normal... My wife came out "Nerd" as well. This is so cool, the Nerds are beating the Joe Normals. It does worry me, however, that I also had the highest percentage of "geek" and "dork" out of anyone. Oh well...

Thanks for the visits Pearl and Stacey!

NERD! NERD! NERD!

# posted by

wanderer : 2/24/2006 4:20 PM

Yeah, but who wins the Saturday nite movie contest everytime? ;)

# posted by

cruisin-mom : 2/24/2006 6:39 PM

At 86% I think I have just crowned myself "Queen Nerd." :)

# posted by

Stacey : 2/25/2006 10:49 PM

thanks Mirty, I need someone on my side!

# posted by

cruisin-mom : 2/26/2006 10:25 AM

Mirty - interesting, based on what I know you do for a living, I would agree you should qualify as a nerd. Cruisin' Mom also blogs too much to be that normal...

I look at it as good news. The test is flawed! Maybe I'm not as big a nerd-geek-dork that the test says I am! But then again, it does seem right on with regard to Stacey the math whiz nerd that she is...

# posted by

wanderer : 2/26/2006 10:20 PM

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