Geekitude: Introducing your geek next door

You see us every day. Those of us who stand out at all seem moderately normal, if a bit eccentric. You sit beside us in class and notice our Batman notebooks. You hear us through dorm room walls, shouting and swearing because we got hit by a blue turtle shell right before the finish line in MarioKart. You pass us on the sidewalk, as we engage in the great pirates vs. ninjas debate. We are Geeks. And whether you realize it or not, you could very well be one of us. But what is a Geek? Certainly we should not be embracing such a derogatory stereotype. After all, “Geek,” along with its typical compatriots “Nerd” and “Dork,” are commonly held to be insults. But I believe most negative connotations arise from misunderstanding the true meaning of Geekitude, its inherent value and the inescapable truth that – yes – we all have a little Geek inside, a hidden alter ego waiting for us to supply it with a telephone booth so it can don spandex and save the world.

For a useful definition of Geek, I will (embarrassingly) defer to an online quiz called “The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test,” which has produced, to my mind, the most satisfying distinctions between these often blurred categories (though I am comforting myself with the knowledge that these definitions are also mostly supported by the Oxford English Dictionary). Keep in mind that a true, whole person is usually not confined to only one category – overlaps are common and natural.

Nerd: One who is intellectual, academic and often fluent in mathematics and computer technology.

Dork: One who exhibits socially awkward tendencies.

Geek: One who is devoted to one or more particular pursuits, stereotypically of the science-fiction/fantasy/gaming variety (though it is true that one could also be a Jane Austen geek or a football geek).

With these definitions in mind, I would like to posit my own definition of the Geek: one who embraces an unabashed joy in constructed, imaginary or artificial worlds, scenarios, ideas or styles.

What does this mean? It means that because I bake Lembas bread on a regular basis, keep Mad Libs in my purse and have a Renaissance Faire costume hanging in my closet, I am completely and undeniably a geek. (Of course, I also have enough social awkwardness to make me at least half-dork as well.) But I embrace the label – not as a stereotype, but as an indication that I am not afraid to partake in the simple joy and pleasure of dueling with plastic lightsabers or joining a fellowship of noble college-student-warriors to explore the wild woods above Dunning’s Spring, wielding stick-swords and slaying dragons. (By the way, the dragon’s lair is inside the Ice Cave, so tread lightly thereabouts.)

Geekitude is all about these simple joys. Often, it is difficult to determine exactly how and why the joyful geek-wonder is awoken. As an English major, I know too well how to analyze an author’s style of writing to discover his or her methods in crafting the story and creating atmospheres of suspense, drama or heartache. But while these techniques can be gateways to the arrival of geek-wonder, the geek-wonder itself can be more difficult to explain. The feeling is hardly logical and largely ridiculous. For example, we can discuss Jane Austen’s critique of the cult of sensibility. We can also discuss how zombies are often used by creators to explore mindless crowd behavior or rampant consumerism. However, we would have a harder time discussing exactly why the novel “Pride and Prejudice and Zombies” is so mind-blowingly, hands-down awesome.

This simple, absurd joy is the defining factor of the geek. Whether or not it can be explained or quantified is immaterial. The why is eclipsed by the woah. I urge you all to allow yourselves to access the joyful pleasures of geek-wonder. Forget paltry things like dignity, and unleash your inner geek. Trust me – he has his spandex ready.