Geeks, Nerds, and Dorks: The Social Classes of the Unpopular

BANG! An eruption of laughter fills the vicinity as you desperately try to learn your surroundings. You feel as if the world has gotten much colder and darker as you realize your arms and legs are contorted around your body. Faint rays of light are slipping through three small slits in front of you. Suddenly it dawns on you, your in your school locker.

Such is the fate of the stereotypical high school unpopular kid, often called by the football jocks: a nerd. The funny thing is, nerds who find themselves in lockers often end up being a lot more successful than the very jocks who bullied him or her in school. Thanks to nerds, the age of consumer electronics and computers is upon us.

With the relatively recent (since the beginning of the internet) rise of mainstream digital entertainment and networking, a whole new generation of tech enthusiasts have been born, but I often come across disagreements about what to call them. Personally, I only see three social classes: Geeks, Nerds, and Dorks.

In today’s information age, being a “geek” is actually seen as a positive thing. Dictionary.com defines the word geek in 3 ways:

1 a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp. one who is perceived to be overly intellectual.
2 a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)
3 a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, as biting off the head of a live chicken.

As a self proclaimed geek, with what I feel is a generous amount of close friends, the first definition holds little ground. I’m not exactly sure where the third explanation is derived from, but I can assure you that I don’t bite the heads off live chickens.

So what’s left, is this:

Geek = a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)

Now this is pretty close to how I see myself in relation to the term “geek.” I am indeed a computer enthusiast, and I have an extensive and ever growing resource of knowledge about electronics, but what has caught my eye is the last part of the definition:

(a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders.)

As computing becomes more intertwined with our daily lives, the number of computer problems rises exponentially. With that “phenomenon” comes an increased demand for people with abilities to fix said problems. Suddenly, we find ourselves in situation where the once unpopular kid at school, is becoming the source of sought after computer solutions.

As these individuals move out of high school and on to college, they often choose a science or engineering based career path. Scientists and engineers are the foundation of our modern society. With that said, geeks are becoming to be known as an elite group, often far surpassing the stereotypical jocks of their education days. I don’t know about you, but this seems to be a good thing.

With an increase of power, also comes the desire to stand out (nothing new here, it’s human nature). Now that geeks have a status, many are reluctant to share it. They have found their niche in society so when non-geeks use the term “geek,” actual geeks tend not to like that.

It’s not that we don’t like being called geeks (remember, I call myself one), but we would rather prefer to use the term as our own social caller, as to identify ourselves with others of similar interest and expertise.

So here is my definition:

Geek = A computer expert or enthusiast at the top of the technologically proficient social status ladder.

In other words: an extremely tech savvy person who also has the necessary abilities to be social with the rest of society.

I’m going to cut right to the chase about nerds. Nerds are essentially geeks lacking in social skills. These are people who unfortunately still get shoved into lockers. Since they aren’t really prone to communication with the outside world, I put them on the bottom of the previously described social ladder. This affects a small number of today’s “tech enthusiasts” out there, but we all know someone who fits that description.

So then what’s the middle ground? Well, I call them dorks. Dorks are people with geeky tendencies but their lives aren’t as intertwined with technology. These may be people who love using and talking about their computer, but not so much about how they work or how to fix them.

A quick recap:

Geek = an extremely tech savvy person who also has the necessary abilities to be social with the rest of society.

Dork = a person with geeky tendencies but their life isn't as intertwined with technology.

Nerd = a geek lacking in social skills.

There you have it: my brief rundown on the social classes of the traditionally unpopular group. You may also look at what I’ve just said this way: Now you have some helpful tips on how to address your computer repair guy properly.

I hope this clears up the debate between tech enthusiasts and the rest of society about who falls into which “unpopular” social class.

Until next time,

EE

Tags: dorks, eengineer, geek, geeks, nerds, unpopular

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Comment by Glenn on July 12, 2009 at 7:20pm: I will "classify" myself as falling somewhere between a Geek and a Nerd, but as far as being "Unpopular" classes, I think you said it yourself...those among the "Popular" (I classify it as pseudo-popular) now come to us with their hat in their hand when something or other of their tech products is totally screwed up usually by their own hand, through their own ignorance.

I submit to you that the football athletes and "beautiful people" are the unpopular class. The only ones who define their popularity are they themselves. Did you like them? After what they did to you, did you consider them desirable to be around? I sure didn't. Popularity (or lack thereof) is in the eye of the beholder.

I suggest to you that we, the geeks, nerds, and yes, even the dorks, are the popular class of people. By your own admission we are now not only popular, but a hot item. I think we were then, too, at least from my point of view.

Don't mind me...I'm trying out for "Revenge of the Nerds V". :-D

Comment by Bret Spector on July 12, 2009 at 3:35pm: Very good post. I thought that a dork was just a more annoying person than everybody else, but I guess that's wrong. lol.

Comment by John C on July 12, 2009 at 12:50am: I was like this at one point. Just because I knew more than those that played football, I got bullied it's as if they had a fear of knowledge or something like that.

But you know what after a while I earned respect of everyone because I wouldn't take none of it anymore, and I'm glad people have shown that respect for me.

I totally agree with this post, I would fall under "Geek" I was a "Nerd" but I've changed for the better.
fair enough my social skills could use a little TLC here and there but overall you can actually talk to me which is good.

Comment by 802DRother on July 11, 2009 at 11:28pm: True, this should be on the giant Wikipedia

Comment by Cookenstein on July 11, 2009 at 8:37pm: This should be in Wikipedia!!!!

Comment by Gavin Roskamp on July 11, 2009 at 12:22pm: Totally agreed. I've got plenty of people who fall into each of the categories. For example, I'm the geek of the house. (and neighborhood (and town (there are only 27 people in my town lol))) I have a 50-something year old uncle who is a complete nerd. Like not even today's nerd, he's like old-school nerd. Wears the white shirt and black pants everywhere, has the huge glasses, has pens in the breast pocket, you get the idea. Then of course there are the dorks. I've got friends in school who just don't socialize with people enough and they would prefer to be in a corner reading a book. In my opinion there are other types of dorks. For example, my spastic friend who pretty much acts like she's on a sugar high all day every day. She's a dork.

So yeah, great post, I need to forward to some of my friends who don't get why I call myself a geek instead of a nerd.

Comment by Dan on July 11, 2009 at 8:57am: Pretty fair assessment. But, at my age I just don't care about classes, ratings, social distinctions, being 'in' or being PC (politically Correct). On the almighty Importance-o-meter it's about a 1. LOL!
Dan

Comment by HonRevJoWazzoo on July 11, 2009 at 7:55am: Great post, but I view a little differently. I think that a Dork is at the bottom of the food chain. Yes - Good to be a Geek...an exalted postion these days. Yes Nerd is a Geek lacking social skills. Dork on the other hand is a, well, a Dork :-)) Ususally a luzer.

There are also a lot of other terms with less usage: lamer, luser (loozer or l00zer), kluebie, kluzer etc. And then there is the Hacker. Unfortunatley connotations have made that a bad thing. But back in the day, many of today's Geeks would have been a traditional Hacker.

Comment by Kim on July 11, 2009 at 7:24am: For centuries, a geck or geek was nothing but "a loser, a fool, a simpleton." The word in its various pronunciations was established in the English language as long ago as 1515, attested by the line "He is a foole, a sotte, and a geke also." But in the late twentieth century, Americans made something else of geek.

Early in the century, we started to use geek to mean "a performer in a carnival sideshow, a supposed savage or wild man." Researcher David W. Maurer wrote in 1931, "The word is reputed to have originated with a man named Wagner of Charleston, W. Va., whose hideous snake-eating act made him famous."

The stage was thus set for the next American evolution of geek as another kind of person, one whose talents were concealed behind an awkward exterior.