Your nerdiness

[Umbran]

Have you gotten more or less nerdy with time/age?

Leaving a lot of wiggle room for the vague definitions here - I'd say my nerdiness/geekitude has rested at about the same level throughout my life, though my methods of expression have changed.

If I use Greg K's definitions - my dorkitude has reduced greatly since I was a child. So, in many situations, my geekitude is not terribly noticeable.

Is how nerdy/non-nerdy you consider yourself in agreement with how you think others see you?

That depends upon what "others" you're talking about. Folks generally appear different ways to different people - how I look to my friends is different from how I appear to coworkers, and that's different from the way I look to a complete stranger on the street.

 

[Umbran]

Why people ruin their lives over labels is beyond my comprehension.

Evolutionary psychology is a sketchy science, at best, but here it seems to apply...

Humans are social creatures, downright tribal. We are not "lone wolves" and don't survive well in isolation. Our brains developed in the context of living as part of a group - so, we are wired to think that survival requires we get along and fit in. That drive can be terribly strong.

 

[Cor Azer]

Couldn't tell you if I'm more or less nerdy as I age, but I am more well rounded, if only because of my job and family.

But then, I'm one of those who doesn't really care about the general population's opinion of me; my wife and kid's love me as I am, and that's all I need.

 

[Elf Witch]

I was doing some more thinking about this and I realized that in some ways I have never really fit in anywhere.

Back in the 70s and 80s I was very involved in literary and Trek cons. I went to my first World Con in 1977 with my then husband. I had been a Trek fan since I was a child and I loved reading SF and fantasy. Robert Heinlein was my favorite SF author back then.

But because of the way I dressed everyone just assumed when they met me that I was a mundane who just happened to accompany her fannish husband to events.

I am a girly girl I love make up, beautiful clothes, jewelery and have an obsession for shoes. By the time I was sixteen I had mastered the art of liquid eyeliner and false eyelashes.

Most of the woman I met in fandom where very anti girly girl they viewed make up as a trapping of Madison avenue and an insult to intelligent woman. So until they got to know me they looked down their noses at me.

This started to change as the Goth movement became popular because they used a lot of make up.

But even though I dressed like mundane woman I often saw them give me the weird look when I mentioned some SF book I was reading or that I was playing DnD that weekend. But they got to know me and I didn't seem like one of those weird geeky people so I was okay.

It is not so bad now a days there is not as big a divide between woman who like girly stuff and those who don't at least not among younger woman. It is still there with woman my age.

It is the same with my religion. I am Wiccan but I don't wear a lot of the trappings. I don't have a lot of occult jewelry and as one of my friends told me I dress and look like a soccer mom. So again when I met new people who are Wiccan they seem taken back that I am too. The same with non Wiccans I have had them say but you seem so normal.

I used to own a horse and I barrel raced so the horse people I hung out with for the most part where very country. They were conservative republicans, country western music fans and most were some kind of protestant.

I got along fine with them and most who got to know me were a little taken back at first to find a bleeding heart liberal Wiccan, SF and gaming geek had infiltrated their group , but decided that I was actually ok for one of them.

It is not that I make a conscious effort to fit in or to appear more mainstream nor do I hide my religion and my hobbies. I am just being me.

I have learned one thing from my life that the old saying not to judge a book by its cover is kind of true.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have learned one thing from my life that the old saying not to judge a book by its cover is kind of true.

I have SO many stories along those lines...like the Judge who dressed like a biker. And another one who dressed like her secretary.

Or from my Mom, the guy who got on a plane and sat next to her (devout Catholic) dressed like a quintessential goth/vampire type...and was over 6'5" and 300lbs. This made her nervous, so she didn't make eye contact. They got in the air, and she noted that he was clearly a nervous flyer, and was shuffling rapidly through some cards in his hands. She glanced sideways, and noticed that they were prayer cards from my Mom's favorite Church in New Orleans- indeed, one she not only visited every time, but had just been to the day previous. He was saying the prayers, rapidly and repeatedly in order to help him stay calm.

IOW, the guy was every bit a devout Catholic as she. Once she realized this, her trepidation vanished and she helped him get through the flight.

 

[ourchair]

I don't really identify with geek or nerd, insofar as people in my neck of the woods understand it, insofar as people I've just met try to make a lot of assumptions about me because of it.

People know I run and play a lot of D&D 4th Edition, yet many of them assume that I have a long love for fantasy literature (I don't.) People know I played a lot of PC games from the late 80s to early 2000s, yet many assume that I have a storied relationship with online multiplayer culture (I don't.) A lot of people know I am an avid reader and the associate editor of a bookworm magazine, but they assume that I am an enthusiast of literature (I'm not.)

I don't take offense or umbrage at these assumptions (okay maybe a little) but it's these mistaken assumptions that make me averse to the idea of being labeled a certain kind of person if only because there's an unquestioning series of IF A THEREFORE B propositions being made about me because of the labels people try to fit me into.

 

[nedjer]

Being led towards the conclusion that geeks, goths and dorks are decidedly cool.

Geek covers extreme, player-choicy sports and kit like tablets, which are thought cool when F1 (yawn) is on them.

Goths are largely explained by Little Apple Dolls and host outstanding Halloween parties.

And dorks, basically more substance than style, which ain't so bad.

 

[innerdude]

Playing D&D, (or any RPG), is generally considered a pretty nerdy hobby. I think we all admit that is the perception. And considering that many of us cross over with comic books, sci-fi/fantasy novels, and various computer games, we may hit numerous "nerdy" points on the curve.

Have you gotten more or less nerdy with time/age?

Is how nerdy/non-nerdy you consider yourself in agreement with how you think others see you?

Bullgrit

I think I consider myself somewhat of a "crossover nerd."

True, I play RPGs; I have a long history of video gaming, I love board games, read fantasy and sci-fi lit, and majored in English in college.

But I'm also an avid basketball, volleyball, golf, and tennis player, I'm a huuuge SportsCenter/ESPN junky, have rappelled several canyons in Zion National Park in Utah, and love watching sports on TV.

It's actually funny, because I'll try and have sports conversations with my gaming friends sometimes, and they'll just give me the blank stare "Huh?"

Then at work, where I'm perceived somewhat as the "English tech writer guy," they'll give me weird stares when I start talking QB ratings and LeBron vs. Dirk. "Huh, I didn't even know you liked sports."

It's actually really fun; I feel equally at home amongst both groups (my literature-nerdness is another story entirely ).

I've always liked PirateCat's contention that if he can't have an interesting, engaging conversation with somebody about something OTHER than gaming, he probably wouldn't like gaming with them.

 

[nai_cha]

I've only been playing tabletop RPGs for a little over a year (before I honestly thought roleplaying meant something along the lines of setting up a livejournal account for Harry Potter to pretend to get it on with a fake account of Naruto or some such), but as soon as I found out about gelatinous cubes I vociferously argued for being able to instantly kill them with the use of fresh pineapple chunks. So I guess I've always been nerdy and RPGs just gave me another outlet for my nerdiness? Then again if being nerdy or geeky also means "not interested in sports" then that's not going to fly either since I initially thought D&D 4e was written by a football enthusiast. (Striker? Defender? Controller? They should have had a goalkeeper too and have done with it)

I suppose I'm a nerd in the sense that I love certain areas of science and science jokes, and I'm a geek about certain things (Asian films, Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, Hunger Games, fashion, some forms of literature, fanfiction GOOD LORD FANFICTION) but not some of the stereotypical geeky things? Whatevs. I like what I like and it's nice to meet other people who like them too.

I am a girly girl I love make up, beautiful clothes, jewelery and have an obsession for shoes. By the time I was sixteen I had mastered the art of liquid eyeliner and false eyelashes.

You have to tell me how you do this because despite being an amateur makeup artist when I was in school, I can only do liquid eyeliner on other people, never on myself And don't say you're obsessed: there is no such thing as too many shoes. NONE.

 

[Elf Witch]

I've only been playing tabletop RPGs for a little over a year (before I honestly thought roleplaying meant something along the lines of setting up a livejournal account for Harry Potter to pretend to get it on with a fake account of Naruto or some such), but as soon as I found out about gelatinous cubes I vociferously argued for being able to instantly kill them with the use of fresh pineapple chunks. So I guess I've always been nerdy and RPGs just gave me another outlet for my nerdiness? Then again if being nerdy or geeky also means "not interested in sports" then that's not going to fly either since I initially thought D&D 4e was written by a football enthusiast. (Striker? Defender? Controller? They should have had a goalkeeper too and have done with it)

I suppose I'm a nerd in the sense that I love certain areas of science and science jokes, and I'm a geek about certain things (Asian films, Harry Potter, A Song of Ice and Fire, Hunger Games, fashion, some forms of literature, fanfiction GOOD LORD FANFICTION) but not some of the stereotypical geeky things? Whatevs. I like what I like and it's nice to meet other people who like them too.



You have to tell me how you do this because despite being an amateur makeup artist when I was in school, I can only do liquid eyeliner on other people, never on myself And don't say you're obsessed: there is no such thing as too many shoes. NONE.

The first time I came up against a cube I was asking if I could toss cherries into it. None of the guys at the table understood my reference at all.

Where sports are concerned I have noticed it to be a mix. Some of the people I have played with were very active doing things like rock climbing and martial arts but they were not into watching team sports. Two of the guys I play with now are huge sports fans and follow both college and pro sports.

Some were like me they just don't care. I don't mind going to a game or watching a game with a group of friends but to just sit and watch a game by myself is boring.

I cannot put liquid eyeliner or any eyeliner on other people that well. Part of it is being kind of scared working close to another person's eye.

The trick I use for myself is to use liquid eyeliners that have thin brushes. Then I gently pull on my eye so it is taut. Then I draw the line starting at the corner and working my way out. Since liquid is so unforgiving if you screw up to stop my hand from shaking I brace my elbow on my make up table. Then it is important to remember not to blink to give it time to dry.