We are all ugly and alone...

[Rel]

I won't go into details about the "pleasant actions" that were assigned to the d20, but let's just say if he rolled a 1, he got a chaste kiss and if he rolled a 20 he got AHEM... a romantic crit.

So, do you have like DR 10/piercing? <- That's my geekiest moment, right there folks!

 

[Umbran]

I dont like to label myself, or have other people label me.

Unfortunately, you're a member of a species with brains that work off patterns - which means archetypes and groupings are natural ways for people to think.

The problem isn't with being labelled - it is with how folks choose to use the label. The label is a tool, and it can be used for either good or ill. While I understand that you've been on the short end of that particular stick, people are going to continue waving it around, so we have to deal with it.

I'm a human being.

But that's a label right there, isn't it? You didn't seem to mind applying that one to yourself.

 

[Rel]

I, for one, resent be labeled as a "human being". I prefer the term "meat popsicle". I'm a geeky meat popsicle though.

 

[reedu21]

My gaming friends and I used to tell one another to "Roll Initiative" whenever we'd have a disagreement. Occasionally we used the term with our co-workers and boss at the pizza joint. Those were the good old days.

 

[JamesDJarvis]

Geeks and Nerds are two different breeds of cat. A lot of folks here should really know the difference. Nerds do nerdy things to amuse and enlighten themselves while geeks do things which are amusing to others but others would never do on purpose.

Nerds know what all the Trek rank insignias and uniforms look like.

Geeks get into arguments in cons with each other while wearing trek uniforms about said insignias.

 

[Merlion]

Why waste time disliking the term? When you spend your effort railing against those who would label you, you give them power. If you embrace the names they offer up for you, you deny such people that power

I think you misunderstand. Its not just...or even primarily, those who want to use these things in a derogatory insulting way.

Its simply that I dont like self-limiting. I dont want to say "I am this" because in truth, I am many things.

By extension, I dont like having those limits applied by others either. When someone says that your a "geek" or a "nerd" or a "jock" or a "brain" or any of the other little cultural labels (most of which come out of our "education" system), they are generally putting you in a very small box, and will be surprised, disbelieving, angry or various other negative reactions if you do or say anything that doesnt fit into that box.

You can be whatever you want. Me? I'm a geek.

And, in the way people define that word, so am I...but that is not all that I am, and so I dont limit myself to being "a geek". I am myself, with many aspects, interests, thoughts, feelings and actions.

Unfortunately, you're a member of a species with brains that work off patterns - which means archetypes and groupings are natural ways for people to think.

True, and oftentimes thats good. However I am also a member of a species with conciousness and free will, that therefore can decide when grouping may not be the best aproach. Such as when dealing with other people. Nobody really fits into the neat little boxes some people insist on trying to put others into.

The problem isn't with being labelled - it is with how folks choose to use the label. The label is a tool, and it can be used for either good or ill. While I understand that you've been on the short end of that particular stick, people are going to continue waving it around, so we have to deal with it.

For me, the problem is with being labeled, by others or especially by myself. Even if it is used in a good way, its still a label, a box, a limitation. Its also inacurate, because no label can encompass everything that I am.

Also, again, I havent really had the term used against my that much, in terms of being used as an outright insult. My parents didnt subject me to our "education" system, so I wasnt usualy in sitautions involving abuse that I couldnt get away from...but I have had people use it at me in a way that, while not pejorative, was so sterotypical and limiting that it may as well have been


And, one only has to deal with it, as an adult anyway, if one chooses to.

But that's a label right there, isn't it?

In the very broad sense yes...in the sense relative to this discussion, no not at all. "human" is my species. It is a physical designation, just like saying I have brown eyes isnt a "label" its a physical fact.

its not a cultural label implying sterotypes and limitations.



I have no problem with people using these kinds of terms in a positive sense if thats what they want to do. But I dont self identify or attempt to place myself using limited single terms. If someone wants to know about me, I will tell them about me. Theres no one or two labels that will describe who or what I am.

I am *me*, no more, and no less.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Its simply that I dont like self-limiting. I dont want to say "I am this" because in truth, I am many things.

Geekitude is like alignment: it is descriptive, not proscriptive. It is not all you are, merely a shorthand for some things.

One could call me as geek. Even though I work out regularly and date models and enjoy a Yankees game and get in bar brawls (woo!) and eat steak and have a tan and do hundreds of other non-geeky things.

But in as much as I'm spending my day talking on a D&D website and working on Final Fantasy Zero and wearing some bent glasses and browsing Slashdot, I've got geek qualities.

Just because someone "is a jock" doesn't mean they don't enjoy musical theatre. It's descriptive, not proscriptive.

 

[Merlion]

Geekitude is like alignment: it is descriptive, not proscriptive

Except that when the vast majority of people use it, it IS proscriptive. Same with all the other sterotype-based labels and boxes people use.


And, I am an accuracy nut. To me, saying "I am a geek" is a false thing to say, because while it may be true, its only a small part of the truth.

 

[The Shaman]

I realized I was a geek when I started posting on gaming websites.

 

[STARP_JVP]

Geeks and Nerds are two different breeds of cat. A lot of folks here should really know the difference. Nerds do nerdy things to amuse and enlighten themselves while geeks do things which are amusing to others but others would never do on purpose.

Nerds know what all the Trek rank insignias and uniforms look like.

Geeks get into arguments in cons with each other while wearing trek uniforms about said insignias.

See, I'd rank a nerd as worse than a geek. I'd say that a geek is someone who plays D&D and watches Doctor Who. A nerd is someone who thinks he's an elven Time Lord.

Also, I'd like to point out the major difference between the two:

Nerds are smart.