I’m not completely socially inept, so according to this diagram I think I fall into the geek category. My wife will probably disagree, though. But yes, I believe I am obsessed with some things and I like to think of myself as fairly intelligent.  The dictionary defines geek in a number of ways, most of which I think are quite harsh. I must travel in different circles, but “A person regarded as foolish, inept, or clumsy,” and “a disgusting and repellent person; a creep. (Rude and derogatory.)” don’t really describe what I understand to be a geek. Geeks aren’t necessarily clumsy or disliked. In my own opinion, these people are better described as dorks.

I’ve always thought of socially inept people to be dweebs. The diagram above describes dweebs as intelligent, but socially inept so I think it’s right on the money. A nerd is described in the dictionary as “an intelligent but single-minded person obsessed with a nonsocial hobby or pursuit” or “a person who is single-minded or accomplished in scientific or technical pursuits but is felt to be socially inept”, which I feel is accurate. Nerds and their dork cousins are usually socially excluded, the difference being that dorks are not smart enough to realise the mess their life is in.

Better definitions of geek include “a computer expert or enthusiast (a term of pride as self-reference, but often considered offensive when used by outsiders)” but truth be told you’ll find geeks in any area of interest: sports geeks, car geeks, surfing geeks are all intelligent and obsessed with their field but are usually socially articulate enough to share their obsession and have a life outside their field.

Then there’s the whole argument of what being “social” means. Is the kid who spends most his waking ours playing WoW organising his friends to perform raids (or whatever they do) being unsociable? He’s communicating with and enjoying the company (albeit digitally) of other people, or is that not enough? I’m sometimes accused of not being sociable, not talking to people enough etc because I spend more time online than I should. But I’d suggest that most of what I do is social interaction, and I talk via email or forum or whatever with many people that I’d otherwise not have a chance of talking to. But unless you do it face to face with a beer in your hand I guess it doesn’t count.