Day 1 of 30 (in 30 days of Geek) – Why do you consider yourself a geek?

This is Day 1 of 30 (in 30 days of Geek)…

Why do you consider yourself a geek?

Wikipedia says:

The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from “a computer expert or enthusiast” to “a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts”, with a general pejorative meaning of “a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to be overly intellectual”

I can’t say I am much of a carnival performer, and I have not often been accused of performing sensationally morbid or disgusting acts, but I have certainly been accused of being a computer expert or enthusiast 🙂

While I certainly possess a bit of intellect, I hope I am not generally perceived as a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person!

My personal feeling is that a lot of people do not think of Geeks this way any more.

In a 2007 interview on The Colbert Report, Richard Clarke said the difference between nerds and geeks is “geeks get it done.”

Wikipedia went on to say:

Although being described as a geek tends to be an insult, the term has recently become more complimentary, or even a badge of honor, within particular fields. This is particularly evident in the technical disciplines, where the term is now often a compliment, denoting extraordinary skill.

I think this is a bit closer to the truth.

Cheers,

— Ding

About andy dingfelder

Andy is a CISO/CTO in the fintech sector with over 20 years of experience in Software Delivery and Team Leadership in multiple industry domains. Master's Degree (MPA) in Public Administration Information Systems and over 10 years of board governance experience for multiple organisations. Full bio is available at: http://www.linkedin.com/in/dingfelder and links available at https://linktr.ee//dingfelder or follow him on Twitter at http://twitter.com/dingfelder. Andy lives in the Wellington region, New Zealand with his wife and two daughters.
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