Thursday, August 17, 2006

Clarifying Nerd Geek Dork

So, I thought there was a need to clarify the complete issue about the difference between a geek a nerd and a dork.
But googling about it, It seems there are several websites already dedicating to clarifying this. The problem is, non-geek or non-nerds don't seem to check this sites ... for obvious reasons I imagine... and so they keep using the terms as synonyms.

I found the best test to be the one in this dating? site.
It is a LONG test 60 questions, and the best one is #58 if you don't cheat, if you go directly to that one then the question is ruined, also unfortunately to see the result you have to be a member.

:(

I windup joining just to see it, and I was please with their definitions but amazed at this result "43 % Nerd, 56% Geek, 34% Dork"
uhm... I thought it is supposed to add to 100%. I think the dork percentage is the wrong one and should be lower.

And to finally clarify the difference, I will concur to what they said at the end of my test:

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Geek, earning you the title of: Pure Geek.

It's not that you're a school junkie, like the nerd, and you don't really stand out in a crowd, like the dork, you just have some interests that aren't quite mainstream. Perhaps it's anime, perhaps it's computers, perhaps it's bottlecaps, perhaps it's all of those and more. Your interests take you to events and gatherings that are filled with people you find unusual and beyond-the-pale, but you don't quite consider yourself "of that crowd." Instead, you consider yourself to be fairly normal.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

:) very interesting! congratulations on being a pure geek! i may do the test after my meeting. i'll let you know the result if i do it... btw, i think the percentages mean that you are more geek, for example, than 56% of people. so it doesn't need to add to 100.

styx said...

Yes, the reason for the overlap is explained at the end of the test. In theory you could score higher than 100% of the people on nerdiness, 100% higher on geekosity and 100% higher on dork points.


I also took the test and I got the same level of geekiness of my brother, but more nerdiness and more dorkiness... then again the test also says that it compares me with other people my age, so maybe I am just more geek than the average person my age, but compared to a 25 year old, I might have scored lower!!

69 % Nerd, 56% Geek, 43% Dork
For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored better than half in Nerd and Geek, earning you the title of: Modern, Cool Nerd.

Nerds didn't use to be cool, but in the 90's that all changed. It used to be that, if you were a computer expert, you had to wear plaid or a pocket protector or suspenders or something that announced to the world that you couldn't quite fit in. Not anymore. Now, the intelligent and geeky have eked out for themselves a modicum of respect at the very least, and "geek is chic." The Modern, Cool Nerd is intelligent, knowledgable and always the person to call in a crisis (needing computer advice/an arcane bit of trivia knowledge). They are the one you want as your lifeline in Who Wants to Be a Millionaire (or the one up there, winning the million bucks)!

styx said...

Then again i don't know why they say that they would want me in shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, when I kept answering that I never play trivia games, never care about them or never watch them!!! However if the trivia games relied less on popular culture (which is usually the case) and more on geek knowledge, or history then I would certainly play. Like a trivia game on Blade Runner, or of Rome... that would be fun ;)

Kanmi the Conqueror said...

Hmm trying this new ID, which was not my Idea but somehow it appeared as I link my carthage history.

Anyways, thanks for explaining me the % now they make a little more sense, I have to work out on lowering the dorky side.

For styx I will have you on the lifeline when something about engineer popup so... it is kinda true.

styx said...

Some biogeekiness?

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=936650768789608524

Kanmi the Conqueror said...

Chloroplast... but I'm lazy...and I loved the T4 phage question ... anyway according to that Im indostrous... I saw u got lysosome, what type of Killing machine are you?

styx said...

Yes, I am a lysosome, however I did answer to most of the questions that I panic under pressure... and then they say that everyone comes to me for solving their problems!! %-)

Kanmi the Conqueror said...

Ja, in the god test, I was an aztec god, closer to home than your result :P

Anonymous said...

OK! Try this one!!!
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=4397416380933034000

BTW, just for the record, in the geek-nerd-dork test I got:
78 % Nerd, 47% Geek, 17% Dork

A pure nerd! Very dissapointed! :( ... but at least i am not a dork! ;)

Anonymous said...

OK! Try this one!!!
http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=4397416380933034000

BTW, just for the record, in the geek-nerd-dork test I got:
78 % Nerd, 47% Geek, 17% Dork

A pure nerd! Very dissapointed! :( ... but at least i am not a dork! ;)