According to the New York Times Bits Blog, professor David Anderegg of Bennington college suggests that the words “nerd” and “geek” are “damaging, like racial epithets, and should be avoided.”
Yet the meaning of words often evolves as the social context changes. I noted that in Manhattan’s elite high schools being called a “cool nerd” is a compliment… Perhaps that’s true in a handful of ZIP codes around the country, Dr. Anderegg conceded. But in most of America, he said, nerds and geeks are people to avoid. The connotations are a bit different: a geek suggests a person with special expertise, while nerd suggests social ineptness. And neither are cool.
I disagree with Anderegg, but not because he’s fundamentally wrong. Being called a “geek” or “nerd” in school, where social acceptance and “coolness” are everything, it is a derogatory remark, designed to designate the victim’s “otherness,” and as such, retain the bully’s inclusiveness.
And it’s true that in some areas of the country, and in the world, “geek” and “nerd” never grow beyond that derogatory meaning.
But in the adult world – in the world that you and I inhabit, “Geek” and “Nerd” both have complimentary and derogatory meanings. Among practitioners of the mystic arts of information technology, “geek” is high praise – and indeed can be just as much of a word of inclusion among engineers, administrators, and architects as it was a word of exclusion in high school. Same with “nerd” in higher academia.
The point is that over the past 20 years, in part because we nerds and geeks have lead the greatest advances in social and cultural change with the advent of the personal computer and the Internet, we have turned those words to our own advantage; those who use them as derogatory only show their ignorance when they do so. And those who do so after a certain age also show their immaturity.
Indeed, “nerd” and “geek” may not belong on the playground; but we must not let our language descend into a form which is only fit for schoolchildren. I will continue to use “nerd” and “geek” and use them as compliments and accolades for my friends and colleagues.
And if “nerd” and “geek” are not complimentary in the society where you live, then your society is backwards and wrong. And I invite you to come to Austin, to San Francisco, to New York, to Seattle – to anyplace in the world that recognizes that there is beauty in the seeking of knowledge and the diversity of ideas.
Here’s another word: “Gay” has a derogatory meaning and a second, neutral one. But no one is asking gay people to stop calling themselves gay because there are bigots and idiots out there that seek to demean the word by associating a defamatory meaning with it. Anderegg’s argument would also apply to the banning of “gay,” – which is a word that is a badge of pride for many people. Banning it would be giving a victory to the idiots.
And so would banning “Nerd” and “Geek” – for the same reasons. Banning “Nerd” and “Geek” would do more to enforce in the minds of children that being a nerd or being a geek is somehow wrong, and somehow something to be avoided.
That couldn’t be farther from the truth. “Nerd” is a badge of pride. As is “Geek.” And anyone I know and care to spend more than five minutes with would be proud and honored to be called that.
Now, I may be wrong about this. Dr. Anderegg has a Ph.D. in psychology, while I’m just some nerd…
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