I'm scared it rambles too much or the tone is too joke-y?
Some people categorize engineers as geeks or nerds. Are you a geek, nerd, or neither? Why?
There is no doubt in my mind that I am more geek than nerd. The term, "nerds" refers to your academic enthusiasts-intellectuals who channel all their energy into receiving that "A+" and can churn out calculus equations or World War II battle strategies in the blink of an eye. But, even though I do enjoy the occasional chemistry pun (What do you call a tooth in a glass of water? One molar solution!) and I do have many nerdy characteristics, the reason I am more of a geek is simple: Nerds are often quiet. I, however, am not. The way I see it, while nerds are academic enthusiasts, geeks are just enthusiasts in general-people who become a little obsessed with what they find interesting. They fully believe that the things they "geek" over are the most interesting on the planet, and they often try to share this with the people around them-regardless of whether or not they want to hear it. This could range from forcing your favorite books on all your friends to teaching Java to Grandma. For me, I've geeked over Apple products, video and audio production, television shows, and HTML coding, to name a few. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, geeks often do not know everything about the things they geek over.
For example, I became an airplane geek after reading the Boeing-747 information sheets in the seatback pocket during a seventeen-hour flight. For the next week all I talked about was the fact that the plane had a second floor, and I spent much of my time researching largest commercial airliners. (The Airbus 380 has a duty free shop!) Nerds are often content with keeping their nerdy tendencies to themselves, but geeks share their interests so that other people can experience the same delight. Even if geeks are often misguided in believing that their interests and enjoyments are more universal than they truly are, I am proud to be a geek because geeks share what they think could make other people happy.
Some people categorize engineers as geeks or nerds. Are you a geek, nerd, or neither? Why?
Apple Products and Airplanes Geek
There is no doubt in my mind that I am more geek than nerd. The term, "nerds" refers to your academic enthusiasts-intellectuals who channel all their energy into receiving that "A+" and can churn out calculus equations or World War II battle strategies in the blink of an eye. But, even though I do enjoy the occasional chemistry pun (What do you call a tooth in a glass of water? One molar solution!) and I do have many nerdy characteristics, the reason I am more of a geek is simple: Nerds are often quiet. I, however, am not. The way I see it, while nerds are academic enthusiasts, geeks are just enthusiasts in general-people who become a little obsessed with what they find interesting. They fully believe that the things they "geek" over are the most interesting on the planet, and they often try to share this with the people around them-regardless of whether or not they want to hear it. This could range from forcing your favorite books on all your friends to teaching Java to Grandma. For me, I've geeked over Apple products, video and audio production, television shows, and HTML coding, to name a few. Furthermore, contrary to popular belief, geeks often do not know everything about the things they geek over.
For example, I became an airplane geek after reading the Boeing-747 information sheets in the seatback pocket during a seventeen-hour flight. For the next week all I talked about was the fact that the plane had a second floor, and I spent much of my time researching largest commercial airliners. (The Airbus 380 has a duty free shop!) Nerds are often content with keeping their nerdy tendencies to themselves, but geeks share their interests so that other people can experience the same delight. Even if geeks are often misguided in believing that their interests and enjoyments are more universal than they truly are, I am proud to be a geek because geeks share what they think could make other people happy.
