What is a nerd/geek?

[TheDragon]

Let's all face it. We are all geeks/nerds here. No normal person devs OSs for fun. But I was wondering what you guys thought made a true nerd. No, I don't think I mean geek because I'm talking about thinks other than computers. Like at first I thought I was a real nerd when I started looking at hardware. Then it was my programming made me a nerd(BASIC as it was .). Then it was C++ programming. Then it was electronics and robotics (check out www.societyofrobots.com). Then OS deving. Now I've seen some homemade computers and I want to build my own web server. Of course, all of these things accumulated with my already manifested RPG, fantasy, and Star Wars interests. So what about you? what makes you feel like your the best geek in town? What makes you call yourself an uber-geek? And I think I may mention that I thought that Jason from Foxtrot was the Platonic nerd, but he never built his own robot or stuff like that. It's getting scary now that I'm passing him...

[JackScott]

I consider myself a perfectly normal person, thank you very much.

OSDev is no more of an esoteric hobby than say, croquet.

[01000101]

Nerd: A picked-last-in-gym-class kid with thick glasses, a star-wars and D&D addiction, and will someday in the (near) future procure a comb-over and a case of chronic overly-obnoxious sniffles.

Geek: A normal-looking kid who finds him/herself fascinated by technology but manages his/her digital life with his/her real life. Geeks normally find themselves taking on many (often unrelated) technological hobbies, but rarely settling on one as there is always something more interesting/challenging/exotic after each project.

Don't flame me for that, but it is honestly what I believe is the stereotypical Nerd and Geek. Then again, why associate with a stereotype in the first place?

[TheDragon]

Don't get me wrong here, I don't want to flame anyone, and perhaps I should have said 'average' instead of 'normal' but then again, croquet isn't what you'd call an 'average' hobby anyway, at least where I live. And, yes, I agree w/ you on your definitions, 01000101. But I think of it as this:

Dork/dweeb: "A picked-last-in-gym-class kid with thick glasses...[and] will someday in the (near) future procure a comb-over and a case of chronic overly-obnoxious sniffles." --Just the basic social deficiency.

Geek: An expert in their field, usually computers and technology. The Intellectual aspect.

Nerd: A geek w/ "a star-wars and D&D addiction", usually has some (if not all) dweeb-ish qualities. Very intellectual.

Again, please understand that I don't mean to flame anyone and if you think I'm to harsh, please tell me and I'll change it. I don't want to start a war.

[Colonel Kernel]

I was introducing myself to my manager at my new job, and when explaining that my hobbies include OSDev and reading programming language research papers, he said "Wow, that must make you a 4th-level geek!" I said that it seems that very few people have the same hobbies as me. He said that sounded exactly like the definition of what a geek is. Makes sense to me.

[pcmattman]

I don't consider myself either a geek or a nerd. OSDev and other programming is simply a career path I'm taking and as such I spend a bit more time on it than other things.

However, I still enjoy sports, I prefer social activity over programming any day, and I have a social life. AFAIK that is kind of the opposite of a geek/nerd

[Alboin]

I like to try various teas, admire and create art, hack at osdev, read on theoretical math, study languages, attempt to cook a myriad of Asian recipes I find online (I can't find organic grapefruit at my grocery store to make candied grape fruit skins however. ), and, as of last week, make cheese. Oh, and I also want to get into welding...

I wouldn't consider myself a geek or nerd. I'm rather sociable should people be around. It's just that I don't search them out for the sake of it.

[DeletedAccount]

I would consider myself as a jerk and nothing else . The only thing i am good at is sleeping , I can sleep for 31 hours during weekends without any sleeping pills etc . I was once considered mentally retarded , but after a lot of hard work , i think i have done resonably well .

Regards
Sandeep

[Masterkiller]

I know a little C++ (only Win32), PHP, JS, Flash, Actionscript, (x)HTML, XML, AJAX, OS Programming, Windows, Hardware, Physics, Math, Biology, Electric Circuits, Electronic, Engineering, too little psichology. What people think about me? Not nerd, but "very smart person". Actually I cannot hack any site, but I had been called hacker once. I just don't allow my knowledge overwhelm my life. I am still interesting person to my friends.
I am just keen on understanding how everything works. Why I need to drink water? Why the things falls down? What happens when I turn on my computer? A huge world out there to understand...
Am I nerd? YES? Just the other people do not see that?

[i586coder]

I can't consider my self geek or nerd ,cause nerd guy's do abnormal
things that i don't, any way we all humans, & humans make mistakes
no one can consider him self know every thing
we in OSDEV developed our OS's & that great but not mean we nerds.

for my self i'm undergraduate Computer Information System
& I have my own experiences outside university like
writing games engine, compiler-interpreter coding interest & i develop my Bscript,OS kernel, chips programming, i know some programing language like: assembly,basic,B,C/C++,D,java,html
as any one i have social life, i have my friends,& OSDEV community,i like soccer

that's all

[TheDragon]

I think I'm pretty sociable too. I have friends. I'm pretty good-looking (but, then again, I have an over-inflated self-esteem at the age of thirteen), and I consider myself somewhat popular, but I consider myself a nerd. So I guess it's all how you look at it. and like I said, I don't want to hurt/flame anyone, so just tell me if I need to zip it.