By Any Other Name
When you write as much as I have, you develop a real fascination with language. Most people take their own for granted, having spoken it all their lives; but try and explain your native tongue to someone unfamiliar with it, such as a visitor from a foreign land–or better yet, a small child. I’ve found that English can be a real mind bender, what with all those homonyms and homophones, hard and soft consonants, “i” before “e” except after “c”–it goes on and on.
What’s even more interesting, though, is the evolution of the language. Back in the day, bad was bad. Then bad was good. Now bad can be bad or good, depending on the context. Words have been distilled into their text-messaging equivalents, so that terms like LOL are now part of the cultural lexicon. I know people who communicate almost exclusively using movie quotes. Pretty amazing stuff, really. And it only gets worse if you have a teenager.
There are, however, lines that shouldn’t be crossed. Take, for instance, the psych professor at Bennington College–in Vermont, natch–who thinks that the words “nerd” and “geek” should be banned from polite conversation. According to him, what the world needs now is tech, sweet tech, and that saddling people with those terms only promotes stereotypes that chase people away from those professions.
Ah, where to begin?
In the first place, the kind professor has the whole cause/effect relationship backwards. People don’t end up as nerds because they get into tech–they get into tech because they’re nerds. It’s in their genes, man! I went to an engineering school, and believe me–the guys spending their nights in the aerospace lab weren’t missing out on any frat parties to be there. You can’t just stop being a nerd or a geek. It’s an integral part of your identity, no matter what you do for a living. Tall ain’t short and fat ain’t skinny. Refusing to call out the obvious doesn’t change a thing.
Besides, are we really so far gone that we can’t see that geek and nerd are actually terms of endearment? That geek is chic and nerds set the new standard for badassery? Hell, I’m a geek and I’m damned proud of it. I saw The Final Countdown fifty–count ‘em, fifty–times as a kid. I programmed my own Zork-like fantasy quest on my Commodore 64 back in the day. I even have a souvenir commemorative plate from the Franklin Mint with Spock on it. Not Zachary Quinto Spock, but Leonard Nimoy Spock. My wife won’t let me display it in our house, but I still have it. So there!
Let’s stop being so concerned with labels and just accept ourselves for who we are. As Gilbert said to the Betas in Revenge of the Nerds, “There are a lot more of us than there are of you!” So come on, people–embrace your inner geek. And don’t ever be afraid to wear that badge with pride. After all, we run the world now. Just ask Bill Gates and Steve Jobs…
Posted on January 5, 2010
1 comment | Permalink
January 7th, 2010 at 1:59 am
That sir, is beautiful!