Comments on: Of fans and geeks

By: Colleen

Colleen — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 20:41:02 +0000

Oh no Justine – I didn’t see any criticism, it’s just interesting to me how fan used to mean one thing and now seems to mean another and the same for geek.

I will admit I’m a Star Trek fan – but don’t ask me to explain all that Klingon dictionary stuff.

Now those people – they’re what….uber geeks?

You could hurt your head trying to figure all this stuff out you know!!

By: Justine

Justine — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 13:02:53 +0000

Colleen: I hope you don’t think I was implying there’s anything wrong with being either a geek or a fan. Absolutely not!

You both sound like quintessential geeks. Of course, as I said, people use these terms in lots of different ways. The way I’ve mostly heard “geek” used does not describe my relatinship to stuff that I love. Fan or enthusiast or dag fits it better.

By: Colleen

Colleen — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 07:09:40 +0000

It’s funny, but I never thought of “geek” as a derogatory term. My husband is an aviation geek, a business geek (he actually likes reading and writing contracts), a wood working geek and on and on. I thought geek just meant something you really liked and you enjoyed doing or learning about. (I would be an aviation history geek, a WWI geek, a polar exploration geek, etc.)

I also wonder when being a fan meant being an excessive fan. In other words, I saw Star Wars (way back in 1977) in the theater and I was a Star Wars fan. Other than my brother having some models that he built and hung from the ceiling, we didn’t have any Star Wars “stuff” but we liked the movies so I thought that made us fans. Same goes for certain music, food, tv, etc. Aren’t you just a fan if you like something – do you have to be crazy and dress up in costumes and read everything ever written about it and learn to speak Klingon or something in order to be a fan?

I think these words might have gotten mangled over the years or something. I mean really, how can referring to someone who has more than 10,000 Alaskan flight hours as an “aviation geek” be a bad thing? Not that I’m all worshipful of my husband or anything (perish the thought!) but he’s okay with the term geek – it just means he knows a lot of airplane shit and that’s okay.

We are also fans of science fiction movies and Guns N Roses. I hope that doesn’t scare anyone – ha!

By: Justine

Justine — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 19:02:02 +0000

Rebecca: That’s the beauty of it . . . you get to call yourself whatever you want.

There’s nothing dirty about dags. (Well, okay, if you’re thinking about the original meaning then, yes, there is, but let’s not go there, eh?)

Sir Tessa: You are an adorable daggy misanthrope.

By: Sir Tessa

Sir Tessa — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 06:39:25 +0000

I’m a daggy misanthrope at that.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 05:37:14 +0000

nothing wrong with long posts.

dag just sounds….really dirty, to my american ears. dunno why.

i have called myself a fan, a geek, a nerd, a dork, and a variety of other things. i give myself all the labels, instead of just one! ha.

By: Justine

Justine — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 02:40:16 +0000

Sir Tessa: Mmmm, yes, we are all dags. Dags rule!

But what I’m hearing you saying is that you are not a fan because you do not join things or take part in communities. So really you’re saying that you’re a misanthropist. Yes, grumpy Sir Tessa?

By: Sir Tessa

Sir Tessa — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 23:54:24 +0000

For me ‘fan’ has connotations of ‘fandom’, which is a minefield, and every fandom I’ve drifted by with mild interest has very quickly put me off getting involved in anyway. I think, to me, ‘fan’ implies activity within the fandom, instead of just sitting and enjoying quietly, which I what I do.

‘geek’ has connotations of…well, I don’t know exactly, but I know I don’t wear it.

‘nerd’ comes from being a nerd at school. Somewhat outcast, not really mainstream.

‘dag’ is a beautiful word and also applies perfectly.

(I was about to type that as ‘perfically’. Ugh.)

By: John Scalzi

John Scalzi — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 18:17:56 +0000

“I do not know what ‘chaotic good’ is, even though Scott’s explained it to me like a hundred times.”

Cory Doctorow—and all things Cory Doctorow-ish—is a perfect example of “chaotic good.”