After watching MSL finals, I was surprised that Jaedong 3-1 Flash. I'd like to think that Jaedong, because of the 5-gas expos would probably outproduce Flash eventually for the win, but Flash's pressure could have really slowed down JD enough to really push for victory. The power going out is kinda bull, but I guess things like that happen in Korea sometimes.
Now to something MUCH more important. Everyone knows that there are geeks and nerds. However, people have trouble actually distinguishing the difference between a geek and a nerd. Hopefully, this simple guideline will help in the figuring out the difference, and what to do when meeting such creatures outside of their natural habitat.
Let us first discuss THE NERD.
The nerd, according to the usually grammatically questionable Wikipedia, is a term often bearing a derogatory connotation or stereotype, that refers to a person who passionately pursues intellectual activities, esoteric knowledge, or other obscure interests that are age-inappropriate rather than engaging in more social or popular activities. Therefore, a nerd is often excluded from physical activity and considered a loner by peers, or will tend to associate with like-minded people.
This is actually a very good definition. Now to compare the nerd, we shall have "the geek":
The word geek is a slang term, noting individuals as "a peculiar or otherwise odd person, especially one who is perceived to be overly obsessed with one or more things including those of intellectuality, electronics, etc."[1] Formerly, the term referred to a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken, bat, snake or bugs.
In other words, Geeks can actually enjoy the same things as a nerd, though for completely different reasons. Let us take an example, such as Starcraft.
Starcraft is a multiplayer RTS game that has a ridiculously huge following in Korean, and a less ridiculously huge following in the States and other places. It is very competativly played, and is one of the largest competitive gaming circles around. As I previously mentioned, the MSL finals were played last night, with Jaedong winning and getting a $10,000 payoff (someone can double check me on this if I'm wrong) for playing 4 games. Not too bad. I'll post the final vid here actually.
This is what a geek is all about. The game. We worry about game mechanics, abusable glitches, timing pushes, expands, builds, scouting, map control, strategies, and so forth. We strive to be as competitive as we can, and enjoy the intricacies of the game by playing it as best we can. We watch people better than we are to analyze what we can do better. We progress, evolve, and enjoy the benefits of other like-minded players who are also trying to get an edge.
Meanwhile, the nerd does none of that. He obsesses about the story and characters in the game. He worries about whats-her-name the zerg queen, and that sargent guy who drives the pimped out vulture. Yes, I don't actually know the story for SC at all. Anyways, they'll obsessively buy the novels made by hack writers who decide, "Hey, people will buy anything that has the name SC on it, let's write some crappy books that Blizzard allows and then be rich, wheee!" They'll devote their lives to writing fanfiction and probably living by some random starcraft code of honor which makes no sense. They'll argue about the progression of the story and not shower for months while not doing so.
Personally, I like the jackets of HwaSeung Oz. They're pretty pimp.
There's only one group of people who I feel like 'geek' is derogatory. They are the band geeks.
The reason why I dislike band geeks is because they have nothing to do with actual music. Honestly most 'band geeks' are horrible musicians, but because they "play in the band" you're labeled one. Band geeks tend to care solely about the band. They do the fundraiser activities, take leadership positions, practice their show tunes (which I never did), join the parties, and so on. I believe Rob Paravonian sums it up best:
While I enjoyed my time in marching band, it hardly defined me. For me it's more about the perfection of playing music and doing your best in the performance. Of course I am also trying to become a 'professional' musician, so yeah there is that.
This is why I put 'professional' in quotations:
Hopefully this scewed guide helps you recognize the difference between band and nerd. I would iterate it more, but I have things to do.
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