Thursday, March 21, 2013

Geeks, Freaks, Nerds...

I've had a thought lately.

Geeks and nerds tend to be immature. We...and I say that with pride...tend to value spending time at play. We enjoy our RPGs and our video games.

Here's the thing. I won't say that all geeks/nerds are more intelligent, but that many of the most intelligent people count as geeks. Not always practical intelligence, but the kind of intelligence that develops technology and pushes the frontiers of science.

Scientists have long known that neoteny - staying young longer - is a reflection of intelligence. The theory goes that our greatly extended childhood, longer even than that of apes, is part of what gives us our intelligence and adaptability.

Nerds and geeks are the people who invent things. Is it that this is the subset of humanity that stays "young" the longest? Is immaturity the other side of abstract intelligence? Society needs the immature that invent things - and those who do mature and handle the practical side of matters. The geeks and the jocks - is this "divide" actually key to human adaptability and to our civilization as a whole?

Maybe.

1 comment:

  1. Interesting, but I'm not sure I agree with the division of geeks as immature/dreamers and jocks (for lack of a better word) as mature/practical.

    I'd say that the division between geek and jock isn't maturity or valuing play vs. practicality, but rather it's a purely socially-imposed line saying that THIS interest is geeky and people who enjoy it are childish, but THAT interest is serious and mature and practical.

    And note that (although us geeks now are more willing to call ourselves out as such) it's generally the non-geeks who decide what's geeky and what isn't.

    Spending several hours gaming in your apartment (with a group including one person who regularly trains Marines, another who's got a high security clearance, another who's an exec at a major telecom company, and another who's practically running a major gov't agency) is geeky and immature.

    The same group on the golf course for several hours would be considered mature and professional. It would be "networking." Regardless of whether anything of substance ever got discussed or not.

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