Connect with us
Follow us on social media
News_
5 reasons why being a geek is cool
25 May 2018
It really is hip to be square
The worldwide celebration of nerdom is in full swing to commemorate international Geek Pride Day (that’s 25 May for those not ‘in the know’).
Allegedly selected to honour the release of Star Wars IV: A New Hope (25 May 1977), Geek Pride Day is the brainchild of Spanish blogger Germán Martínez, who instigated the inaugural festivities to celebrate all things geek in 2006.
Since then, the annual initiative has grown and been adopted the world over, with many parties and meet-ups expected to take place across the four corners over the next 24 hours.
To honour the day, here are five amazing, incredible and uncanny byte-sized (yes, the pun is intentional) examples about why being a geek is cool.
Geeks created the new social norms
Microsoft’s Bill Gates, Google’s Sergey Brin and Larry Page, and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg are all geeks who revolutionised the way people interact with each other.
Whether it be the way we invite friends out to dinner, organise video game gatherings or try to impress work colleagues with big words (who hasn’t looked-up ‘verisimilitude’?), these examples all stem from the contributions of these mega-nerds (as well as their equally nerdy peers).
Geeks are the new handy people
Computers, tablets, smartphones – nearly every facet of society is somehow entwined with technology. But who do you call when these devices let us down (or when we have no idea how to use them)?
Geeks are now the new ‘go to’ people, solving and soldering these technical problems when they breakdown to keep business and social lives running. To avoid being further embarrassed by your inferiority in all things tech, be sure to check first if you simply need to “switch it off and switched it back on”.
Geeks are good at trivia
Nerds know a lot of things. Lots and lots of things. It's why they're usually the first on any invitation list for a pub trivia team outing.
Whether it be Captain James Kirk’s middle name (Tiberius), Mars’ smallest moon (Deimos) or even the Konami Code (up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A), there is no question that can stump a bonafide geek.
Geeks make the future possible
What do Pythagoras, Isaac Newton and John Bradfield all have in common? They’re all examples of historical geeks who followed their passions while overcoming criticism (and built proverbial bridges, one literally) in order to fulfil their vision to improve society.
Geeks have their very own code of ethics
As every geek’s honourary Uncle Ben once touted, “With great power comes great responsibility”.
Originally known as the Decálogo de derechos y deberes del friki in Spanish, the following manifesto is what all geeks are bound by:
1. The right to be even geekier.
2. The right to not leave your house.
3. The right to not like football or any other sport.
4. The right to associate with other nerds.
5. The right to have few friends (or none at all).
6. The right to have as many geeky friends as you want.
7. The right to choose one’s own style.
8. The right to be overweight and near-sighted.
9. The right to show off your geekiness.
10. The right to attempt being as geeky as Morgana Summers, and the right to fail. (Topher Stumph came quite close, but he too failed).
11. The right to develop serious crushes on Randall Munroe, Shane Carruth and Bo Burnham, as opposed to say... James Franco. (See #10).
12. The right to carry a Thesaurus with you at all times, as opposed to an iPhone. (See #10)
13. The right to execute shameless self-promotion via the Wikipedia Geek Pride Day page. (See #10).
14. The right to falsely assume the surnames Finkleton, Waldman, Stratzer and Krukemeyer.
15. The right to quote Firefly, xkcd or both whenever possible.
16. The right to take over the world.
1. Be a geek, no matter what.
2. Try to be nerdier than anyone else.
3. If there is a discussion about something geeky, you must give your opinion.
4. To save and protect all geeky material.
5. Do everything you can to show off geeky stuff as a "museum of geekiness".
6. Don't be a generalised geek. You must specialize in something.
7. Attend every nerdy movie on opening night and buy every geeky book before anyone else.
8. Wait in line on every opening night. If you can go in costume or at least with a related T-shirt, all the better.
9. Don't waste your time on anything not related to geekdom.
10. Befriend any person or persons bearing any physical similarities to comic book or sci-fi figures.
11. Try to take over the world!
