Geekery has come a long way.
Once upon a time, geeks were the unhealthiest among us, hunched in corners, surrounded by empty Coke cans, pizza cartons and well-thumbed copies of Dragon and Your Sinclair. You never saw them in direct sunlight, and usually only in the dim flicker of the aged TV in front of them. Occasionally they’d leap up and say things like “My Gameboy has just become sentient. The Machine War has started. God help us all” or “Stephen Hawking is wrong: Superman could escape from the event horizon of a black hole”. They repaired things that smelled bad when they got turned back on. They played computer games too much, because the world lacked that kind of intensity of fun (barring members of the opposite sex. Allegedly. According to rumour).
Geeks hid from the world. Ask someone why and they’d say “because geeks are pathetic”. But now we know the real reason. It’s because the world wasn’t ready for how amazingly cool they are.
Now geeks are inheriting the Earth.
Geekery has flourished to the point that people go out of their way to appear geeky so they can fit in. This is because in the Internet-driven future of the Now, being a geek is the secret to a fun and successful life. (Who’da thunk? Apart from geeks and science fiction authors, that is?)
Now let’s be clear: there are geeks and there are nerds, and as Richard Clarke said in 2007, geeks are the ones that “get it done”. So: are you a nerd? Stressed about it? The answer’s simple – get off your lazy MMORPGing behind and do something useful. Done that? Now you’re a geek, loved by all. Easy, innit.
The thing that has always attracted me to the initially imaginary (and now increasingly real-life) digital world is the way it allows you to turn everything into an opportunity for childlike fun. Not childish – childlike. The Internet is a place where it’s acceptable to play, no matter what age you are. Digital gadgets are playful (what happens if I push this? *BLARGH* oooh, that’s an irritating sound. I’ll push it again, then). Lights wink unnecessarily, things make pointless sounds, all in the name of attention-grabbing fun. Everything is designed to appeal to our child’s eye, our gamer’s thumbs, our mischief and our wit.
And these are things for adults.
I cannot stress how much this gives me hope for the human race – and my place in it, obviously. In the 25 years I’ve been a geek, I’ve dreamed of the day that my geekery would release me from the drab shackles of adulthood and let me lapse unashamedly into a second childhood I’d never emerge from. Now that geeking out is the template for successful living, I’m doing exactly that. Being a digital addict doesn’t mean stepping away from the whirl of the world and its inhabitants: it’s going further, into the thick of it. It’s connecting and liberating. Increasingly, as a species, it’s how we do.
So with all that in mind, I’m currently giving my life a very thorough, long overdue digital makeover. We’re talking:
- working ie. my freelance writing career (with accompanying amateur photography hobby) and all that entails online. That’s getting all shook up.
- living: preparing to dip a toe into the world of digital nomadism – the best introduction being a trawl through the invaluable archives of Christine Gilbert’s Almost Fearless….
- ….and while we’re at it, I recommend subscribing right now to get a free copy of her new ebook A Practical Guide To Going Digital. I should add that her previous two ebooks have pride of place on my hard drive.
- financing via online banking systems and Money Dashboard, a UK equivalent of the frankly amazing Mint.com
- Lifehacking for all the bits & bobs that will straighten my day out
- chopping my way through the clutter of 20-odd years of digital obsession, separating the geek from the nerd
- rewiring my online habits
- learning – because compared to nearly everyone else, I seem to know absolutely nothing. (Fantastic! All this stuff to learn. Pinch me).
- destroying the world when it’s necessary
- and pressing the off button when I’ve no good reason to be doing anything digitally. Because that’s damn important.
Go on. Call me a geek.
And I’ll thank you for it.
(Fellow geeks: what have I missed?)
i tihnk you nailed it on the last bullet point – pressing the Off button. i make myself turn off my computer by a certain time because if i don’t, i won’t get anything done in Real Life.
how is your new camera coming along? when can we expect to see your own pix??
Taking plenty of pix (upcoming), 99% of which are dreadful, but burying myself in basic camera technique books and getting myself out the house to put all my new knowledge into action as often as I can. And have purchased Photoshop Elements 7, which seems about as complicated as my camera. Eeeep.
Enormous fun, all this.
But yes, Off time is important so when you’re On, you’re focused on what you’re doing. That line is what defines everything either side of it.
So – ahem – when do we see your terrific photography getting pitched at magazines? Ahem?
you PURCHASED software. really? (should have paid a bit more for v8, it’s much better!)
Excited to see where this life redesign takes you!
Me too! Although my main intended destination is Debt-Free Land, which is the international gateway to Europe and beyond.
So jealous, I just don’t know how I’d do my job without being in one locations, which is why I quit my job. I guess I’ve got a year of traveling to contemplate a new career.
Can’t think of better surroundings to dream big dreams.
Apart from that big water-filled tank thing in Fringe. But I quibble.
Lol, I wrote a Matador article last week about how geek is chic, and even Barbie is a computer programmer these days. Why couldn’t geek be the popular kid in high school?! I’ve missed out on so much.
Oooh, a new Candice article. I’ll go read in a mo.
Yes, me too. All those years I wasted not realising how amazingly attractive I was to nubile young women.
But they’d have to have good hand action.
Because I take my 4-player sessions on Gauntlet very seriously, like any good geek.
Also, probably best if those young women dress sensible, nothing revealing, woolen leggings and a good sweater. It gets cold when you’re sat there all night, making an assault on a million points (without using the potions cheat, of course. Because I am l33t).
i might have a go at being a geek. sounds like fun. where do i start?
how’s the camera. it’s all about exposure!