The insult comes from people who call me "socially retarded." After all, I get top marks in class (Geeks) While I find it hard to get a girlfirend and find other thing are more important in life (Nerds). Also I think that there is a lack of understanding in the general public. On one forum I get get called "retard" all the time.
Where does that leave me?
Daniel,
If it makes you feel any better, I run a software QA department, and when I interview candidates for a job opening, one of the questions I always ask is: "On a scale of 1 to 10, where do you see yourself in terms of "geek-factor"? This is an informal, and fun question at the end of the interview, but it goes a long way in giving me a little extra insight into the candidate's potential to be successful in SWQA.
Now here's where the fun comes in. I want an "immediate" answer of 7 or above, because "geek-factor" is important in the world of software QA.
By "immediate", I mean, they can take a moment to consider their answer, but don't ask what I mean, they are already geeky enough to know what I mean, and 7 is my choice as a lower boundary, simply because this is a "geeky" profession.
So I have a team of SWQA engineers and technicians, who are all a 7 and above on the geek-factor scale, and not one of them is socially retarded. In fact, they are all very well-rounded individuals with outgoing personalities, while at the same time, they are very much "into" all things geeky.
Pigeon-holing somebody into a label such as geek (or if you prefer, nerd) simply does not work. People, and their personalities are much more complex than any one label will allow.
As I mentioned before, depending on the circumstance, situation, and context, here are some of the different labels that fit me - and a lot of them are contradictory:
geek
jock
clown
stick-in-the-mud
conservative
liberal
professional
red-neck
technophile
Outdoorsman
Heck, back in high school, after Friday afternoon varsity football practice, I'd go to a friends house for a couple hours of Dungeons and Dragons, then the next morning, I'd grab my shotgun and go hunting, followed by coming home and reading a novel - If that doesn't go against labeling, nothing does!!!!
Oh yeah, I'm an avid hunter and fisherman, and due to my geeky side, I am on this forum because I decided to create a message board of my own, for people from my area to talk about fishing and hunting. To add all the mods and tweaks on my board, I had to learn to work with CSS, PHP, and MySQL. (took almost an hour to figure out!!!!)
There are probably another hundred different labels out there that would apply to me in the right context or situation, and they are all accurate when used in the proper context.
You asked:
Where does that leave me?
.
It leaves you being the person your are, with your own set of values, interests, and priorities. There are going to be people who do not see the value in your versions of these things (they don't "get" you). At the same time, chances are, that you do not see the value in those things that they value(you don't "get" them). You will, however, find that there are a lot of people who have similar values, interests, and priorities as you. The trick, is to acquaint yourself with people who are somewhat like-minded, while ignoring those who would put you down for who you are (who needs those people anyhow?).
Be yourself, and things will work themselves out.