Geeks are Creatures of Passion and Commitment

I want to start off this blog by showing aspects of geeks that many do not consider: their passion and their commitment

A geek is a person with a passion for specific interests, interests that are often not in tune with those of popular culture. Thus we have fantasy geeks, science fiction geeks, sports geeks, computer geeks, anime geeks, manga geeks, tech geeks, comics geeks, wrestling geeks, martial arts geeks, and many others. Many mistake that it is the interest that characterizes the geek.



However, I think it is much deeper. I think it is the passion that defines a geek, especially if he has a "hero complex" as derived from the books that he reads and the games that he plays. (Many thanks to Shayna Gibson who was the first I heard to verbalize this thought.) I mean, think about it, only passion would drive someone to go against social norms and walk around in medieval age, science fiction, or anime costumes. Only passion would drive someone to search high and low for this specific book or that specific action figure. Only passion would enable someone to fully take such labels as "weird," "strange," "loser," "dweeb," "nerd," and, of course, "geek."

Of course, with that kind of passion comes commitment. If geeks weren't committed, they would have left their interests a long time ago because of all the flak they've been getting from them. The role-playing game industry would have died before the turn of the millennium because of all the condemnation it got from Christian groups who think it is of the devil and go public with it. Only a sense of commitment keeps geekery alive, because most of society would rather that anything that does not conform with the popular just die. Some of the "populars" would even go so far as to take steps to ostracize those they see as loser non-conformists. If Darwin's theory of natural selection were to apply in this case, who is truly the strong who would prevail: the "in" crowd who is constantly swayed by fads, or the geeks who have the passion and commitment to stick to their guns and hold the line against constant social pressure to conform?

Geeks rule!