I am a geek. Yes, I don't think there is any doubt in anyone's mind that I am otherwise. I pride myself in my geekification. But I don't actively celebrate it to the point of outwardly expressing my geekdom to the public, they be friends or random strangers. The rising geek is more tempted to do such things. The new guy who found this whole techie-edge to be "cool" and are thus unknowingly presenting themselves as Ultra-Geek.
Now, this is probably a rant. Ultra-Geek isn't really something to be aspired to, in my frank opinion. Ultra-Geek does not make you look cool. For instance, this guy I just met... let's call him Chuck... doesn't exactly seem knowledgable about computers, but he does seem to know the lingo. But when I ask him a question to see if he really knows what he's talking about, just for shits, he puts random tech words together that make it seem like he knows what he's talking about, but really he's just grabbing straws.
And then another time, Chuck starts going on about the new 8800GT Ultra, etc. and how many pipelines there are to whichever card he had before, blah blah... even if he did really understand wtf he was talking about, there's no real need to know any of that stuff. I mean, what's the point? I mean sure, I am a geek, I know what that stuff is, but I mean.. spouting that stuff off to a group of random people does not make you look smart and/or cool. It makes you look like a friggin nerd. Which is exactly what you're trying to do on some level. Might not see it that way, but not my problem. :P
I say these things because I was once that way. I used to spout all this technical info off to totally random people to impress them even when I didn't know really what I was saying. There are plenty of people who do the same thing, and really... it doesn't work, people. It's backfiring on you without your knowledge.
Chuck asked me yesterday for help in programming. He asked me to make him a web-page using CSS. I told him no because I had other stuff to do that was more important. That wasn't a lie, but I would have made up another excuse if that wasn't the case. The Ultra-Geek that he is... is that of a poser. Like I said, I take pride in being a Geek. Rightfully, too. I understand what I talk about, and if I don't understand it, I take the time to learn it and I don't get other people to do it for me. I have no respect for posers. Or people spouting to others that they know stuff when they really don't have much of a clue. That's just like a lawyer who went to school, cheated on the tests, and watched TV shows on law every night and stole lines.
So then why do I care? These same people are getting jobs that they shouldn't be getting. My dad came home one night telling me about this new techie they hired. He had certifications and degrees in Comp Sci, etc.. but turns out he barely knew how to upload files to the net, among other incredibly basic things. It upsets me that I have a hard time getting myself to school, and yet I know a zillion times more than these "certified techies" do.
This isn't about being a Geek. This is about being good at what you do, taking pride in what you do, and your ability to do it well. Poser, Ultra-Geek, slacker... whatever you want to call it. It's not cool. It makes you look... lol, well.. like an idiot. Anyways, this blog got way off track from where I wanted it to go, but oh well.
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Dude... i take zero pride in my writing and reading abilities but i know where your coming from about posers. what makes me chuckle is the fact that your thoughts are including the fact that no one cares what you know and you shouldnt have to impress people, but the fact of life is if you sit in a dark basement and learn lots of crap without letting anyone know or learn from you, you're not doing yourself any favors. the reason why people get hired for positions that you view as unworthy is because they've got something that got them there. whether it be carisma or just highly outgoing. people that go places are the people that work towards them even though they might not have all the ability of "worthy" applicants. the majority of my friends are way smarter than i could ever wish to be but unless they open up to the real world rather than live within their own ideals the dent wont be as significant. after graduatng from high school and skipping the whole popularity game i thought the real world would respect people for what they know rather than who they know (or what they pose they know). the fact is in the business world people still play that game and get far doing it. end reverse rant.
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