geeks

Geek As Citizen: Deep Geeks

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Pit Hole Ladder

One of the things that has troubled me about geek culture is that there’s parts of it that seem strangely alien and disconnected. I’m not talking the stereotype of the guy living in his mom’s basement (he’s probably busy with a startup these days). I’m talking the fact that a set of geeks can be both socially engaged, yet shockingly and even brutally clueless and insensitive.

It’s reading about women’s experience among Bitcoin enthusiasts or ignorant bro-geek activity at Dropbox. It’s wondering how people can spin weird techno-utopian political fantasies with no grounding in logic – because you’ve got the brains to at least spin these fantasies.  It’s every time someone in Silicon Valley says something clueless about the homeless and gentrification and I wonder if they even read the paper or watch the news.

And yet, some of the people I’m discussing seem to be more extraverted and socially engaged. We meet geeks who when they are insensitive, or bigoted, or clueless shock us because they’re the kind of people we don’t expect to be that way. How can someone be so smart and so bright and even social and yet still seem to live in their own world?

I’ve covered my suspicions that marketing has affected bigotry in geekdom. And I still stand by my theory geekdom in general is far more tolerant than its parent culture – but the depths can be just as bad as said parent culture. I just want to know why.

After some analysis, I’d like to propose there’s a subpopulation of geeks, mostly in the technology, media, and gaming sector that I call Deep Geeks. Read on.  I got a rabbit hole to show you.

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Geek As Citizen: Geeks In Power

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When I last posted on geeks and the virtues of tolerance (and indeed how it fit both geeks as people and culture), Tony of Manga Therapy said bigotry happened when people were in positions of power, and we had to ask how long it may last. I wanted to address issues of Geeks and Power separately in this column. Thanks Tony!

Geeks wield a lot of power in modern society.

We are the masters of technology. We code the software that runs things. We perfect the materials that make structures and vehicles. We even address the problems other technology has created (an irony to address another time, perhaps)

Our popular culture is now mainstream in books and movies, even if too often ideas familiar to us are draped over standard tropes and frameworks. Videogames are bigger than Hollywood. Studios hunt the next big thing and it’s often science fiction, or supernatural, or the like.

To be frank, I still think this comes as a bit of a shock to those of us who are geeks, and those of us who are part of geek culture. It just seems to have appeared – and though yes, we can trace it’s evolution, it’s still a bit surprising if only due to its rapidity. I can’t quite imagine telling my self twenty years ago about the things I see now and have it being believable.

But here we are. Able to code applications, run giant companies, design new products, and create new media sensations. As technical companies extend their lobbying power and gain influence we become more emeshed in politics; and as issues of technology infiltrate all parts of our lives, we become emeshed as well.

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Grow Up, Don’t Grow Old

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I’m a 40-something year old “Professional Geek.”  “Geek 2.0” I call myself, and rather shamelessly at that.  I’m a geek professionally, a geek for money.

I also to not intend to “get old.”  I’d also recommend you, my professional geeks, do not either.

Oh, I intend to mature.  Maturity is how I turned my interests into a career.  Maturity is how I realized this blog is needed.  Maturity is why I value each contributor here.  Maturity is like a good wine or cheese, it’s where things age into a delightful form.

So please, by all means you pro geeks, mature.  Mature and grow.

Just don’t get old.

When you get old you become worn out.  When you get old you become stagnant as opposed to mature.  When you get old you become out of date.  When you get old your age becomes the first and perhaps only thing to matter.

So by all means grow.  Mature.  Grow up.  Just stop before you get old.  Keep enough of the useful enthusiasm that got you here to stay energized.  Keep enough of the energy that drove you so you keep developing, and keep maturing.

As you tell people about your fannish, geeky, and otaku ambitions, they’ll tell you to grow up.  What they really mean is to give up and get old, stagnant, and boring.  What they mean is being like an ideal norm that isn’t normal because it’s all statistical averages and doesn’t exist.  It means pre-aging yourself into ossification.

So don’t grow up and get old.  Mature enough until you’re ideal for what you want, and go on being the person you are, the professional you are.

In fact, shout this to the heavens, because if you’re the best you, the mature you, then you’ll have one hell of a career edge over people who gave up, “grew up,” and grew old no matter what their age.

– Steven Savage

Steven Savage is a Geek 2.0 writer, speaker, blogger, and job coach.  He blogs on careers at http://www.fantopro.com/, nerd and geek culture at http://www.nerdcaliber.com/, and does a site of creative tools at http://www.seventhsanctum.com/. He can be reached at https://www.stevensavage.com/.