The Evolution of the Geek

cant see the wide version

Same here. Even though zooming helped me read everything, I will need to visit the optometrist geek now…………. @_@

Yeah. Wide version isn’t working.

Hey guys .. had an issue w/ our caching. Fixed now – should be working.

Should be fixed now.

It’s been resolved. Thx.

Awesome flow-chart. Although now you may just have to add Starcraft Geek to that list!

its… MMORPG not “MMPORG”

Fun chart. I’m sure I’m in there somewhere.

…just happened to notice that they are all “guys”….what happened to Ugly Betty?

OH wow, no way dude that is jsut WAY too cool!

http://www.being-anon.at.tc

Where does the “Geek who literally only recites years-old unfunny internet catchphrases” fit in?

This is awesome. SERIOUS awesome. Are there prints? I know damn near every person on this chart, and Christmas is coming.

I’d suggest you add the boardgamegeek in your chart!

I’d suggest you add the boardgamegeek in your chart!

I can’t even see the chart…

I can’t see the chart… am I a blind geek?

….?

Wheeeerrrre is it?

missing geek

I dunno why it wont show up but this one works

http://www.flowtown.com/blog/the-evolution-of-the-geek?display=wide

Thanks god there’s no such thing as girl geeks!! Really, girls who feel passion or get obsessed over things? It would be horrible if they existed! I’d have to share my toys, comics, anime and my video games with them! LAME! GET OUT OF HERE, POSSESSOR OF BOOBIES!

…hey, wait…

I love this, but I’d also love to an amended version with female geeks!

Correction: I love this, but I’d also love an amended version with female geeks!

Please make this into a poster! I promise I’ll buy one if you do. I *must* have this hanging off my wall.

I agree with suluesque
Make into a Poster!

a great chart, but minus points for not including the band geek/orch(estra) dork

Japanophile? No one says that

try these instead
http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/weeaboo
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Pinkerton

Wow, I found my people! I don’t know whether to be glad or sad that I fit into multiple Geek categories as do most of my friends. Regardless, I LOVE it! Might as well embrace our true selves, right? Poster, please!

Great picture there, I have been a few of these in my time.

Great picture there, I have been a few of these in my time.

I would put it on my wall!

I would put it on my wall!

Great picture.I found my people!a great chart

Um, where are all the geek girls???!

It’s needed some info about repelling geeks. Some of them cannot stand in the same room without bursting onto a conceptual radical fight, ha.
Also, girl geeks; we are out and proud. I agree.

Glee geeks are often referred to as “Gleeks”.
Political geeks and early computer geeks (pre-internet) are often referred to as wonks.
Food Geeks often self refer to themselves as “Foodies”.

Some Geeks are obsessed over various specific pop culture items from their
youth. Consider 80′s cartoons (Gi-Joe, Smurfs, He-man, Transformers), note how many of these are now movies. Previous TV incarnations include
Star Trek, Space 1999, Dr Who, Superman. Note: Star Trek should NOT be under the film Geek, it is more properly a TV Geek, unless you only want to refer to the new re-envisioning by J.J. Abrams.

Furries belong on the list branching off about where Otaku do. They’re very closely related to Otaku.

Am I a geek or am I a dork if I like it but cannot understand where this chart starts and where it ends? I like the categories but I cannot appreciate the whole evolution part in this clustered chart. Should’nt there be some arrows? May be I am having this issue because I cannot read the thing clearly? – NV

This is great but women geeks should be there too!

You’re doing it wrong

why are all of these geeks white DUDES except urkel? diversify!!!

aw. no part-time geeks? lol! great though!

I really must have this. Can I have it? Please?

the origin of the word is “jekke”, in jiddish, german-like language spoken by jews in germany and austria-hungary empire. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yekke

great flow chart, but where are the girls? no females geeks? my existence would beg to differ.

what she said. we geek chicks need representing too:)

How about Kawaii Geeks – lovers of ridiculously cute things like Hello Kitty, Domo, Cute Overload, Sneezing Pandas etc

Does otaku imply anime in the US?

In Japan it means enthusiast so one could be an anime-otaku, densha-otaku (train enthusiast), camera-otaku (photo enthusiast), apple-otaku etc.

erm, Ozzy Osbourne bit the head off of a live bat, so does that make him some variant of geek? Baeek or something?

i think he once confirmed that it was a fake bat, so that makes him a Fabateek or whatever

The book geek category is strangely offensive.

Too bad there’s not a TV-series-geek category.
And where are the girls ???

further study on the descent of geeks -a

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exmwSxv7XJI

Mmmmmm Geek Chic… resemblence to Merlin Mann coincidence? I THINK NOT!

Where do I buy the poster?

Dude – girls can be geeks too.

You sir, have become a metageek. One who geeks out over sub-culture phenomenon.
I consider myself one as well.
Also, why is the star wars geek wearing a browncoat? Does he also supprt Firefly as well? I really did think he was being Ct. Tightpants before i read the description and noticed the lightsaber.

I think in the UK “Dr. Who” Geek deserves a category of its own. It was one of the original geek-chic cultures which has relaunched in the past few years.

@dinner_party I love the meta-geek tag, now added to my own personal urbandictionary.

I further the comments on girl-geeks, mix it up a bit.

Jen(lovesit.com)

I agree that Dr. Who Geeks deserves its own category – there are more of those than Trekkies and Star Wars junkies in the UK!

no, you are obviously unable to just take it as it is. Needing direction. My old coworker had the same issue. It just is. Ugh. pls dont ever work with me

You might want to add F1 in Schools geeks like this team of students from Pine Rivers State High School in Australia http://f1supergeeks.com
As their mentor, I can assure you that the are a bunch of Geeks!

Well update this next year and take that into consideration .

100% behind you on the girl-geek .. don’t know how we missed that.

=) Metageek .. I like that.

Yes, yes, I know .. my bad.

Man, everyone want’s a poster .. might have to open a store =)

Busted.

A TV series geek category would be interesting .. maybe a revised version for only this – hmmmm – I’ll consider.

It’s a Jedi robe, which is traditionally brown, but I see what you did there!

This is awesome!
I know a lot of design geeks!

Yes, I would buy the poster, too.

Honestly I bet there were caveman geeks! How can you explain cave wall painting in any other way.

b

http://www.retireinstyleblog.com (old geek stuff)

Hi-res version or poster NOW!!!

I wonder if there’s an argument that it evolved out of the generalized pop culture geek. I could almost make the same argument of Urkle, as he is a pop culture reference. Is Urkle based off of someone specific, or just a generalized horror?

Sort of. Otaku in the US are people who are obsessed with Japanese culture. Typically, they’re into anime, the food, the games, and other things that come out of the country. It’s a fascinating subculture. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otaku#In_English

THANK YOU!! Us Retro Geeks ALWAYS get left out!! There’s a huge fandom for 80′s cartoons/tv shows/movies, especially. So 80′s Geek might even be more appropriate than Retro Geek. And a popular subset of that might be Collector Geek. Who do you think is buying all of those vintage (AND NEW) He-Man figures off of Ebay? GEEKS! That’s who!

And I know it’s already been mentioned several times, but yeah…geek girls are not fantasy creatures! Uncool dude.

Sorry, but no. Furries are not geeks so much as they are freaks. A fine line at times, but Furries submerge themselves within the costume. Closer in some ways with the
WOW geeks, but this actually impinges on the real world.

Depends on what you mean by fantasy. It seems that the odds of meeting the right girl geek approaches on fantasy at times.

Now if you mean they should not be objectified, certainly.
Then again, women that are smart and attractive who share our passions …..

The female geek is a rare variant, but is now becoming more frequent due to environmental factors. These in include, college (hard science students), online gaming, console gaming, and acceptance of computer gadgets (ipod/iphone) as being cool.

The traditional geekette is still scarce, but only because they tend to be forced into
hiding by their “sisters” and social pressures.

LOL…it’s true that we’re more of a rare breed than the male geek. But certainly not unicorn-rare!

My buddy, Christopher, came up with better names than I did – Toy and Nostalgia Geeks. That’s totally it. And we demand representation!!

Haha, but seriously, I know scads of female geeks. A little shocked they were left out of this… (female geeks are my favorite!)

Well update this next year and take that into consideration .thanks .

But where are the girl geek???

http://www.vimeo.com/16209933

lol im such a geek, i like half of these things here!

computer geek
tech geek
academic geek
pop culture geek
music geek
world of warcraft geek
star wars geek

No Art Geek? Or are you putting that in with Design Geek, which you shouldn’t really, there is a difference.

The description of “book geek” is totally wrong. Real book geeks either loathe Twilight for its extremely poor writing, or only go so far as to call it a “guilty pleasure”, indicating that they do not appreciate it in the same way that they might appreciate Lord of the Rings.

Also, I think that making a “Female Geek” would be kind of offensive and unnecessary, because female geeks can come in all of these variants – especially in the film, book, academic, and otaku categories.

just a heads up there isnt a ‘female geek’ up there. I’m pretty sure you are referring to ‘Geek Chic’ which is not ‘Geek Chick’ if you read what it means, you will understand the word.

Cool, I think I’m a design geek with a bit of food geek in me.

That’s a great mix

Where is the gekette?

Personally as a computer geek, I don’t like the way you have all stolen our moniker. We were geek when geek wasn’t cool. It’s interesting that you have this little roadmap
. Thie truth is, the umber computer geek is very well versed in almost all the categories you have listed here (except for the design geek. No self respecting geek would pick a favorite subject that was non-objective.)

And what about the “Formal”… or the “Family Man” Geek???

I’m really passionate about computers and all the stuff related, but i love to get along with my wife and childs (Marifer, 11 and Ricardo, 5)

@pete mrsich – order your own posters easily through the internet, worldwide shipping. i did it with my family tree (myheritage.com); check out this site:

http://www.cyberhafen.com

Worst. Flowchart. Ever.

erm. ya. no. I know someone who would most definitely qualify as both a design and computer geek, along with food, and green, and well ya I wish I was more like him. I’m more of a geek fan than an actual geek lol…

I’ve noticed “Nerd” is now taking on the old meaning of geek, since geek’s popularization… because even though “Geek” was originally somewhat of an insult, geeks were always cooler than nerds… I’m just not sure the current nerd has the same study skills as the original one…. seems a misuse of the term…

the term “geek” lacks a gender, but maybe the images could have a little more gender variation but maybe we just can’t tell because they are all hunching their shoulders…

we share a name! lol.

commenting on the plethora of “where’s the girl geek” comments… erm… geek is non-gendered. and the people presented are hunched over. so really, you can’t tell. not all women are curvy with huge boobs

regarding mistaking “Geek Chic” for Geek Girl, I believe they’re spelled the same because “Chic” as a girl is related to “chica” I think (rather than the baby chicken)… but that’s with a ch sound and not a sh sound…. You can tell it’s not referring to a girl by the context. facepalm.

Why not change the GLEE GEEK to a GLEEK
Much geekier

They meant that adding a female geek WOULD BE unnecessary, read again.

You had me til the part about “book geeks” = Twilight readers. No one who reads Twilight is a book geek unless they’re reading it to better argue about why it sucks.

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But what if you are a geek that loves film, music, drawing, manga and is into PC tech? I seem to be a balance of these types.

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Sorry those are obvious males.

Yeah, there is not one single female on this chart. There was a little bit of racial diversity (but not much), they could have at least incorporated a few girls in the graphic.

Thank you thepete for bringing attention to what is so wrong with this diagram.

To richardstarr, I’d like to know where you got your degree in the studies of the female geek, after all you know so much about it… Your statement “The traditional geekette is still scarce, but only because they tend to be forced into hiding by their “sisters” and social pressures.” must’ve been your thesis. As much as I enjoy hearing ignorant assholes talk about the prevalence of girls in Geek Culture, you’ve seriously got it all wrong, after all I fit in many of the geek categories… except I’m a woman.

If your joking (which you obviously are) I still think your comment is stupid because it states some people actually think.

I really like how Dan Martell has no commented on the fact that there are no girl geeks in the diagram and how the racial diversity is really small. Dan, care to comment?

“geek is non-gendered”, yeah non-gendered and mostly exclusive to white people… according to this diagram. Truth is, there are females geeks and black geeks and asian geeks and native geeks, and we need to acknowledge this! We can’t just sit back and say: oh no the illustrator wanted this to be gender/racially neutral… Because that’s not happened, he just failed to acknowledge the existence of said geeks.

and I say he because Dan Martell is a white male.

The statement was mostly tongue in cheek.
That said, based on my experience, true geekettes really are scarce given the nature
of what a geekette is. There are geek types and then there are hipster types.
Many of those portraying themselves as geeks are doing it in a, some times unconscious sometimes not, ironic manner.

The core of geek dom comes from being a bit obsessed with our interests to
such a degree that we are socially incompatible with “normal” types. Athletes,
even though they are usually effectively sports geeks, are generally admired enough
by the base population that they are not geeky in a negative manner.

Women, who are generally much more concerned about social interactions then the
more (relatively) oblivious males are less likely to act in a manner that is socially
awkward and thus are not “true” geekettes. This is not to say they don’t have geek
tendencies, but rather they are better at hiding them or having other characteristics
that make those tendencies less of a burden.

The best comparison that comes to mind is that rich people are not nuts, but merely
eccentric.

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That Chic Geek thing is totally ridiculous! I’m a girl, and I know for a fact that over half the population of Otaku geeks is female, and there are many in all the other categories as well.

On a side note, I myself am an Otaku, with a little Book geek, Film Geek, and a whole lotta Gamer Geek mixed in!

I guess i’m the comic geek… i own that t-shirt

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I am an Italian journalist. I would like to receive the images in high resolution of the Evolution of the Geek. I need it to make an article in our magazine. Many thanks in advance
Valeria Balocco
features editor
Marie Claire Italy
viale Sarca 235
20126 Milan – Italy
ph. +39 02 66193897
fax +39 02 66192483
email: vbalocco@hearst.it

I am an Italian journalist. I would like to receive the images in high resolution of The evolution of the Geek I need it tot make an article in our magazine. Many thanks in advance
Valeria Balocco
features editor
Marie Claire Italy
viale Sarca 235
20126 Milan – Italy
ph. +39 02 66193897
fax +39 02 66192483
email: vbalocco@hearst.it

I love it! WoW

I found the preponderance of people complaining about the Geek Chart not being “diverse” and essentially PC enough for their taste completely laughable and tasteless.  While other people the world over can live in their own private and social networks of delusions, the truth remains what it has always been.  The essential makeup of the “geek” and “nerd” community is white and Asian men.  NOT Women!  NOT Trendy Posers.  Outside of the white and Asian male constituent the majority are impostors, frauds, and other types of hangers-on.  So to them I say: Go Find Another Trend You Leaches!

My take on geeks: 3 levels of geek (not subject specific)

Level 1 – Knowledge seekers – they take pride in gaining knowledge and ideas from others

Level 2 – Knowledge makers – thought leaders who take that knowledge and form point of view or new knowledge and ideas

Level 3 – Knowledge implementers – the entrepreneurs brave enough to implement the knowledge and ideas

What level are you?

there is one thing missing GOD DAMN DOCTOR WHO GEEKS PUT IT ON THERE OR I WILL SONIC YOU TO GALAFRYWITH 50 DALEKS AND 1 WEEPING ANGLE.

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To all my geek and other friends

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Interesting but I think there are a couple serious omissions and an incorrect assignment of a geek sub-class.  First the omissions:  Sports Geek- should be listed under the Pop Culture Geek category with sub-classes of Stats Geek, Sports Card Geek (very similar in nature to a Comic Book Geek), and Fantasy Football Geek (the incorrect assignment I mentioned).  I argue that the types I noted are closer to the Pen & Paper side of the Geek Chart than the tech side because they have been around a long time.  The technology has only made these geek sub-classes better at what they do rather than spawning them.