Nerds, Geeks and Dorks

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goldenboy

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I just started this book, "Mind Wide Open" by Steven Johnson. A pop brain-science book. It's interesting to consider the nerd/geek/dork issue and autism. That is, autism may be a continuum from very mild to more extreme. And, the fact that it's apparently 10 times more likely in males"”an inability to "read" others, imagine what they're thinking, feeling based on visual cues, expressions...



According to Cambridge University psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen, the individual talent for mindreading is partially hardwired into our skulls. Baron-Cohen has devised a simple test -- called "The Reading The Mind In The Eyes Test" -- that measures an individual's mindreading ability. The test requires subjects to discern subtle emotional states from a series of photographs of eyes. Some people fly through the test with ease, correctly identifying emotions without a second thought. Others flounder, constantly second-guessing themselves. And one group consistently fails the test: people suffering from autism.

But autism, according to Baron-Cohen, may not be a simple on/off condition. Its symptoms -- including difficulties with social interaction and a disinclination to make eye-contact -- exist on a continuum. In other words, although it's impossible to be a little bit pregnant, it may be possible to be a little bit autistic. (Last fall, Baron-Cohen stirred up controversy with a book arguing that autism, which afflicts boys far more often than girls, may even be just an extreme version of normal tendencies in the male brain.)

Baron-Cohen and his colleagues at the Autism Research Centre in Cambridge, England, have devised another simple test, called the Autism Spectrum Quotient, that can help us place ourselves along the autism continuum. Instead of testing your IQ, it tests your "AQ." (The test is available at www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html, among other websites.)

Just answer 50 questions about yourself, and a simple program will spit out a number between 1 and 32. The median score is 16.4; most diagnosed autistics score 32 or higher.

The questions are phrased in the form of statements, with which you can "definitely agree," "slightly agree," "slightly disagree," or "definitely disagree." Here are a few examples:

I frequently find that I don't know how to keep a conversation going.

I find it easy to "read between the lines" when someone is talking to me.

I usually concentrate more on the whole picture, rather than on the small details.

I am not very good at remembering phone numbers.

I don't usually notice small changes in a situation or a person's appearance.


http://www.boston.com/news/globe/ideas/articles/2004/02/22/the_autism_quotient
Click to expand...



It does seem like society is more geek-culture friendly now, generally. Just look at the comic book, fantasy cultural explosion for example. Harry Potter. Napoleon Dynamite. Chloe's my favorite character on "24". I love Fred, Willow. Interestingly, female nerds"”supposedly more uncommon.

I scored a 24 on the autism continuum test, for whatever that's worth. I used to crack open a World Book Encyclopedia set for hours and read it for kicks when I was little. And also, I was obsessed with birdwatching when I was 10, 11,12...built birdfeeders, recorded like a hundred and fifty species passing through our backyard, kept a detailed list.

But I'm certainly not a math, technical guy. I barely passed algebra. I'm an arts and entertainment guy. And I think I'm pretty good at reading people's state of mind. Hmm...all you lucky young geeks today...

I have have a nephew who truly is autistic"”special classes, the whole nine yards. Another nephew, 12"”has a massive lego collection. He's obsessed: goes online, trades legos with kids around the world, goes on trips to the Legoland parks with my sister. He's very much into his own inner world...

Are you a nerd? Geek? Dork? Is there a difference? I think geek is a broader term, appyling to personal interests, obsessions. Nerd is more a comment on temperment, personality, personal skills, abilities"”social ineptitude.
 
L
LazyDolphin
[No message]
I scored a 21, not too sure what that means exactly. Im a bit geeky in ways, just cause I enjoy computers and such but I still enjoy socalising with friends.
 
Well, the scale goes down to zero.

I don't know that it has anything to do with introversion, extroversion per se. I know some folks that scored sevens, nines. You'd think that they are just generally more socially adept, skilled. Better readers of people. Maybe they think less systematically, more intuitively? Not sure. Interesting. I'm always fascinated by things that seem counter-intuitive, go against your gut instinct.
 
my score is 22... it should have been 23 though cause i anwerd wrongly on one.. 😉

so what does that make me?
 
You know, I bet if you score super low, you'd be a good poker player"”good at bluffing, reading other people. You'd probably be a good salesperson"”could charm people into buying whatever...

I wonder if you need good social skills to be a great actor? You'd think, but then there are truly brilliant actors like Brando who are completely eccentric freaks.

I bet you'd enjoy chitchat with your hairstylist, heh.




...actually, maybe there is something about actors. Ben Affleck and Jennifer Tilly have both won poker championships...
 
Tarantino strikes me as being a complete and utter dork.

He's brilliant, with an encyclopedic knowledge of movies, pop culture. But his films aren't typically about warm and fuzzy relationships or subtle, credible drama.

And he's a lousy actor, IMO. The eye contact is all off when he's talking to other people...
 
thanx Golden B 🙂

yey i'm sorta nerdish :angel3: how cool is that....

oh a diplomate is a person who is good at dealing with people, or matters of different sort.. i found a deffnition if being diplomatic:

diplomatic
A adjective
1 diplomatic, wise
able to take a broad view of negotiations between states

2 diplomatic, diplomatical
skilled in dealing with sensitive matters or people

3 diplomatic
relating to or characteristic of diplomacy; "diplomatic immunity"

(from http://www.wordreference.com/definition/diplomatic) 🙂
 
I scored 20....
I don't think I match any of the three (or maybe nerd if I really had to choose 😀).
 
Hmm, 15. Something like slightly more socially skilled, oriented than the average, I suspect. Close to right in the middle of the continuum.
 
I scored a wired.com has experienced an Internal Server Error!

Mwahahaha! No test can defeat me. Of course, I may be slightly autistic anyway, since I refuse to make eye contact with anyone and I live in a turnip patch.
 
Yeah, that link's kinda crappy isn't it. Sorry y'all! Turnip patch...huh. lol.

Found more interesting, related stuff:


Empathy versus Systemizing

Simon Baron-Cohen's recent book The Essential Difference: Men, Women and the Extreme Male Brain proposes that "The female brain is predominantly hard-wired for empathy. The male brain is predominantly hard-wired for understanding and building systems."

http://glennrowe.net/BaronCohen/MaleFemale.asp
Click to expand...
 
Y'know, there's something about trying to have a conversation on the "˜net that amps up nerdish tendencies as well, I think. I'm not really the total hopeless dork I appear to be! (yeah, right)

It's just that this is not normal: we can't see eachothers' body language, facial expressions. Sarcasm can be a challenge via the "˜net. Typing a conversation just makes things very abstract. I feel like I'm thinking more abstractly on these boards.

Plus, it's easier to completely geek out online and feel slightly less self-conscious about it, right? Hmm. Maybe the Internet itself will eventually nerdify the whole planet...then...voila! World Peace.
 
Hey you guys, If you're bored, I found another nerd test:

http://www.innergeek.us/

It's pretty long, but quite entertaining. I scored 16.56805% geek, which is pretty low on the scale. I'm between geek and total geek. Goes all the way up to dysfunctional geek (75% or higher)! Seems to be testing for your classic math/science/computer nerd.
 
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