Greetings and Salutations,
Today I bring to you a long and boring topic that is pretty interesting to me, but it’s pretty much a Schrödinger event whether you like it or not. So here goes:
We have already discussed what the difference between being a nerd and a geek are, but why are they considered distinct social classes? Well, today I’m going to answer that question. So we know that there are several different social groups, because as nerds we have been persecuted as a group, by other groups. So let’s consult the oracle to find out what a social group is: on 11/23/10 at 11:43 Wikipedia said that “a group can be defined as two or more humans who interact with one another, accept expectations and obligations as members of the group, and share a common identity.” Whoopdi do, now what does that mean in layman’s terms? Well, in the most basic terms it means that a social group is comprised of people that do the same things. I play video games and so do you, so we are in a social group together. But then it gets more in depth... I play League of Legends (LoL) and so do you, therefore we are in the same social group, but we don’t play Modern Warfare 2 (MW2) so we aren’t in the same subgroup as those other people that do. And we can even take this a step further! I play LoL really well but you don’t, so we aren’t in the same sub-subgroup. In fact, I play this certain character really well with a certain build on a certain level with a certain type of team around versus a distinct class of enemies at a certain time of the day on LoL, and you don’t so we are in a different sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-sub-subgroup. and now that you are thoroughly confused look at this hexadecachoron for a while:
So now that your brain hurts from looking at the third dimensional reflection of a fourth dimensional object (in this case a Hexadecachoron), I’m going to try and clear up some of this confusion. First off, yes there are an infinite number of groups as long as there are differences between you and other people. If you think of social groups as just a group of friends, you’re good. I enjoy just about the same video games as my friends, I play and listen to about the same music as most of my friends, I read the same books, watch the same movies, and know very similar stuff. We as friends are in what they call a secondary group, which is in reference to non familial relations. But enough about really minuscule groups, lets talk about the important things, like large groups. Now let’s see, think back to when you were in high school or college, what groups were there then. Let’s see, there were the Jocks, the Nerds, the Geeks, the druggies, the “hotties”, and the musicians, also known as band geeks. So along with these memories I’m sure comes a lot of bad memories of getting shoved around and having swirlies by members of other groups, so why? Well, it all comes down to this: we each think we are better than the other groups. The Jocks will always think they are the best because they are the strongest, have the most girls, are the best at a certain sport, etc. The Geeks and Nerds will think they’re the best because they are the smartest, have the most Pokemon cards, are the best at certain games, etc. As well, the hotties think they are the most loved, have the newest fashions, have the most expensive clothes, etc. And then you get the musicians, that group of geeks that are so specialised and large enough that they get their own group, who think they are the best because they do.... basically they think that since their band is so “awesome” and that they play so “well” that they are the best. Part of this is do to the fact that they are drawn together better than many of the other social groups because of the many events they have together which tends to bond them together despite what other groups you may be in.
And that brings us to our next point which is that you can be in several social groups simultaneously. I myself am both a Geek, Nerd, and a musician, among others, because the groups listed above are just the most prevalent. One can be any one of the above groups, or an amalgamation of several, or different aspects of others, etc. Now we get back to the confusion of before, in that anything that you have in common with someone else can put you in a similar class as them. So we have all this info, so if you have someone who plays and is good at Halo 2 and someone who plays and is good at Halo 3, why do they get in fights over who is best and which game is best etc.? (A highly stylised and specific, and probably not very realistic, but still a good way of seeing it, example) Well, basically each group as I said before wants to be thought of as the best. And so they persecute all other groups “below” them. When it comes down to it, there really aren’t any groups better or worse than each other, so the intergroup persecution is basically stupid.
And with that, I finish. Comment if you want to argue, like if you like, don’t if you don’t. Our posts don’t get better on their own, so make sure to give us ideas if you want, you can email them to me or put them in the comments and we’ll make sure to either completely ignore you as a rule, or to address whatever you have to say and appreciate your help..... maybe.
Live long and prosper,
The King of the Blog
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