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By Adam Rosen A little over three weeks ago, Hurricane Irene passed through New York City. Although residents greeted warnings from authorities with wildly varying degrees of seriousness, their response was nearly uniform: hunker down. Even for those types relishing the chance to buck official admonishment, there wasn’t much point. Concerts were canceled, beaches were closed, and untold numbers of brunches went unserved. I wasn’t, in truth, all that bothered by the state of affairs.

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In the second episode of The Oxford Comment, Lauren Appelwick and Michelle Rafferty celebrate geekdom! They interview a Jeopardy champion, talk sex & attraction with a cockatoo, discover what makes an underdog a hero, and “geek out” with some locals.

Subscribe and review this podcast on iTunes!

Featured in this podcast:

Jesse Sheidlower, Editor-at-Large (North America) of the Oxford English Dictionary, author of The F-Word

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Matt Caporaletti, “Advertising Account Supervisor from Westwood, NJ,” Jeopardy champion

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David P. Barash and Judith Lipton authors of Payback: Why We Retaliate, Redirect Aggression, and Take Our Revenge

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Scott T. Allison and George R. “Al” Goethels, authors of Heroes: What They Do and Why We Need Them. Check out their heroes blog!

The term “nerd” has been used to describe several different types of people with vastly different interests. Here are several types of nerds:

• Computer nerd: Computer nerds are the nerds that are really good with computers. They’re hobbies include computer writing software, building computers, hacking, etc. They spend most of their free time doing something with.
• Gamer nerd: Gamer nerds spend all of their free time playing video games, computer games, online games, or role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. 
• Media nerd: These are the nerds that are obsessed with a certain TV show, movie, or comic book series, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, or Batman. They may also be obsessed with an entire genre, usually science fiction or fantasy.
• Science nerd: Science nerds are the nerds who are experts in some field of science, such as paleontology, neurology, geology, astronomy or rocketry. Even if they are not in their field of interest professionally, they may own a telescope or a vast collection of fossils, depending on their interests. 
• Asian wannabe nerd: These nerds, though generally Caucasian, want desperately to be Japanese. They read manga and watch anime obsessively and eat Japanese snacks, such as Pocky on a regular basis. The males generally have a fetish for asian women.

It is possible for these categories to overlap and a nerd may fall into several different categories. It’s not uncommon for a computer nerd to also be a gamer or science nerd as well. An Asian wannabe nerd may also be a media nerd if they are overly obsessed with the manga/anime aspect of Japanese culture. 

The most intelligent types of nerds are the science nerds and the computer nerds. The gamer nerds and the media nerds may or may not be smart, but the smarter ones have a tendency to not show their intelligence, via playing video games for hours instead of going to class or work or by simply interjecting obscure pop culture references that only they will understand into every conversation. The Asian wannabe nerd is the most annoying and least intelligent of the different types of nerds.

The term “nerd” has been used to describe several different types of people with vastly different interests. Here are several types of nerds:

• Computer nerd: Computer nerds are the nerds that are really good with computers. They’re hobbies include computer writing software, building computers, hacking, etc. They spend most of their free time doing something with.
• Gamer nerd: Gamer nerds spend all of their free time playing video games, computer games, online games, or role playing games such as Dungeons and Dragons. 
• Media nerd: These are the nerds that are obsessed with a certain TV show, movie, or comic book series, such as Star Trek, Star Wars, or Batman. They may also be obsessed with an entire genre, usually science fiction or fantasy.
• Science nerd: Science nerds are the nerds who are experts in some field of science, such as paleontology, neurology, geology, astronomy or rocketry. Even if they are not in their field of interest professionally, they may own a telescope or a vast collection of fossils, depending on their interests. 
• Asian wannabe nerd: These nerds, though generally Caucasian, want desperately to be Japanese. They read manga and watch anime obsessively and eat Japanese snacks, such as Pocky on a regular basis. The males generally have a fetish for asian women.

It is possible for these categories to overlap and a nerd may fall into several different categories. It’s not uncommon for a computer nerd to also be a gamer or science nerd as well. An Asian wannabe nerd may also be a media nerd if they are overly obsessed with the manga/anime aspect of Japanese culture. 

The most intelligent types of nerds are the science nerds and the computer nerds. The gamer nerds and the media nerds may or may not be smart, but the smarter ones have a tendency to not show their intelligence, via playing video games for hours instead of going to class or work or by simply interjecting obscure pop culture references that only they will understand into every conversation. The Asian wannabe nerd is the most annoying and least intelligent of the different types of nerds.

When I mused about the rise of nerd culture the other day,  I stuck with mostly gender-neutral terms. But after reading these "5 Tips for Raising Your Girl Geek" on Wired I got to thinking and decided to revisit the topic. From the... Read the rest of this post