Do Your Friends Think You're a Nerd or a Geek?

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Posted By: peter chao

I've always been thought of as a Nerd or a Geek. As a matter of fact I always hung around the smartest Nerds and Geeks in my high school (Lowell in SF), Cal (U.C. Berkeley), Boalt Hall (U.C. Berkeley). There was a reason for this, I thought I wasn't very smart, so I decided to hang around the smartest kids in school so that I would become smarter.

Tell me about your school days, tell me when you started collecting, tell me if you consider yourself a Nerd or a Geek. I started collecting when I was in 2nd or 3d grade.

By the way, that's the reason I post on Net54, I really don't know that much about vintage cards so I decided to join our little community so that I would learn from the best collectors around. It's just me doing what I've always done. I've always wanted to learn from those that knew more than me. Thanks guys for answering a beginner's questions.

Among the things I've learned from you guys is that there's a difference between "your" and "you're." Barry, check-out the Message Title, I learned that from you. And I learned to insert a question mark from Jeff L. Have fun with this thread, I'm just trying to find out a little more about my friends on this Board.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Dave F

hmmm....lol. no, was definately on the under spectrum of nerd or geek in school...just scraped by in classes due to enjoy outside activities moreso than education activities...was more into playing sports, football, wrestling, baseball than I was worried about trig or chemistry...collected cards as a kid up til about 10 years old....got back into cards the last couple years after needing some hobbies in marriage..

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Posted By: Cat (ret.)

Peter:

I don't know if people think I am a nerd...more like a psycho.

I really don't know much about cards either. This Youtube is a good reflection of my knowledge base (it only takes 30 seconds to view it):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4FFyPQzI_M

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Posted By: MVSNYC

i have never been considered, nor do i consider myself, a nerd...sorry.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Michael is a man about town!

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

These pretzels...yada yada yada.

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Posted By: ScottIngold

Somehow i knew that was coming Jeff.

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Posted By: davidcycleback

When he went back to college, Homer Simpson told Marge that there are two types of people on campus, nerds and jocks, and, as a jock, nerds were his mortal enemy. Of course, no one other than Homer would classify him as a jock.

Then there was the bespectacled Milhouse's views on nerddom when Bart called him a nerd:
"I'm not a nerd. I'm not smart enough."

Likely over 50 percent of the Nobel Prize winners in physics, chemistry and medicine were/are nerds, and another 30 percent are borderline nerds-- and if that isn't a kudos to nerds I don't know what is.

I hate to break it to you guys, but Werner Heisenberg probably was a nerd. And if you know who he is without having to look it up on google, Homer might classify you as a nerd too.

Then there were Nobel Prize winner John Nash and Kurt Godel (good friend of Einstein and famous mathematician) who would be classified as a psychotic nerds. For those unfamiliar with their interesting bios, Nash was schizophrenic and, while a M.I.T. professor, believed aliens were talking to him. While a Princeton professor, Godel starved himself to death as he believed unknown people were trying to poison his food. He wouldn't even eat his own cooking.

It is an interesting comment on genius, as Godel is almost universally ranked as one of the greatest mathematicians ever, someone on par with Issac Newton.

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Posted By: Gil

No, but my wife wonders why I spend so much time in a dark bathroom with my baseball cards and a black light. That is, you do not have to be a nerd in order to be looney.

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Posted By: Dan Koteles

they do have available rooms for you guys !

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Posted By: davidcycleback

Peter, if you're worried that your online friends might think you're a nerd, just tell them you went to Berkeley and they'll think you're a hippie.

As a hippie, Homer would like you but Eric Cartman would not ("Hippies. They want to save the world but all they do is smoke pot and play frisbee!”)

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Posted By: PAS

Taking o/t to new lengths, it seems.

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Posted By: Frank Evanov

Isn't this supposed to be a vintage baseball card forum?

Frank

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Sigh.

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Posted By: Al Simeone

Peter ,
You never cease to amase me with these mind numbing threads!
I wait with baited breath for the next one!

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Posted By: kenneth McMillan

I'm a confirmed Nerd......But that's okay......proud of it.

Kmac
'

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Posted By: peter chao

You're telling me this is O/T? This is about as on topic as I get.

Peter C.

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Posted By: ScottIngold

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Posted By: JimCrandell

Peter--another off-topic post????!!!!--you have got to stop. You know, you don't have tp start a post every day!

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Posted By: Jeff Lichtman

Boy it's a sunny day and perfect for baseball!

Does anyone find that their feet sweat in their shoes?

Do your friends run away from you and file restraining orders if you follow?

The lint in my belly button is interesting

Do ballpark pretzels make you thirstier than regular store-bought pretzels?

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Posted By: Ralph

I come to this site for the basis of Peter's posts as I always like to find something to make me chuckle I prefer the store brand of Pretzels......

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Posted By: leon

I think Peter C adds more to this site (maybe more OT, but who's counting) than 90% of the people that look at it. He's sometimes off the wall but aren't we all, sometimes? Thanks for being a good board member Peter C, and also thanks for being the one person that gets picked on more than me ...and probably the one person that has thicker skin too. First soda is on me if we ever meet...As far as on topic.....nah, not really a nerd.....Just a hobby addict....

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Posted By: Darren

What friends?!

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Posted By: Jason L

I will ask him your question.

Definitely NOT a nerd, but most certainly a geek, ...yet always have been strangely, if not uniquely, attractive

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Posted By: Jim VB

<<I wait with baited breath for the next one!>>


This cause you problems on dates?

I believe you may have meant "bated breath". (Sorry. Couldn't resist.)

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Posted By: Jeff Prizner

Collecting baseball cards does not necessarily make you a geek, but the act of collecting baseball cards itself is definitely geeky. Don’t have any delusions about it being considered “cool” by society.

But it’s fun so do what you like!

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Posted By: Peter_Spaeth

I see Leon's point but at the same time, when people get ripped to shreds for starting a post on a Mantle card because it isn't prewar, I don't understand the tolerance for threads of this nature. Maybe there should be a separate forum for O/T.

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Posted By: peter chao

Guys,

Jeff P. has the right attitude, this topic could be on topic if you put a little spin on it. I'm already thinking about my New Year's resolution, I want to be criticized less often than Leon.

Peter C.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Does anybody know that the little plastic doohickey at the end of your shoelace is called an aglet?

It's just something to think about.

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Posted By: peter chao

Barry,

I got to warn you there are people that would consider that post to be O/T.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Zinn

I too have no friends.

Unlike some of you who castigate Peter for this post I think it to be particularly relevant when addressed to whom it is being addressed.

I have never seen a geekier or nerdier bunch as at a card show. But then I've never been to a Star Trek Convention.

And for the record I am a geek but not a nerd.

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Posted By: peter chao

Zinn,

Since you brought it up, what's the difference between a Nerd and a Geek.

Peter C.

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Posted By: peter chao

Barry,

You got to be careful, there are people on this Board that would consider your post to be O/T.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Jason L

little hole liner that you string your laces through called an eyelet?

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Posted By: Kevin Cummings

Webster defines a nerd as an "unstylish, unattractive or socially inept person especially one slavishly devoted to intellectual or academic pursuits." While nerd, dork, and geek share in passionate intellectual pursuits and social ineptitude, nerd has the added implication of being affable and amusing.

Webster defines a geek as "a person often of an intellectual bent who is disliked" or "an enthusiast or expert especially in a technological field or activity."

Since the definition of nerd does not mention anything about expertise in the field being passionately pursued, one might reasonably assume that if one hangs out long enough on Net54 and absorbs enough knowledge on baseball cards, one could graduate from nerdiness to geekdom. Of course, that would mean you'd be sacrificing your affability for expert knowledge.

Edited for grammar.

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Posted By: barrysloate

Jason- you are correct!

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Posted By: Zinn

Bingo!!

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Posted By: John H.

Peter C.,

FYI, overuse of that smiley face that you include in almost all of your posts is kind of nerdy AND geeky.

John

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Posted By: Al Simeone

Barry,
If my memory serves me correctly in the Movie Cocktails and Dreams with Tom Cruise. Didnt she call the little thing at the end of your shoe lace a FLUGIL BINDER!!!!

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Posted By: barrysloate

Al- wasn't the movie called "Cocktail"? I saw it when it came out and don't remember it.

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Posted By: Ed Ivey

Only my wife knows I'm a nerd.

I hide it to the rest of the world behind a 6'7" 280 pound frame.

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Posted By: peter chao

Ed,

When your that size, you can call yourself anything you want and I'll be happy to agree.

Peter C.

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Posted By: Al Simeone

Barry,
I think it was called COCKTAILS. The name of the bar was called Cocktails and Dreams. But yes she caled it a FLUGIL BINDER!!

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Posted By: Al Simeone

JIM VB,
Nice to see you got a laugh on my account!! I guess only a NERD would do that!! LOL

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Posted By: Jim VB

If only a nerd would make that mistake, then only a geek would notice it and point it out publicly.

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Posted By: Al Simeone

Turn about fair play Jim!! It always amazes me we hate Peters Threads but they just seem to go on forever and never die! Lets all let this one die here just like the Mets did yesterday!! RIP peters thread!

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Posted By: Marty Ogelvie

My friends do not think of me as a NERD, at least I don't think they do.  My wife on the other hand does think I am a NERD.  I was an athelete (wannabe) in school, not very nerdy or geeky but not very athletic either. I was always a mid tier athlete. I could never hit a curve ball but I could get my bat on the fastest of fast balls.  My glove was very suspect so they put me behind the plate.  Catching during a midday summer practice is simply brutal.  My son is catching today and loves it, although last night he got hit on the inside of his foot with a low fast ball and is starting to have second thoughts about catching.

 I started collecting around the age of 10. I stopped around 15 and started again around 24. 

 

martyOgelvie
nyyankeecards.com

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Posted By: peter chao

Same here Marty, I was a mid-tier athelete. As a spectator baseball was my favorite, but for participation I favored basketball and track. I spent a lot of time playing basketball but never became very good at it.

Sports is deceptive, when you're young you think that all you need to do is practice and you will become a school star. When you get older you realize that there's a lot more involved. Not only do you need some natural ability, but you need to study the game.

From basketball, Pete Maravich basically made himself into a star.

Peter C.