[Commenter]

It's a question I've wondered about. Is it cause and effect or do people who are not naturally extroverted pour their time into becoming experts in narrow fields?

[Grall]

Extrovert people usually enjoy interacting and socializing with other people, therefore there's not as much room for the non-people interests that geeks tend to enjoy, be it comic books, gadgets/tech, figures, models, stamps, whatever.

Then there's the cultural aspect too, where extrovert people are not supposed to be geeky, and geeks are not supposed to be extrovert. So you actually have both the cause and effect aspect you mention, and the expectations of society aspect as well.

That's my pet theory, as a geeky semi-introvert person myself anyway.

[Commenter]

Actually I'm not even sure what defines a geek/nerd. Is it just knowing a lot about something that most people don't know or what?

[Commenter]

@AlStrong, Ah, that'll be it then. A geek/nerd is someone who posts on Beyond3D.

[Arwin]

Originally Posted by Commenter

It's a question I've wondered about. Is it cause and effect or do people who are not naturally extroverted pour their time into becoming experts in narrow fields?

A shy person is generally insecure. They will be inckined not to challenge themselves, and focus instead on whatever they are best at. There are no real limitations to what subjects they might be interested in as long as these don't require overly much challenging social interaction, but if they also have certain types of personality disorders, for instance some that verge on autism, they can be drawn more than average to technical subjects, such as counting sticks falling out of matchboxes, or pixels in screenshots ...

[MfA]

Originally Posted by Commenter

It's a question I've wondered about. Is it cause and effect or do people who are not naturally extroverted pour their time into becoming experts in narrow fields?

Because it's part of your definition of the words ...

The percentage of introverts at a technical university isn't much higher than at a highschool ... as for why they dedicate themselves to a narrow field, well you're forced to when you're actually expected to know shit in a technical field.

[Davros]

I'm an introvert, but I know this so end up overcompensating and being quite extrovert

[itsmydamnation]

I doubt your truly introverted then. Introverts literally get tied and overwhelmed by social interaction particularly when its more then a small group. Introverts are sensitive to dopamine and extraverts require higher then normal amounts.

[bkilian]

Originally Posted by itsmydamnation

I doubt your truly introverted then. Introverts literally get tied and overwhelmed by social interaction particularly when its more then a small group. Introverts are sensitive to dopamine and extraverts require higher then normal amounts.

I'm assuming you meant "tired", and yes, introverts feel drained by social interaction. That doesn't mean they don't do it. I am all the way over on the introvert side of the I/E section of the Myers-Briggs, but due to training, and conscious decisions, I have pretty good social skills and interact well with others. It does mean sometimes I need recharging time without any other people around.

[BoardBonobo]

Being labelled as a geek or a nerd these days is more a badge of honour than an insult. Those that manage to reach the dizzying heights of geekdom or nerdship have proved themselves to be the ultimate experts in their chosen area amongst their peers.

But to reach that level of knowledge and ability you have to immerse yourself in the subject to the point that being an extrovert is a detriment to your ability. If you spend too much time and cognition performing on the stage of life, battling your peers for the limelight, you'll never truly geek out. Unless, of course, you are gifted with the kind of steel trap mind that even thoughts are afraid of.

Us mere mortals use the tools that an introverted armoury brings. The solitary thought, almost a nirvana of quiet meditation, lost in exploring the splendour of your experience. The reductionist approach to problem complexity, the analogic problem solving. There are many reasons why being an introvert is symbiotic with being a geek. Love them all. For as a certain religious tome states - 'The geek shall inherit the Earth'. Which we kind of have done already!!

[3dcgi]

I don't view terms like geek or nerd as a badge of honor and I doubt many people where I live do either. Unless it's coming from someone like minded it's either an insult or someone's way of saying you're weird. I'd rather not be labeled at all.

I haven't listened to them yet, but there are two TED talks that may interest some. One is titled the power of introverts and the other's tips on describing complex scientific ideas to others.

http://www.ted.com/talks/susan_cain_...ntroverts.html

http://www.ted.com/talks/melissa_mar...rdy_to_me.html

[Grearlacte]

I'm introvert but I don't consider myself geek or nerd, in fact I'm not an expert in one particular field but I still I don't have much friends. I'm not really comfortable in socializing with people especially face-to-face interaction. I prefer to do it online. I guess I'm not confident enough to mingle with others.

[trinibwoy]

I met a random couple on vacation this past weekend. My gf started talking to the other girl. After a few mins of hearing them babble on about random shit the guy came over to me and said "Sooo, Knicks or Nets?"

Why didn't he start with "Intel or AMD"? It's because sports is a safe social topic and there's a very high chance that i actually have an opinion on it. After doing that for a few mins we realized we're both in finance and started getting "geeky" about that - at least from the girls' standpoint it was uninteresting.

I'm both a finance and technology nerd and find both topics extremely unappealing to most people. However when geeks get together with like minded folks they can get very chatty and don't seem introverted at all.

[trinibwoy]

I think the root of the problem is that "nerds" are discouraged from speaking about their interests in social settings from a young age. It's not that they don't want to talk. It's just that they think nobody cares or would find the topic lame, boring etc. As an adult they suffer from a lack of practicing self-expression which leads to low confidence, no sense of style etc.

Social interaction is based on common interests. Easiest thing is to find fellow geeks who are into the same shit - which is exactly what this forum represents. So just do that, but in person instead

[jimbo75]

It's way better than it was 10 or even 5 years ago. Love or hate them you can't deny Apple has brought technology to the minds of the mainstream.

As far as being introverted goes, I wonder if it's just down to not really living in the average world. How many geeks play online games instead of watching tv? I basically only watch F1 and football live, otherwise it's the few science and history programs on the iPlayer - any given night I'll generally be playing an online game instead with my fellow geeks. Aren't most people talking about the shit they watched on tv for hours last night, like X-Factor or something equally inane? Stuff like that holds no interest for me, and I think it's a lot of the reason for why geeks prefer the company of geeks.

[milk]

I am completely oblivious to any popular culture, yet I can strike a pretty good conversation with just about anybody. Just ask them about their lives and what they do. They must be into that right? You don´t have to be interested on it yourself, but you can pretend, until you find some non boring related topic to talk about and take it from there. There is no big secret, it seems its just a matter of insecurity that keeps people from being outgoing.

[(((interference)))]

I'm an INTJ and I am completely fine with being left to my own devices but I do find people interesting to observe and like noticing their individual habits and peculiarities (and pointing it out to them :P).

It's strange as I can at times even dominate certain social settings if the conditions are right (mostly if I know the other people in the setting and am feeling confident).

[gamervivek]

Originally Posted by Commenter

It's a question I've wondered about. Is it cause and effect or do people who are not naturally extroverted pour their time into becoming experts in narrow fields?

are geeks social rejects by choice or by fate? and how can you generalize them this way you misogeekist!

http://alphagameplan.blogspot.in/201...hierarchy.html

for women it is much simpler, ugly and not-ugly.

[gamervivek]

A couple of things were plain. Our grades and attendance did not matter at all. The permanent record was bunk. All that mattered were our scores on that aptitude test and we had scored exceptionally well. What's more, we realized that the nerds weren't always smart. Their apparent braininess, their pose of intellectual superiority, was more often than not simply a cover for their social awkwardness and physical cowardice. And this made sense. While others had suffered countless indignities for the past three years, we had figured out how to liberate ourselves and have fun. How could we not have seen this as a sign of intelligence?

http://manhattantransfer.blogspot.in...think-you.html

kerry and bush

http://www.vdare.com/articles/this-j...wer-than-bushs