Geek Culture has Become Very Cool Lately

I’m grateful for many aspects of the modern world we live in. Like the high-speed Internet connection that enables me to work alongside my staff in Japan despite the fact that I’m currently 5620 miles (9044 km) away from them. Or being able to read reviews of restaurants on my smart phone while wandering around looking for a place to eat. I’m also very pleased with the way “nerd culture” has become so accepted by the world at large. This wasn’t always the case, and I’m sure a generation ago a professional man who kept a huge collection of Star Wars figures in his office, as I do, would be viewed in a strange light by his coworkers. Of course, not everyone is as plugged into this fun nerdy culture as you or I. Once during a previous San Diego Comicon I saw an SDSU student who had GREEK WEEK printed on his T-shirt. I misread his shirt, and said, “I thought your shirt said ‘geek week,'” which made the man visibly upset. I was surprised at his reaction — what could possibly be wrong with someone thinking your shirt had “geek” written on it? Then it dawned on me that he probably wasn’t as tuned in to geek-driven pop culture as I was, and thought I was insulting him.

Nerd culture has become very cool in recent years. Which is a good thing.