The Geek Spectrum Explained(?)
So sometime I while back, I don't remember what I was doing, the thought struck me that nerds are like 'top-shelf' geeks. Being a geek is basically living on a spectrum with one extreme being Nerd. This isn't the first time this thought has hit me, and other people have talked about it whose names escape me at the moment, but it does make a lot of sense. Like, take Doctor Who for example. Whovian geeks write fanfics, they have their ships, or they could just be fans of the show who like to talk about it with their friends. Whovian nerds, on the other hand, are Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat and Russell T Davies and all the writers that make canon Doctor Who books. Geeks enjoy the material. Nerds make and expand the material brilliantly.
Anyway, while that thought crossed my mind, a question occurred to me: If nerd is one extreme of the Geek Spectrum, than what is the other extreme?
The answer, I've come to realize, is simple, at least in my opinion: Hipster.
While the nerd has such a deep understanding and love for the material of their choosing that they are willing to sacrifice their time and possibly career in pursuing, a hipster only becomes aware of said material when it is popular enough to be of major note. Hipsters know next to nothing about what is happening, and only show off the material as a badge rather than a talking point. To bring Doctor Who back as the example, while a geek can be simply a fan of the show and likes talking about how different the actors approached the role of Doctor, a hipster simply boasts how awesome it is on the whole without fully grasping how huge it is. This is best seen when someone only knows about Matt Smith being the Doctor, or only knowing about the reboot of Doctor Who. The main difference between a hipster and a geek is knowledge. In Doctor Who, it is knowledge of history. A Whovian hipster doesn't know of the awe that was the 15-foot rainbow scarf and fedora, they only know of the fez and the bow tie. A Whovian hipster doesn't know how amazing this year is to Doctor Who. A Whovian hipster is just in it for the popularity.
You can see this in other places, too. Take Sherlock Holmes. SH nerds get published and make movies and TV shows based in the modern era. SH geeks see at least one of these and read the books and usually debate over which new franchise is better. SH hipsters, only know about Cumberbatch, or Liu, or Downey Jr. Or maybe they know all of them, but they'll be damned if they know who Sir Arthur Conan Doyle is or how aggressive the original fandom was.
Now, granted this is one small thing about the entire debate about what make hipsters, geeks, and nerds who they are; however, I've never heard anyone talk about it like this, and I think I might actually be onto something about it. If anyone has any ideas, throw 'em my way: Tumblr user micaeck. You think this is completely wrong? Write about it and send me a link. The first step of peace is information, and the best way to get information (usually) is through debate.