SF

Here is a lecture by Neal Stephenson about the nature of the sci-fi genre, more accurately the Speculative Fiction genre, and how genres no longer exist as they did in the "standard model". There is now a bifurcation of SF and the mundane. I tend to agree with his analysis. Take for example Lost. Is it Sci-fi or not? It doesn't really matter -it is mainstream. And its speculative. I think that Sci-fi has led the way in postmodern literature, by developing new approaches, and that these have now found their way into literature as a whole, blurring the distinction. I love his idea of SF as "idea porn" - that's a great way to look at it.

I do take issue with his definition of geek. He states that "we are all geeks, and its okay, its preferred" He does correctly qualify that it okay only "when its done in the correct place and time. I'll call his definition "the weak definition". Just because everyone has one particular thing they can be be geeky about - does not make them a geek. And for many of the people in this category, their obsession is just annoyingly nerdy. "Geek" is a lifestyle, and some things -sports, cars, etc -just don't fit, unless its done with a modern or "cool" twist. More importantly "geek" is a lifestyle that is embraced by the participant. This is the key that makes it okay now, when it wasn't cool before. Those people who secretly have a singular dedication do everything they can to distance themselves from being a "geek," because for most of these people it is still a bad thing. But because geeks are on the cutting edge of developing society, these rest of the masses have to catch up with them to be able to function in these new societies, just as other writers have to catch up with SF authors. So, the "strong definition" of geek is someone, usually on the fringes of society, who is intelligent, obsessively dedicated to certain subjects, highly tech savvy , able to quickly adapt to the latest tech trends, and yet able to interact socially with others [1]. There is also a shared communal heritage, usually revolving around vast knowledge of sci-fi related trivia. Many people do not have all these traits and are therefore simply not geeks. Here is the link to The Geek Test, in case anyone is wondering about their own rating.

[1] This is what differentiates geeks from other pseudo-intellegent, yet socially akward, sub culture stereotypes, i.e nerds.