Have you ever asked yourself: Could it be me? Am I a geek? Or is everybody else weird? Don’t wonder any more. Here are four surefire signs that tell you whether you are a geek.
You think everybody knows about the model organism you study
This happened to me when I was a fresh life science graduate. I interviewed for a job in front of a mixed audience of scientists, engineers and medical doctors. When I talked about my master thesis one of the listeners asked about the species I studied. I was completely thrown off by the fact that anybody would not know the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. How is that even possible? In plant science, the whole world revolves around this species.
Of course, it is naïve to assume that everybody knows about the model organism you study. So if you are a microbiologist, watch out. There might be people out there who do not know about Escherichia coli.
You brag about having non-geeky friends
If you are proud of knowing people outside your discipline, you are definitively a geek. Usually, geeks surround themselves with geeks. They life with fellow geeks, meet new geeks and go to geeky events. In short, their social circle consists mainly of geeks. Friends with other non-geeky professions are so rare, that they are truly special. Science geeks brag about knowing that one friend who has an exotic profession. He or she might be an artist, historian or even musician.
For regular people on the other hand it is more normal to befriend people from all ways of life.
Your favorite TV show resembles of your life
Regular people try to find leisure time activities that counterbalances their careers. Geeks do exactly the opposite.
Geeks like to watch other geeks on TV. After a long day in the science lab geeks love to come home and watch series such as The Big Bang Theory. In these series, geeks like themselves spent time doing the things they do. Many scientists enjoy forensic science series such as CSI or Bones. Medical professionals unwind after a long day at the clinic by watching Scrubs.
It almost seems like they cannot get enough of their discipline.
Your sense of humor is intricately liked to your profession
Geeks like geeky jokes. Usually only fellow geeks will understand these jokes. If you are a scientist, you might enjoy the following jokes, even though they are completely lost on your non-geeky friends:
“I prefer RNA to DNA because – I love U.”
“There are 10 kinds of people. Those who get the binary code and those who don’t.”
Do you know any other geeky jokes? Leave a comment and tell us.