Re: On nerds and dreamers

I might answer to this at greater length tomorrow, but a couple of points before
I go to bed:

Quoting Sally Caves <scaves@...>:

> As for "dreamer," that term is likewise ambiguous, with negative
> connotations in some sectors, and positive ones in others.  Yaguello uses it
> quite negatively in Les Fous du langage... so one again must ask if it is
> applied to people by other people who don't consider themselves to be
> dreamers, and who equate the word with "inutility."  But those who do
> consider themselves dreamers can see the productivity of other dreamers.
> Was Edison a dreamer in his youth?  It is, after all, dreams that can
> inspire invention, art, or change.  It is an especially intriguing idea when
> applied to conlanging, and that's why I was interested in seeing responses
> to the hobby/art question.  Are these distinguishable?  Do we paint to paint
> or do we paint to sell?  In the past, I've had comparisons between
> conlanging and poetry writing.
I suppose I tend to see it like this; a "dreamer" is some whose dreams don't
lead anywhere. Someone whose do is a "visionary", I guess.


> Meanwhile, back to nerd and geek.  What do others think is a distinction
> between these two?   "Geek" does seem to have gravitated more to the
> technical side than "nerd" does.
For me, they denote similar kinds of personality, but while "nerd" is pretty
neutral, "geek" is decidely negative. It also has connotations of exclusive
obsession with a single field that "nerd" lacks. In practice I only speak of
computer geeks and roleplaying geeks, but I suppose one could be a conlanging
geek.

                                                      Andreas

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