Developing of the Geek Personality

Posted by Mike Lee
November 19, 2004

The Gid

The Gid is an innate characteristic that causes the Geek to seek technical pleasure. This purely selfish personality trait underlies the Geek's desire for gadgets and other toys of the trade--and his or her jealous guarding of them.

Take the individual who is gifted technically but never applies his expertise to useful projects. When old, slow or broken computer hardware is retired, his eyes light up, his lips smack and he does a little jig as he carries the relic into a corner. He spends much of his time getting the hardware to work again, sometimes in inventive ways, but the equipment is never again used for anything worthwhile. Meantime, it's difficult to get the Gid-intensive Geek to work on the new production equipment. (In an alternate psychological theory, Pavlov would argue that this is simply reflexive behavior--especially the lip smacking, or drooling.)

The Supergeego

The Supergeego, the Geek's moral compass, is learned rather than innate. It's behind the Geek's desire to be a productive employee. The Supergeego dictates what the Geek thinks is Good technology and Bad technology.

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