The Geek Discussion

I'm going to brave what may be something of a touchy subject. I don't want to offend anyone, please bear this in mind; I only want to start a friendly argument/discussion. I want to be clear here, and I want to start with a bit of personal background. When I got to high school, with a class more than twice the size of the one I'd just left (from a whopping 16 to a staggering 35 girls), not one of whom was from my former class, and only one of whom I was actually friendly with, I found myself immediately drawn into a group of girls, many new to each other that yr, yet all instinctively pulled together, like objects being sucked into a black hole. over the course of the ninth grade, a grace period where the social patterns were at their most fluid as ppl were still getting to know each other, it became clear that these girls were not only the nicest and brightest of my grade, but quite simply the most interesting to talk to. They actually had thoughts abt stuff and liked to get into heated arguments over silly things like politics, philosophy, science, or literature. they were the ones who made all the horrible chemistry jokes that you had to laugh at bc, well, they were funny. they even argued abt math. I don't know how or why, but they did. I could not partake of that particular pastime mostly, but they did it with such spirit that it was fun just to watch.
Now these girls, my close core group of friends throughout high school, were also slightly oblivious to social cues and accepted structures. to a few of them, the idea of a geek was something new. to others of them, it was something negative and stigmatic. it took some time (and I wasn't fully successful with everyone) to explain to them all that being a geek was a truly wonderful thing, a banner they should fly proudly, and flaunt for all to see with trumpets and confetti. Thank G-d, I was able to show some of the unconvinced that geek pride was an essential thing to all geeks, and we skipped happily through our high school days officially calling each other "the geeks" and nicknaming our ritual hang-outs as "geek-fests." (we still do, come to think of it.)
I have since given the matter a great deal of thought and come up with the following definitions, or rather categories, to help one figure out what exactly does or does not qualify one as a geek. I am aware that not even all geeks agree with me on this, and that is why I am putting this in a forum that is open to discussion and a free and friendly exchange of opinions.
Geeks may fall into one, usually more than one, of the following categories, and please beware that many of the categories overlap each other: 1) ppl overly interested in/good at math or science. 2)ppl who are into scifi/fantasy almost anything.(includes but not limited to Trekkies, Star WArs fanatics, Lord of the Rings Fanatics, DandDers.) 3)ppl overly into/good at computers/cell phones/ any or every kind of funky new technological toy. 4)anyone overly into anything animation related; including computer graphics, comic books, cartoons, comic strips, graphic novels, anime - also overlaps with fantasy. sub-categories include a)music geeks- usually mainly interested in jazz or classical, and frequently play music themselves. b)chess fanatics. c)gamers of any kind, which includes computer games, arcade games, video games, DDR, and DandD; also heavy overlap with fantasy and computer obsession. this is the basic breakdown. Nerds have a somewhat different breakdown, being a more or less seperate category, although again, with a lot of overlap. Nerds can fall into one (or more) of the following categories: 1)history/literature obsessed. 2)politically obsessed or 3)philosophy obsessed. there are a lot of these in the artsy area of life, too, but it's only some of them. you have to be on the watch-out for those. again, there's a lot of overlap; many geeks are also literature and politics obsessed, frequently philosophy also; and many nerds are also into fantasy or animation related topics. Cultural earmarks of a geek/nerd (not necessarily universal to all geek/nrds, nor are they limited to geeks/ nerds): Princess Bride, Hitchiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the works of Tom Lear, Monty Python.
Dorks are ppl who are socially inept without any redeeming qualities whatsoever. they're kind of rare, and usually have issues of some kind.
again, this is my basic breakdown, and I know there are many who disagree with me. I may have left some stuff off, for limited amt of time and space, and also bc I just had my wisdom teeth removed and am still on painkillers. let me know what you think.