Not that kind of geek!

Well, that depends on how you define a geek. By most measures, I certainly am one. I own multiple soldering irons. Just the other day, I trashpicked a broken stereo turntable and got it working again, and hooked it up to my computer so I can start recording MP3 files off my old LPs. And I think a lot about whether a kid unlike me might be happier, or have an easier life. As Dadwagon reader Alexander pointed out to us (thanks), I’m not the only dad wondering about this.

If a geek is a kid with a focused and single-minded interest in the inner workings of bugs or fish or microprocessors, you bet your ass that’s a good thing. The number of engineers and scientists coming out of the American school system is way lower than it ought to be, and when you subtract the overseas students who will go back home after they’re done with their schooling, we are facing a serious drought. (We’re doing great when it comes to producing Creationists, on the other hand.) If my kid tells me in a few years that he wants to be an icthyologist, we’re heading to the aquarium-supply shop the next Saturday morning.

But I suspect you think those interests come at a price. One does tend to find that people who so single-mindedly embrace any field, especially  in the hard sciences, tend to be … how to put this nicely? … less sociable than their classmates. A lot of people believe that’s inherent. Computer geeks, it would seem to some, prefer coding to people, are more comfortable in the definable realms of silicon and NAND gates than in that of human emotions.

I don’t buy it, though. The fact is, I am the biggest geek you’ll meet, and I had my share of awkwardnesses as a teenager. (More than my share, actually. I bore the load of an entire nerdy regiment.) I have not forsaken my geekery, either. Yet I have carved out a career for myself in a business that values easy small talk, confident polish, and the ability to chat people up so smoothly they don’t know they’re giving up information till they’ve seen it in print. Those things may be learned, even in adulthood, the way I went at them.

All of which goes to say: My kid’s going to grow up among smart adults who’ll talk to him seriously. I have no doubt that he’ll be well enough socialized to get through whatever’s required of him. But if he also gets that (increasingly rare) gift of math and science ability, shot through with focus and determination, I’d be nuts to get in his way. He can worry about talking to girls a little later. If he’s really good at what he does, in fact, that won’t be a problem.