World Wide Creativity

World Wide Creativity

What comes to mind upon hearing "hacker" or "geek?" In many cases, one will envision a male in his late teens who wears dark clothes, is antisocial, sits in front of a computer screen, and breaks into computer systems illegally. While such people do exist, they are more accurately called "script kiddies" or, depending on severity of infraction, "crackers." Hackers, in the general sense, merely enjoy "the intellectual challenge of creatively overcoming or circumventing limitations" ("Hacker"). Similarly, a geek is "a person who pursues skill and imagination, not mainstream social acceptance" ("Geek"). Hackers and geeks, together, form a creative force with which there is virtually (pun intended) no parallel.

Many of the world's greatest inventors and scientists are geeks in this pure sense of the term. As mentioned in the definition, geeks, by their philosophy, whenever possible do not seek out money or similar worldly possessions. However, if either comes with the task, they does not disagree. Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the World Wide Web, explains:

People have sometimes asked me whether I am upset that I have not made a lot of money from the Web. In fact, I made some quite conscious decisions about which way to take my life. These I would not change—though I am making no comment on what I might do in the future. What does distress me, though, is how important a question it seems to be to some. This happens mostly in America, not Europe. What is maddening is the terrible notion that a person's value depends on how important and financially successful they are, and that that is measured in terms of money. That suggests disrespect for the researchers across the globe developing ideas for the next leaps in science and technology. Core in my upbringing was a value system that put monetary gain well in its place, behind things like doing what I really want to do. To use net worth as a criterion by which to judge people is to set our children's sights on cash rather than on things that will actually make them happy. (107-108).

Geeks and hackers seek out, instead of money, the feeling of creating something that may have seemed impossible. This feeling has even been termed a "geekasm," a portmanteau word combining "geek" and "orgasm." By creating things that have been impossible for others, geeks fall in the realm described by Mark Kac as magician genius.