Rant 1.0: Whatever Happened to the Skinny Geeks?

Consider this the first in what I'm sure will be many rants about the modern "gaming" community and their stereotypes/problems.

I remember back in the 80's and even much of the 90's when the prototypical "computer geek" was developed: often small, anti-social, skinny, meek, bespectacled, and generally un-opinionated (unless it was something that related to computers). Often of a pale countnance and thin frame due to their general disdain for the outdoors and exercise, starving themselves in persuit of their passion. That is the kind of mental image that used to appear whenever I heard someone mention a computer geek (although in reality the image applied to very few).

As we've moved further and further into so called "modern times" I've found that image to change rather drastically. Where my mental geeks were once meek and un-opinionated, they are now brash, arrogant, and self righteous. Where once there were skinny weaklings, I now see overweight hulks. Once anti-social individuals who kept almost exclusively to themselves, now they spread snarky comments and vitriolic invective to any who would listen (and many who don't want to). Worst of all, I fear that the newer image of the stereotypical computer geek holds true significantly more often in reality than the prototypical image ever did.

So why the big change? There's one easy thing to blame: the internet. On the internet you never have to meet anyone face to face, so you can be as obnoxious and as opinionated as you want. You can insult someone repeatedly in the harshest fashion possible and face minimal if any real consequences. Computers and the internet were once on the fringe of the public interest; now they're an integral portion of mainstream social activity, and some of the geeks appear to consider themselves the lord and ruler of this new world.

And then there's this: Everquest to offer Pizza Delivery via an In-game function. That's right, they don't even have to pick up the phone to order pizza, that would be too much effort. No wonder obesity is on the rise.

Personally, I think blaming the internet is pointing the finger in the wrong direction. It's just a facillitator in the overall process that's all to easy to blame. The true source, however, lies in the individuals and their upbringing as children.

As I see it, the internet is an easy out for parent's who have anti-social children. After all, a child who locks his/herself away to play videogames all the time is much easier to deal with than one that argues all the time about getting exercise or doing things with other people. So, rather than address the problem, parent's foster it. Now I'm certain this is an oversimplification of the problem, and it definitely doesn't apply to everyone, but I think it happens way more often than it should. Worst of all, it's almost like the dark side in Star Wars, once you start down the path, it's almost impossible to turn back.

Now before anyone starts accusing me of living in a glass house, yes I do consider myself both a gamer, and a bit of a computer geek. The difference is, I have plenty of things that are much more important to me than my computer. I have a dog, a cat, and a girlfriend, who are all very important to me. I run in several types of races. I love to ride my mountain bike or my road bike. Most importantly however, I have parents who just happen to be the best parents on Earth.

Now I am not obtuse enough an individual to see myself as being immune from such issues as I described above. I am well aware of the fact that I have the innate potential in me to become one of the types of people who I so recently disparaged. However, thanks to my parents and the way I was raised, I need never fear such things. When I was a child my parents limited my access to both the computer and the television. They enrolled me in activities that helped me develop both socially and mentally like Boy Scouts, and Summer Camp. They took me and my sisters on multiple hiking and camping trips. They encouraged me to participate in almost every sport at least once, including signing me up for what would eventually become my favorite sport: running. But most importantly, through it all they were always there to offer support and to take a positive role in whatever I was doing.

Now when I started this whole rant, it was meant to be about corporate america encouraging the anti-social and addictive properties of things like Ever-crack. However, in thinking about the issue, I realized that the only reason corporations are able to make "victims" out of so many people is because the bad habits that are being encouraged were allowed to develop in the first place. If people's interest in things other than computers were more actively (and continually) fostered as a child, perhaps they would be more likely to maintain a level of balance in their lives. More importantly, if parents maintain an active roll in their children's lives, their children are much more likely to develop positively. After all, it appears to have worked for me.