Do all geeks turn into history buffs? Which bit of history do _you_ fancy most?

define "geek"

(I mean I feel I've always been one, and history has always been interesting to me as well - tho largely thx to my history-teacher dad and our family background)

xpost: A strong tendency to want to dig deeply into subjects is sort of what makes one a "geek" in the first place, I guess. As for history in particular, it can be seen as a sort of catch-all phrase, can't it? History = all things that have happened, ever?

most of the computer/techie geeks I know don't give a fuck about history, for ex. Most of them aren't even remotely familiar with anything pre-their own birth.

x-post

btw I hate Neil Stephenson

it can be seen as a catch all phrase, but geeks tend to have certain subject areas that they glom onto most.

Yeah the intention wasn't really to make the question look vacuous or anything, it is interesting. This same process has happened to me btw, I've become much more interested in history (starting with Greek and Roman stuff when learning the languages) as I've grown older.

you learned latin?

i don't agree with the premiss.

not coz i did history for my degree, nooooooo.

I've always been interested in history and have always been a geek. I studied history in university and wrote a dissertation on the historiography of Stalinism. Apart from Stalinism I've always been interested in the independence wars of Latin America and Simón Bolívar.

i kind of hate how anyone remotely interested in history gets called a "buff," like it's somehow weird or unusual to have an interest in history.

I prefer "nerd"

Pretty standard. Hell, you can't be interested in politics w/o being called a "wonk". Works great as a dismissive term, too, apparently.

policy wonk
history buff
computer geek

what others are there

porn hound

English Civil war, long form from magna carta to the american civil war

The entire steampunk genre (writers, gamers, tinkerers, etc.) to thread!

I loved history (modern and ancient) when I was in school. I still love it now, going through phases of being interested in different things (second world war, English civil war, colonial expanision in Asia, etc.).

Been on a long run of World War One reading myself with sidetracks into the Crimean War, the whole monarchy->nation state transition, and the marketing/iconography of the same via world's fairs, etc.

I started as a history buff and it's never really left me. I am interested in a lot of things but the oldest, most enduring and most irrational fixations are:

Anglo-Saxon and Viking Era England;
The Angevin Empire;
The Wars of the Roses;
The English Civil War;
The Enlightenment, esp. wrt the French Revolution; and
The American Civil War.

I guess one could really start with pre-norman law and the law of the forest

"law of the forest"?

i like history OF THE FUTURE

I am obsessed with the history of the city of berlin 1918-1989

most of the computer/techie geeks I know don't give a fuck about history, for ex. Most of them aren't even remotely familiar with anything pre-their own birth.

As for me, I can't sever my love for literature from history. How can you?

"most of the students I know" obv

religious history, heretical Christian theology/sects

"law of the forest"?

is this the one that turned Karl Marx into a Marxist, or am I thinking of something else?

Mister M is a huge nerd in every respect, right down to his love of history, particularly classical Greek and Roman, and history of organized religion.

I like to read narrative histories about exploration, the Enlightenment, whaleboats being stove in by whales (there are more of these than you would think), and Nelson's navy.

My problem is that I can retain none of the information I read. We were having a conversation about the Cathars the other night and not one thing could I remember except that they were all killed or something.

You and me both. As a result I don't consider myself a "buff" (that sounds like a masturbator extraordinaire somhow) by any stretch, nor really an interest of mine. I mean, I am interested in history but I forget 99 procent of what I read anyway. :-(

I remember everything... except things I am studying for my course.

Maybe you need to not look directly at your coursework, or pretend to your brain that you are not studying, but reading for fun. That'll fix it. Stupid brain.

a "buff" (that sounds like a masturbator extraordinaire somhow)

I will never be able to look at Buffy the Vampire Slayer in the same way ever again.

Anyway, my list:

American Revolutionary War
American Civil War
WWII
the Space Race
the Civil Rights era

And plenty to do with the history of science & technology. Big James Burke fan(new book comes out tomorrow!) It's one of the main reason I dig on the Civ games so much. It's fun to march your little empire up the tech tree as fast as possible.

whaleboats being stove in by whales

Hunh, hadn't thought of that as an area of historical inquiry. How much lit about this is out there?

I was perhaps exaggerating, but I've read three books about the whaleship Essex, including Nathaniel Philbrick's EXCELLENT In the Heart of the Sea. Then there's the true account by two guys who lived through it. Then there's Moby Dick, which is based on the same story, but with extra bits thrown in.

Oh, and there's one by Thomas Farel Heffernan, who also wrote about the mutiny on the whaleship Globe.