The word
geek is in the process of being re-defined from its former negative meaning to a new positive meaning, in effort by certain
intellectual technophiles who have what is remarkably similar to a
social life to capitalize on a readily provided
identity for themselves while not having to be negatively identified.
At the same time nerd is not being redfined even by this group, thus creating a rift between two formerly closely related groups of society, and creating an air of superiority among the geeks with which the geeks can feel superior over another group, which is a fallacious but generally accepted prerequisite to being cool.