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.