stealth geek

When I was in college my roommate came across an early iteration of this definition of "stealth geek." I liked it a lot, and have since sought to move from a geek to more of a stealth geek.

By definition, a stealth geek is someone who has geek tendencies, but who does not stick out as a stereotypical geek. A stealth geek has a deep appreciation for certain geeky things, but has determined that maintaining a subdued style rather than a flamboyantly geeky style is ideal. The term was initially developed as a way of labeling Fox Mulder in The X-Files. Mulder wouldn't stick out in a crowd, but when you get to know him you can pick out that he has geeky tendencies.

I think that I am still a bit weak on the stealth part of the definition. I am more stealthy now than I was five, ten, or fifteen years ago, for sure. In truth, I probably don't want to be fully stealthed anyway because the goal isn't to disguise my true self, but rather to keep from being completely defined by a subset of my interests.

In short, being stealthy here has very little to do with not being who I am. I just don't want to people's impressions of me to come from their interpretation of one subset of my true self.