If you could choose to be very geeky or to be totally non-geek, what would you choose?
For me, this is a very tough question.
My favorite pastime as a toddler (i.e. 3 years old) was doing arithmetic. Since I could not write at the time, I would literally ask my parents to write for me while I solved addition and subtraction problems for fun. I could do long multiplication and division and understand decimals at the age of 5. Today, I dream graphical pictures of optimization and game theoretical problems. It would be a waste, as some people say, for me not to pursue a lifestyle of pure geekhood, which is, of course, the path of academia or research. I am not saying that academia is an easy path; no, it is a path far more grueling than a phd. You have to LOVE what you are doing, or you will never survive. You have to ENJOY being a geek.
But I never chose to be a geek; I was born one. And for me, it’s a path of comfort and security. Since very few people can do what I do, companies will always want me. I will never be low on demand.
The downside of being genetically disposed toward geekiness, however, is if you wish you could be something else. I, for one, would like to live as a non-geek for a few years. I could learn useful business and communications skills. Perhaps if I had the courage to confront my weaknesses, I could make more friends, be more social, have more fun, find a girlfriend, etc. But it’s a far bigger jump for me than for others, which makes that non-geek lifestyle all the more appealing. Of course, I’m sure some people who do not have my uncanny (dis)abilities would envy me for excelling in what I do.
After all, do we not all want what we can not have?
Actually, I’m not as bad as I made myself to be above. I try my best to balance my life with sports and “real world” contact over the weekends. I can’t live forever inside a theory box.
Posted by Foo 
Theory World 