If you want to cut to the bare minimum, there’s a Venn diagram, with “nerd” being the combination of intelligence, obsession, and social ineptitude — in case you were wondering, “geek” involves only the first two attributes. But despite the existence of niche interests like those showcased on the 56 Geeks chart, you’re most likely to see the term used around a certain nexus of activities: comics, video games, science fiction, and programming or hacking.