pyrogenic identified one of the geek needs. I'm not entirely sure where it goes on the hierarchy of needs, but it's fairly basic for a geek-type. Problem-solving. There is this incredible sense of satisfaction and accomplishment when a sufficiently complex problem has been solved, especially when it is solved elegantly. It's a very giddy high, and it's possibly the reason why geeks seeking such a high engage in the classic addictive behaviors with their work. (Normal people leave work at work and go home. Hardcore programmers don't just stay overnight because it's OMG DEADLINE; it's because if they work at it a little bit longer they might SOLVE it.) (And, of course, I'm simplifying.) But there's a definite high associated with serious heavy geeking of the problem-solving variety. Like pyrogenic, the world is less good if I go without it.

Simple problems don't do it for me anymore. As I learn more and more about computers, I go for hairier and hairier problems. I'm an office-geek, not a true programmer, so I don't write apps for the workplace; I just make spreadsheets and untangle random messes. Making a simple spreadsheet no longer has the same buzz value that it used to. I have to start looking for more and more intense geek highs.

And when the high hits, there's this intense need to share it with someone else. When your favorite geek comes up to you and starts going "I just ___ !!!" it's not necessarily a childlike desire for praise. It's them attempting to share this extreme elation with someone else. Best, of course, is sharing it with someone who will Get It without explanation. But if there's no one around who will Get It, the nearest possible quasi-geek will do.

I've been known to be so giddy on a geek high that I've just had to share, and have randomly babbled to very non-technical co-workers, to the point of giving them mini-trainings in the subject in question so that they can properly appreciate and share in the excellent high that I am on. That does not always work out so well...