Right. To me “fake” geeks are those with passing or shallow interest in a subject, or have studied a subject motivated by something other than true interest (the lawyer or doctor that became one for the paycheck springs to mind,) and then pretends to more interest than they possess.

That’s not quite the same as pretending to have more knowledge.

And to those with a real passion for their subject, it is easier to accept someone that isn’t interested than someone that pretends to be. A good analogy would be religion – it is much easier to accept someone has a different religion than someone that goes to your church, recites your prayers and claims to be just as devout as you … but actually just shows up out of habit or because church is a good place to make business contacts. There is certain level of hypocrisy and even betrayal involved in pretending to be a ‘true believer’ when you are not.

Of course, that said, deciding certain people can’t be true believers because of their gender, cultural background, income level etc. and treating all such people that claim otherwise as heretical scum is not going to win friends, influence people or aid your cause.