Introduction - What it Means to be a Nerd
/Introduction: What it Means to be a Nerd
– Hi, my name is Bethany Bone, and I am a nerd.
You will not be around gamers and gamer culture long before you will hear people refer to themselves as geeks, nerds, and gamers. But those on the outside may well ask, “What do those terms really mean? What are the differences, and why do gamers use them to describe themselves?” This confusion is not unfounded! There are a myriad of differing and conflicting definitions for these labels! These terms are fluid and have changed their meaning, both subtly and dramatically over the years. People certainly need a way to classify this culture blooming from within its more introverted corners, but most of the outside “experts” lack first hand understanding and experience. As a result, gamers, geeks and nerds have had to self-define over time. For the curious outsider, I think the best way to proceed is to define these terms from within our community, a community which has accepted the once derogatory titles we were given and transformed them, just as we have transformed! So, let us do just that.
On April 27th 2013 a video was posted to the Internet from a panel discussion at the Calgary Comic expo. This convention was a gathering of self-proclaimed nerds with a focus on the comic and graphic novel arts. The video was entitled “Why it is Awesome to be a Nerd.” In this video a celebrity with which some even outside geek circles may be familiar, Wil Wheaton, (Young actor in Star Trek as Wesley Crusher, and occasionally as himself in the TV series Big Bang Theory) was leading a discussion panel. An audience member asked him a question that, at the time, was near and dear to the hearts of a growing generation of geeks, nerds, and gamers. The lady asking the question presented her newborn daughter to the panel and the room responded with resounding cheers and warm wishes of welcome to the planet. She picked up her smartphone and began recording. She asked Wheaton to speak to her daughter in the future, and explain to her what it means to be a nerd! The video went viral, (was watched my millions of people) because the answer given was one that resounded deeply with us all.
Now, in this book I will recommend a lot of resources to you. I will fill the margins with footnotes, and explanations. I will add a glossary of terms and idioms for your reference and casual perusal. But some resources I will recommend directly in the text. I may even tell you to go watch them, “right now.” I know you have a phone on you. You have access to the internet. The things I say, “Go watch this now!” those are the most important ones! And of all the things I want you to watch, this is the most crucial one. Go watch this video. The quality is bad, and the sound is difficult, and the camera coordination hardly keeps things in the frame, but in my opinion, it is the single most important documentation of what the gaming community is trying to become, what many of the nerds and geeks of the world want their legacy to be. Google search “Wil Wheaton what it means to be a nerd” and you will find it. Go on! *
*For those of you that don’t Google search: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_BtmV4JRSc
In this video Wheaton explains that it is not what you love that makes you a nerd. It is how you love it, and how you seek out others who love it the same way you do. He says it doesn’t matter what it is. It could be sports, it could be math, it could be anime, or it could be building things etc. The important thing is that you love that thing and you love it the best you possibly can and you find people who love it the same way you do!
“But Beth,” you say, “He doesn’t even mention gaming in his speech!” You are right! He doesn’t. But gaming is a part of geekdom as much as anime, Doctor Who, and Lord of the Rings. There is no way he could have mentioned all those things that are part of the wonderful cosmos that is the geek world, although he gave it a good run. But gaming is a core part of geekdom, and gaming, particularly tabletop style, is a big part of Wil Wheaton’s personal legacy.
This is the spirit in which this book is written. We gamers, as a community, love what we love very much. We think it matters because we think it matters together. We make friends, meet spouses, and encourage one another. We help each other through physical and mental health issues, and we do our best to make our local neighborhoods better places. We seek solutions to the world’s problems of poverty, hunger, sickness, and war. We feel a responsibility for the condition of the world around us and we do our best to “decrease world suck”* as a core part of our existence. While it is certainly not all of us who see it this way, those of us that do, know our community betters the lives of those it touches, and brings something to this world without which it would be much poorer.
Hopefully you dear reader can find a way to enter into this community. It has its problems and its unkind people. It, like all communities, has the potential to be something less than glorious. But the more people who care about what we care about, the better it will be. So with that in mind, remember, “Be honest, be kind, be honorable, work hard, and always be awesome.” **
* The Foundation to Decrease World Suck was started by YouTube sibling team Hank and John of the Vlog Brothers. In this program, members of their community, known as Nerdfighters (nerds who fight for good, not fighters of nerds) donate money to vote for and fund projects and grants to improve human welfare around the world. Projects are proposed and carried out by those same community members. You can find a list of their many many funded projects here: http://www.fightworldsuck.org/previous-grants/
Also of note is the Child’s Play Charity by Penny Arcade which raises thousands of dollars each year to provide video games and other toys to children in long term stay at hospitals and care centers around the world.
** A quote by Wil Wheaton in the aforementioned video. Some classify this as a youth friendly, expanded version of “Wheaton’s Law.” A code of ethics by Wheaton, during his keynote speech at The Penny Arcade Expo, and enshrined in the Penny Arcade webcomic. It was originally directed at online gamers and the way they should interact with one another but which spread to be accepted as an all round conduct code for the internet. It original version was simply a webcomic featuring Wheaton saying “Don’t be a dick.”