Wil Wheaton: Why It's Awesome to Be a Nerd

Photo credit: Gage Skidmore     (CC BY-SA 2.0)

In a panel discussion at the Calgary Comic Expo last weekend, actor and blogger Wil Wheaton (best known for his portrayal of Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation) responded to the question of an audience member who wished to record the erstwhile teen star's response for her newborn daughter to someday see. The YouTube video of that response has  quickly spread through social media and garnered over 335,000 views in one week.

Jennifer Black-Moir, who posted the video on April 27, describes it as "a message to my daughter on why it is awesome to be a nerd." Wheaton addresses her newborn daughter Violet, welcoming her to the world and stating that being a nerd is

"not about what you love—it's about how you love it. So there's going to be a thing in your life that you love […] The way you love that and the way that you find other people who love it the way you do is what makes being a nerd awesome."

On his own blog, Wheaton writes that the question was easy to respond to because "I’ve been having that conversation with my sons for their entire lives."

 

Wheaton's advice does, however, include some suggestions beyond what he has shared with his two boys. As he wraps up his four-minute speech, he tells young Violet how to react to critics:

"[...] don't ever let anybody tell you that that thing that you love is a thing that you can't love. Don't ever let anyone tell you you can't love that—that's for boys—you have to love this because you're a girl. You find the things that you love and you love them the most that you can. And listen—this is really important—I want you to be honest, honorable, kind. I want you to work hard because everything worth doing is hard."

Eliciting laughter at several points, Wheaton's remarks drew applause from the live crowd, and several commenters on the YouTube video note being moved to tears.