*promote because I think his response is not only from the heart, but it's something he understands.

Self promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Monday, March 31st, 2014 1:37pm PDT - promote requested by original submitter Sagemind.

*related=http://videosift.com/video/Wil-Wheaton-Why-its-awesome-to-be-a-nerd

Wil Wheaton - Why it's awesome to be a nerd has been added as a related post - related requested by RFlagg.

Isn't this a dupe?

I disagree with this on a few points.

First up, "we didn't choose to be nerds". er, yeah, you did. It's not skin colour or sexual orientation, it's personal preference. Literally.

At some point you have to own your choices in life. I've always maintained that "you shouldn't judge people on their beliefs/opinions" is bullshit. It's not acceptable to use "it's just what I believe" as a scapegoat for unsavoury beliefs (racism, homophobia, sexism, etc).

Unfortunately, it swings both ways. If we get to tell racists they're assholes, we must accept that people have the right to judge us on our taste in movies, books, etc. If we can't do that, then we are forced to accept that reading Twilight or listening to Nickelback is not up for mockery. That is not a world I want to live in.

Now, that said, of course no-one should be bullied for liking sci-fi or math or science. Those things are awesome, but not even twilights fans deserve to be bullied.

Next up, the whole "it's not you, it's the bully and their own issues".

Sorry, but no. Some kids are just evil little fucks. They're not jealous or looking for attention, they're just mean. It's a nice idea, but honestly, some people just need to be powerslammed.

What's your favorite ice cream flavor? How about your favorite color? Did you choose those things to be your favorite? Could you suddenly decide--right this instant--that a different flavor of ice cream or color is your favorite and not only behave as if it was, but actually believe it was (i.e. eat the ice cream every day and not be secretly wishing it was a different flavor)?

I suspect you've exaggerated how much choice comes into play in determining these things. Genetics, early life experiences, upbringing, social ties, and a host of other factors are probably far more important than choice in determining our "personal preferences."

Unless you're trying to say we can deny our personal preferences, which is absolutely true. People who are smart can decide fitting in is more important than being themselves and pretend to be dumb in order to be socially accepted. That behavior is a choice, but I don't think it really changes their underlying preferences.

As for the second part, it sounds to me like you agree with exactly what he said. "It's not you, it's the bully." Disagreeing with that statement would mean it IS you that's the problem and you deserve to be bullied. Whether the bully is an "evil little fuck" or the product of their environment, it's the bully that's the problem, no?

@SDGundamX, first just to be absolutely clear about this up front, I do not believe anyone should be bullied for being a nerd/geek/whatever. There is nothing wrong with being any of those things.

Ok, my point was that if you reduce everything down to you just being a product of your environment/genetics at what point are you.., well, you?

Does Usain Bolt not deserve accolades for his ability? I mean he's clearly a product of both an incredible genetic makeup and an environment that gave him both the opportunity and the impetus to excel.

I get what you're saying, but I think that society as a general rule has decided that judging people on their taste is a valid choice. We all do it, even if it's in a mostly positive fashion (i.e. people become friends over a shared taste in music/books/games/whatever).

I do agree with him when he says "you shouldn't apologise for it", and changing to fit in just doesn't work (although there are behaviours which you can avoid that will just make your life easier).

The second part I'll admit I didn't explain well. I got diverted while writing it and didn't finish it properly. Yes, absolutely the bully is the problem. If it looked like I was trying to apportion blame to the victim, that was not my intent at all.

I had a pretty hard time in school, and my parents, etc would trot out the tired line of "they're just jealous" or some other platitude. And it's simply not true. The good looking girls are not jealous of the plain girls. The "jocks" are not jealous of the "nerds". They don't even register.

Yes, there are kids that bully because of a bad home or something, but they're the easy ones to deal with. The hardest thing comes from just the constant isolation and torment that everyone does... because they can.

I agree with both of you, but at the same time, he answered a kid's question on the fly with no preparation very well.

Wil Wheaton confounds me. We probably like many of the same things and agree on a lot of things, but he just comes off as a smug douchebag that I want to punch in the throat. I think it's his goofy smile...i don't know. Like I said..confounding.

but this was not one of those times.

@ChaosEngine

I see what you're saying. I wasn't trying to reduce everything about a person to environmental factors. Certainly our choices have a huge impact on how we turn out. Instead I was disagreeing with the specific notion that personal preferences are primarily choices. Certainly we choose which preferences to nurture and how much to nurture them, though. I love Chocolate Chip Mint ice cream, but I don't eat it every day because I'm skirting obesity (statistically speaking for my weight and height) as it is.

Yeah, for the second part I think I just got thrown by how you worded it.

sadly *dead

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It's been 3 years since Casey took down that runt. Anyone know how he's getting on?

*love

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