Nerddom: The Wisdom of Next Gen

Today I'd like to impart to you some of the longstanding wisdom of "Star Trek:  The Next Generation."  Specifically from Episode Six of Season Five—"The Game"—Because it demonstrates, so beautifully, the value of being an incorrigible nerd.  (I assume it's okay to discuss spoilers from a show that stopped airing almost twenty years ago . . .)

The episode begins when Commander Riker is introduced to the game while taking his shore leave on Risa.  Part of a flimsy, innocent-looking headset, it taps directly into the brain through the eyes, creating a mental display of the game's playing field while one wears the headset.  While the outside world is still visible in the background, the foreground of the player's visual range is taken up by a playing field occupied by disks and cones—the object being to mentally coax the disks into the cones.  When Riker asks, "How do I do that?" he is told, "Just let go.  Relax.  You'll do it."

Sounds creepy reading it, I know, but Riker doesn't know he's in the middle of an introduction to 45 minutes of a popular sci-fi drama.  So he follows the advice, finds the disk falling into the cone, and blinks in not-quite-unpleasant surprise as the game floods his brain with endorphins.  Naturally he takes the game with him back to the Enterprise and is seen for the next few minutes of the show urging his coworkers to try it.

Meanwhile we follow the story of Wesley Crusher, who arrives on the Enterprise after a term at Starfleet Academy and quickly makes a connection with a young woman in Engineering named Robin Lefler.  His mother, recently acquainted with the game (Riker's been replicating headsets for his friends) tries to rope him into playing it but backs off when he explains that he's got a date with Robin.

Well, on this romantic outing to—you guessed it—Ten Forward, the game comes up in conversation.  They marvel at its rise in popularity.  "Don't you think that's a little strange, everyone playing it at the same time?" asks Wesley.  Robin rolls her eyes.  "It's just a fad.  It's here this week, next week we won't even know it existed."  Considering its massive popularity, the two decide to see what all the fuss is about and try it out themselves.

Oh, wait, no they don't.  Because they're MASSIVE GEEKS.  "I wonder how it works?" says Wesley.  Robin smiles—"Why don't you try it and find out?"  "I'd like to know a little bit more about it before I try it."  "I bet if we worked together we could figure it out."  ". . . Yeah!  We could hook it up to one of the computers!  The medical programs in the lab can be set up to emulate human responses."  "I notice it uses a visual interface; we could connect it through an optical sensor."  And before you know it they're off to perform critical scientific analysis of popular recreation.  Because it's awesome.

Robin looks at a readout of the game's simulated effects and Wesley notices something peculiar on another screen.

Of course when they run this analysis dark things are revealed, they begin an adventure, and ultimately save the Enterprise from imminent danger—danger that would have in no way been detected by the unsuspecting crew had two nerdy kids not taken nerdy initiative and done nerdy things with mainstream entertainment.  Because nerddom rules and must be respected.  And the fact that I'm citing an already nerdy source to make a point should in no way detract from the message of this post, which is essentially the lesson we all must learn:  BECAUSE NERDS!  That's right, be a nerd!  Be a geek!  Respect nerds!  Respect geeks!  Encourage those laughable little figures typing furiously away at code, reading great big books with teeny tiny print, putting every other bug they find under a microscope, sketching dragons and bouncing with delight when they spot the words "BAD WOLF" graffitied under an overpass.  You never know.  We might just save your lives one day . . .