#NerdsUnite: Confessions of a ginger (and a nerd of all trades!)

<editorsnote> Nerds, meet my buddy Layne. I forget how we first started talking ... I think it was on twitter, and then we totes became besties of Facebook, and then we started reading each other's blogs and like commenting and like and like and like ... this chick is RAD annndd she's a ginger. No, seriously. Welcome to the world of Layne and the thoughts that are inside of her head. HIT IT GIRL! </editorsnote>

#TalkNerdyToMeLover's Layne Tanley

On Sunday, the most incredible thing happened. Neil deGrasse Tyson showed up on Reddit, and participated in an "Ask Me Anything" thread. It was amazing. I completely nerded out for a couple of hours reading the questions, replies, and subsequent discussions. The opportunity to have such a candid chat with Dr. Tyson was not lost on the Reddit community at large, and some really fascinating insight occurred as a result. The thing that hit home the most, for me, was his response to this question:

Let's back up a little, shall we?

I am a huge fan of Tyson. To me, he's the new Sagan. Not that Sagan could ever be replaced or copied, but in that like Sagan, Tyson is able to talk about abstract, complex information and theories in a way that is accessible and digestible to the masses. He brings humor, reverence, and joy to the subject of the cosmos, astrophysics, space travel, and science in general. His passion is palpable, and when you listen to him speak about the future of science, from the limitations to the infinite possibilities, you cannot help but sit up and pay attention. So, when he has said before that children are born scientists, that their minds are open, while the adult mind is often closed, it makes me think long and hard about why, and how to combat that.

What he's talking about is a child's inherent curiosity, their need to ask why, how, what, who? Why is the sky blue? What are stars made of? How did that tree grow from that acorn? Children want to discover all of these things and more. The wonder of it all is not lost on them, they are not born cynical, they learn it. Children are also born fearless. We have to learn that if you don't look both ways before crossing the street, you may get hurt. As children, we hugged everyone. Said HELLO! to everyone. Shared with everyone. Over time, we become guarded with our personal space, protecting ourselves from others, we can walk into an elevator with 5 other people without making eye contact.

When we start out as children, we're given a blank page and all the colors of the rainbow to draw with. We created chaos and noise and declared them ducks or cars or planets, met with cheers and smiles in appreciation of our creativity. Pats on the back. Then, we had to color inside the lines, and when we painted a duck purple, we were met with disapproval: Ducks aren't purple. Who ever heard of a purple duck? Then, we had to have a reason to create. The paper and crayons were no longer a staple, they became a "hobby." Something to be done only when the "important" things were finished. Like the dishes, laundry, those TPS reports and taxes.

And what about the possibilities? In the beginning, a cardboard box could be, and was, ANYthing. A time traveling device, a space ship, a classroom, a magical fortress. They said you could be anything you wanted to be, go anywhere you wanted to go. As we got older, being anything and going anywhere was prefaced by "as long as" or "if you do x first, then y." Then there are all the "buts." What happened? 

I'll tell you what happened. Our frontal lobes happened. As we developed the ability to fear, worry about, estimate, and predict consequences, we became less likely to take those risks. Hell, we didn't even know what risk was! All of a sudden, we were less likely to look beyond the box and see something else. We worried about how we looked, how we acted, how we were perceived. When we looked in the proverbial mirror, we compared ourselves to others, to what we think is normal, and what we think is possible. 

Well, fuck that.

Our generation has one of the greatest tools available to the aspect that is curiosity: the internet. Now, we can reach out to everyone and everything. We can see what open minds can really do. What they have done, and what they are doing. We can look at all the ways to use that cardboard box, ways we never would have imagined, and be inspired. We can find others who are taking risks, and as those risks pay off, the risk decreases. We become more confident in our abilities, more willing to dive in, head first, with vigor and joy. 

Now, we can look in the mirror, and the reflection is grand. We can seek out others who are being and doing anything, going anywhere, and reach out to them. Connect. Congratulate. Encourage. Grow. We are no longer bound by "normal" or the expectation of what is normal. We no longer have to organize our dreams and wishes into "possible" or "impossible." Only actions separate us from that which is and that which has not yet been done. We can challenge the norm and discover things about the world, the universe, and everything in between with the click of a button. Now, that's what I call wielding resources. We have the power to change anything we set our minds to. 

Now, the question is, will our generation step up to the plate and ensure that curiosity and wonder remain sacred to our own children? I certainly intend to. Do you?

#nerdsunite

Want more from Layne? Click here to follow her on the twitter!