If the word “geek” still conjures up images of bespectacled, pimple-faced, metal-mouth klutzy teenagers in your mind, then you must have been stuck in the 1950’s! This is the 21st century, and chances are, in most fields, whether in sports, the academe, business, government and—yes—technology, it’s the geeks who are likely to be in control or at least in the positions of power. The reason is simply that geeks, by definition, are fascinated by specific areas of knowledge. And this means geeks have passion for what they have interest in and believe in. And this means a geek will by all means pursue whatever it takes to achieve excellence in his or her chosen field (and in many cases, this involves world domination).

From the blog devoted to all things geek, we give you four good reasons why geeks shall inherit the world.

1. Bill Gates

Okay, so he’s already inherited the world—at least the world’s riches. Although the rise of Microsoft’s founder to fame and fortune didn’t come along easy—several lawsuits and millions of blue screens of death have passed since—Microsoft is undoubtedly among the most dominant companies from the late 20th century and into the new millennium, with its software in more than 90% of all desktop and mobile computers in the world (yes, even Apple), and is likely to hold this position for a considerable time. Being the world’s richest person, Gates most likely has everything a man his age would want—except Google, perhaps.

2. Google

The Industrial Age has long gone. The Space Age is way past its twilight (although possibly re-emerging again). Today, we live in an age of information. And who are best to benefit from everyone’s need to know about everything but the information-mongers? Google, with its impeccable search algorithm, is out to conquer the Web just as Microsoft has conquered the desktop. If the Internet has everything, then Google is on top of that. And with Google’s contextual detection technology (i.e., for AdSense and the like), coupled with Gmail, then all our browsing and messaging habits are potentially tracked by Google. That beats any national spy organization tracking our moves.

3. The Lord of the Rings

When was the last time a or fantasy or genre film won a best picture award in the most mainstream of film awards, aside from Return of the King (last year)? Genre movies are garnering rave reviews and raking in billions in dollars at the box office. Now the Sci-Fi geeks and geeks of all other genres are enjoying their time under the limelight. A gay western (okay, kick me if you disagree with the “gay western” thing) was a viable contender in this year’s Academy Awards. Mel Gibson, who directed and produced the ultimate Catholicism geek’s movie two years back is again driving his passion to creating yet another geek movie of epic proportions (likely to be a hit with anthropology and sociology buffs). The entertainment industry is increasingly catering to geekdom, with popular sci-fi shows, spy thrillers, and reality game shows gaining popularity. I’m not even touching on Harry Potter, The Matrix, 24, Alias and other themed films and TV series with cult followings.

4. Web 2.0

So what’s our excuse for including “Web 2.0” in this list? Well, Web 2.0 is essentially the web turned collaborative and de-centralized. No longer are the big-shot publishers in control of the information that reaches the Web’s audience. Now, we have millions of blogs and tens of thousands of podcasts, and dozens of other collaborative services that let people become their own publishers. Now everyone with a hobby, special expertise, or weird obsession can have his/her say. Niche publications are essentially geek publications, particularly because the authors’ primary motivation for writing or podcasting is passion for his/her interest. Pretty soon, the Web would be flooded by gajillions of blogs and podcasts, and we won’t know which to believe and which are crap. By the time Web 3.0 comes we would hopefully be able to strike a reasonable balance in this regard.

There are probably more reasons why geeks shall, indeed, inherit the Earth. You may be wondering why we only included four. Well, “geek” is spelled G-E-E-K. You probably don’t have to be a math geek (nerd!) to know how many letters “geek” has. The point is that time will come when everyone, everywhere, will be considered a “geek” in his or her own right. And by that time, geeks would have, indeed, inherited the Earth.

And it’s not “the Greeks shall inherit the Earth,” nor “the Meek shall inherit the Earth,” mind you. The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth.

Any other reasons?

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