Top 10 Results We’d Like to See From the Rise of the Geeks

The geeks are well on our way towards inheriting the earth. We are no longer looked upon by society with the general disdain we felt directed our way only a decade ago, and the outright antipathy we felt only two decades ago is gone.

So now we’ve got, among other things, a somewhat geeky president of the United States and geeky characters on popular TV shows. But there are plenty of things we’d like to see come out of the Rising of the Geeks that would help make our triumph complete. Here’s our Top 10:

10. Classes in comic book art required in public schools – There is so much amazing art out there that people outside of the geek world never see, only because they think comic books aren’t for them. With the recent comic book blockbuster movies, and more on the way, the time is ripe for comic books to make their way into the classroom!

9. Singing Jonathan Coulton’s "Kenesaw Mountain Landis" during seventh-inning stretches at Major League Baseball games – Yeah, it’s got a "bad word" in it, but it’s so much a better song than "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" there’s really no comparison. The latter should still be sung, for tradition’s sake, but we think it’s high time a new baseball tradition got started, and what would be better to restore the majors’ steroid-tarnished image than a goofy song about baseball’s past almost entirely devoid of actual facts?

8. A GeekDad TV show, and maybe conventions – If MAKE can get one, why can’t we? Sure, it’d be tough to film, considering we’re spread out across the U.S. and internationally, but we can overcome that! And how awesome would a GeekDad convention be, really? If someone wanted to start a grassroots movement for such a thing, it might happen. Hint, hint.


7. Laser Tag in kids’ gym classes  – Do we even need to explain how awesome this would be? We think not.

6. Flying cars – Haven’t we waited long enough? I mean, if Back to the Future Part II taught us anything, it’s that everyone’s supposed to be driving flying cars (and riding hoverboards) only six years from now. So where are they? Don’t give us any crap about how much worse accidents would be or how much the necessary extra fuel would weigh. We were promised flying cars!

5. More "out" geeks in national politics – We’ve got President Obama, we’ve got New York Congressman Dan Maffei, and we’ve (almost) got Al Franken, but there have to be lots more that are already there and just hiding their geekiness. We need to encourage them to open up and admit to their geekiness; plus, we need to get more self-acknowledged geeks to run for office in the first place!

4. Household robots for everyone – This goes along with the flying cars. We were promised robot maids and valets—and dishwashers and the Roomba just don’t cut it

3. LEGO as an acceptable medium in art classes
– We honestly don’t know why this hasn’t happened yet. I mean, LEGO is very popular with kids and adults, and as readers of this blog will surely know, people are constantly coming up with remarkable creations made out of it. So why not teach it in art class?

2. Lord of the Rings as required reading in high school – Seriously, who would rather read Steinbeck than Tolkein? Nobody, that’s who. And The Hobbit should be required in elementary schools, of course.

1. Good science fiction television shows NOT being canceled – We’re looking at you, FOX.

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