According to Wikipedia, geek is a slang term for, “a computer expert or enthusiast,” or, “a person who is noticeably above average intelligence, usually more adept in technically demanding fields, and socially awkward or alienated to some degree.”

Awkward as they may be, without ‘geeks,’ where would we be today?

Things started by ‘overly intellectual computer enthusiasts’ a.k.a. ‘geeks’ that have radically changed the world we live in include the Interwebs, Google, Microsoft, Apple, MySpace, Napster, WordPress, Facebook, Twitter, Open source, hacking, mashups, real-time computing, and the list goes on.

Today’s world simply could not exist without the software-hardware infrastructure coded by ‘geeky’ programmers. Over the last few decades, geek has gone from being a derogatory term, to a badge of honour; a recognition of specialization in a field of interest, particularly technology and new media, at the expense of social skills, hygiene and status, perhaps. But who is laughing now?

In 2011, it seems ‘geeks’ are running the world. Well, technically the software and platforms geeks are building are running the world, but geeks will continue to affect our social and economic activities in nearly every industry. As everything gets automated, and we come to rely even further on the role of the programmer, it seems geeks really have inherited the earth, afterall.

Pop culture has played a big part in glamorizing the ‘geek,’ turning them from people no one wants to be seen sitting at the lunch table with, into the kids you wish you were brainy enough to be youself. Back when Steve Urkele was on TV, geeks were ostracized as the nerdy, dweeb-ish, poindexter types. Flash forward to 2011, and tell me after seeing The Social Network that you didn’t wish you were as smart as Zuckerberg, or at least wish you were his friend so as to be in the presence of someone that intelligent? Over the past few years, geeks have undoubtedly become ‘cool.’

To understand how prevalent the rise of geek chic is, you have only to watch a new episode of the TV show, Two and a Half Men, where the main character, Charlie Harper, a hedonistic male bad boy played by Charlie Sheen, has been replaced by Ashton Kutcher’s character, Walden Schmidt, a ‘geeky cool,’ socially awkward, internet billionaire. It seems pop culture has come full circle. Geeks are the new bad boys of pop culture.

So, thank your programmer at work today for building and maintaining service for all the things in your life that you hold dear, (especially since they already know you’ve been reading this at work) or risk getting hacked by that badass programmer, because let’s face it, they own you.