Bitcoin Forum

During random discussion it finally occured to me: Nerds & Geeks IT geeks/enthusiasts will rule the world in about the next 20 years. In my opinion, it is practically inevitable.

It is now pretty clear few basic technologies will be building blocks of the future and among them the 2 we already know:
- Internet: It has already changed the world. In the next 10-20 years practically EVERYTHING will be done using Internet to a some degree (if it already isn't ?). People won't know how to live without it. Internet is created & run by IT geeks.
- Bitcoin: It its highly probable that it will rewrite the whole financial system from the scratch, and with it - whole economy. And economy rules everything: from people, through companies to whole countries. Bitcoin is also run by IT geeks.

Some facts:
- Huge amount of financial wealth is already owned by IT enthusiasts because of new IT companies such as Google and Facebook.
- Because the IT enthusiasts rule the internet, they influence practically everybody's opinion
- The IT enthusiasts (including early adopters) will [probably] accumulate almost inconceivable amount of wealth because of Bitcoin. And people with the most wealth will rule
- The old people don't understand the new world and won't invest so much in new technologies (just look at Bloomberg/Fox Buisness interviews), so they will be gradually replaced by nerds on all positions of power

Also everybody should be actually quite happy with nerds as their new ruling elite. Reasons:
- Nerds IT geeks are smart.
- Nerds IT geeks are more logical than other people, so are less prone to manipulation
- Nerds IT geeks don't lust money as much as most other people (they care about gadgets and IT stuff instead).
- Nerds IT geeks don't lust power as much as most other people (they care about doing cool things with IT stuff instead). Which implies greater resistance to corruption.
- Nerds IT geeks actually know how to build, run & test complex systems, so if they were to rule globally, that would improve the world a lot (just look what the Internet has done already, and much much more can be achieved)

So if you are not an IT geek, you should welcome your new geeky overlords.

If you are an IT geek, you should prepare for the inevitable and try to be a good ruler for your future underlings.

I know all of this may sound funny, but I am actually quite serious.

How thought-provoking  ::)

Please elaborate ?

How can a small box of candies rule the world?

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_ltk9c4kw5g1qj295zo1_400.jpg

I don't know, ask them.

Haha, very good.

But back to the subject, I do believe they have the potential to 'rule the world' but as a geek, I wouldn't want to rule the world, to much responsibility, to much laws, too much wars.
Saying that, I would like to create my own island and community, so I guess I have mixed opinions lol.

Well just as long as we don't build our maker any time soon
Hal9000
Mean
Exhibit A
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=njos57IJf-0

Just program a Sim City World like interface for your ruling. That way it will just seem like a video game rather than world ruling.

Don't they already?

Here's something to think about. If you rule the world and have everyone shot that bullied you in school, are you still a nerd? Or have YOU become the bully instead?

Mmm 5 levels below Stalin 4 levels below hitler 3 levels below apartheid 2 levels below exterminator 1 level below terminator == Mujahideen or Dark Hero

Nerds grow up to be old stodgey white men with little compassion for new technology, young people or liberal society. They already rule the world.

True story.

Source ?

Actually it sounds kind of sad, its almost like you are trying to justify your lack of social skills.

It's like back in high school when people would say the same type of thing, like: "in 20 years the nerds will be the jock's bosses" or "the popular kids now will be pumping gas and the nerds will all be rich".

The problem is, that isn't even remotely true, its wish-fulfillment fantasy.

History.

Look at this nerd boy.

http://wiki.kepler-gymnasium.de/images/6/67/Hitler-jung.jpg

Who's he?

http://www.wermodandwermod.com/newsitems/Adolf%20Hitler%20-%20Speaking.jpg


Or this one:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ipSczRZw1NI/TeaPXOJQdeI/AAAAAAAAAe8/FOkFy3LoySk/s1600/Arnold-Schwarzenegger-childhood.jpg


That's him:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0c/SchwarzeneggerJan2010.jpg/421px-SchwarzeneggerJan2010.jpg



And of course there's always him:

http://mosaikum.org/images/bill_gates_sexy.jpg

But I think you know who that is.

You don't know anything about me. Don't assume anything.
Many people who meet me on daily basis think they know me, yet they don't.

The above has nothing to do with any fantasy. I'm just stating the inevitable. If Bitcoin will rule the world, so will geeks.
Just look at how much rise of the Internet has raised the geek social status. Bitcoin will increase it 10-fold or 100-fold.

Geeks will be the new high-standard which everybody will aspire to.

I am not actually producing anything so revolutionary here. Geeks are among the wealthiest people of the world. In my country, geeks are the people who earn the most money already. This is already happening

Almost forgot.

This pretty little nerdy lesbian gamer girl?

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_RMP5gGGaNA0/TFxyK4laBqI/AAAAAAAAEf8/jQ9PA1KxsTs/s320/02-016550.jpg


Played too much Total War and became him:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/0a/Jacques-Louis_David_017.jpg/364px-Jacques-Louis_David_017.jpg

Al Bielek confirms (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdMKVXsYeos)  :o (12:23 ff)

Kinda like how the dotcom boom made geeks all the most powerful people?

Nerds & Geeks seem to be ok with being ruled at the point of a gun. People who are not very smart but are charismatic are the ones in control of those guns.

Well, history is full of surprises.

This.

(and I very rarely agree with elwar about anything.)




I was just telling you what it sounds like...you are the one getting all defensive about it.

If nerds and geeks do start "ruling the world" thanks in part to their BTC earnings, then all the gold digging women will then marry them for their money/status and spend it on stupid things like Prada bags (I am already married to a "nerd" and we had no money when we started out so I am exempt  ;D)

So who will really rule the world?   ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4YlpOuLisU

This ^^^

@greyhawk

Man.

Hitler and Napoleon as Geek/Nerd examples ? I Mean, WTF - seriously ? What the hell is wrong with you ?
By "geek" or "nerd" i didn't mean people who are bullied at school and later take their anger on the world. I mean enthusiasts who are fascinated by new technology and spend a lot of time developing & upgrading it.

Examples:
Nikola Tesla, Linus Torvalds, Richard Stallman, Steve Wozniak, Larry Page, Gavin Andresen, John Carmack, "Valve guys", Oculus Rift guys, young Bill Gates (somewhat). That kind of geeks.

I hope those nerds and geeks will do what they can light up the rest of the world that aren't exposed to the Internet on a daily basis. I'm very curious of how Bitcoin can help those less fortunate people.

Well I'd welcome more politicians/business elite with a science background, instead of the current crop of mostly lawyers and economists. Maybe they'd try some new ideas for society, instead of the tired and failed old crap. Pour large amounts of resources into research into sustainable energy, space travel, and other areas that really push the boundary. Creating a more educated populace, encourage sharing scientific ideas, and so on... No it won't be an utopia, but it's better than a new dark age by those thinking reality can be bended with laws.

It's even worse sometimes. They create the guns (technology) used for their own oppression, for the people that are going to oppress them. Ie, spyware, drones, nuclear bombs, .... If they only retained control over it, it'd be a done deal.

I don't think there is really a question there :) But hopefully those women will be geeks/nerds too! :P

I think this has already happened.


William Gates       Microsoft                    $40.0 billion
Warren Buffett     Berkshire Hathaway     $37.0 billion
Carlos Slim          América Móvil              $35.0 billion
Lawrence Ellison  Oracle Corporation        $22.5 billion 
Larry Page          Google                      $18.5 Billion
Sergey Brin         Google                        $18.5 Billion
Jeff Bezos           Amazon                       $8.7 Billlion
Pierre Omidyar    eBay                           $6.3 Billion
Eric Schmidt        Google                        $5.9 Billion
Ronald Burkle      Yahoo                         $3.5 Billion
Mark Cuban         Broadcast.com            $2.6 Billion
Jerry Yang           Yahoo                         $2.3 Billion
Omid Kordestani  Google                        $1.9 Billion
David Filo            Yahoo                         $1.7 Billion
Kavitark Shriram  Google                        $1.7 Billion
Todd Wagner       Broadcast.com             $1.5 Billion
Peter Thiel           PayPal                         $1.3 Billion
Niklas Zennstrom Skype                          $1.3 Billion
Janus Friis           Skype                          $1.3 Billion
Jack Ma                Alibaba                         $1.1 Billion
Mark Zuckerberg  Facebook                     $700 Million
Simon Nixon        MoneySuperMarket       $680 Million
Andrew Gower     Runescape                   $650 Million
Reid Hoffman       LinkedIn                      $500 Million
Zhang Chaoyang  Sohu                           $425 Million
Steve Chen          YouTube                      $350 Million
Elon Musk            PayPal                        $328 Million
Chad Hurley         YouTube                     $300 Million
Duncan Cameron    MoneySuperMarket     $280 Million
Marc Andreesen    Netscape                   $253 Million
Reed Hastings    NetFlix                      $150 Million
Kevin Rose            Digg                         $200 million
Blake Ross    Mozila                      $120 Million
Andrew Michael    Fasthost                   $110 Million
Max Levchin    PayPal                      $100 Million
The late Steve Jobs    Apple                   Buttloads

I think the today's definition of "nerd" is no longer in sync with the dictionary definition. When people today think of "nerd", they visualise an IT, mathematics, physics or other science specialist.

No, no, they don't. That's a re-definition nerds use to make themselves look not as weird in their own eyes. And yes, Hitler was a nerd, the "computer + anime dude" equivalent back then was painting, which was his real obsession. He just wanted to bbe a painter.

Source: The universe we currently inhabit.

OK, so bad choice of words on my side. I was talking about IT geeks, not nerds in general.

I changed the original post to reflect what I actually wanted to express.

Nice post mate and i do agree  :D

I'm actually more excited about the number of fantastically wealthy libertarians we'll have in a few years. As my bitcoin wealth grows I will be investing in all kinds of projects that will fuel the cause of freedom!

cb

Wishful thinking. Sorry to disrupt your dreams...

The problem is: your argument is based on logic. And this gets us right at the core of the problem.


...And in combination, these are exactly the personality traits which cause these kind of people in reality to end up being used and exploited by the classical elite.
At least that's what I've seen to happen over and over again in the last years.

• being smart --> still occupied with reflection and thinking while others are acting already, based on gut feeling
• logical thinking --> when geeks become older, they are filled up with resentments against ordinary people behaving so "unlogical", "dull", "uninspired".
  Which makes them unappealing as persons.
• less prone to manipulation --> a potential danger for every manipulator. Which turns them to targets, unintentionally.
  They end up being fought and defeated "pro-actively"
• don't lust money --> lack of interest in playing the business and money game.
  Thus will be outperformed in no time by people thrilled by money and business
• don't lust power --> lack of interest in the power game, lack of interest in talking, exploring social relationships
• Not immediately caused by the above, but very common is also a lack of interest in the classical topics of culture. And while these topics might indeed be not really relevant as such, these topics are typically used as a playing field by the established elites. Thus the typical geek becomes cornered and outplayed in no time, without even noticing it. Simply because the geek doesn't know the terrain
• care about gadgets and IT stuff --> easy to game by giving them toys.
  While they're occupied with the toys, other people set the political stage and prepare the battlefield. When the geek wakes up and wants to start for real, the "ordinary people" have settled everything already to their favour
• actually know ho to build, run & test complex systems --> absorbs most of their psychic energy and gets them entangled into technical details.
  Meanwhile the classical "leader type", unencumbered by any details, sees the big picture and can focus all his energy onto watching the reaction of "ordinary" people and geeks as well. The typical geek can excite only his fellow geeks, while the persons actually leading other people can spread a sense of excitement about topics they don't really care about, by simplifying matters and relating them to commonly shared patterns of perception.

The net result is that the knowledge and abilities of the typical geek get exploited easily to get the hard work done, while other people just wait to reap the benefits. The typical geek ends up as an disenchanted, resentful and immature person (due to lacks of chance for social development and "training on the job"). And in the end, even outperformed by the next geek kiddy generation.

Wow that's really depressing... :(

So, in 20 years we'll either rule the world or have killed ourselves. Well, fair game I suppose... let's see how it plays out  ;D

So I guess Larry Page & Linus Torvalds also got "exploited easily" ? Is that what you want to say ?

Of course, not all of the geeks have to be famous & powerful, but they will vote with their (Bitcoin) wallets, and that is enough. Many IT geeks are already some of the most powerful people on this planet. And there will be more and more of them.

Also, many of these new geeks will be cryptoanarchist and/or libertarian - type guys, which do not like to be controlled & manipulated. This is where your theory falls short.

But the truth is - only the future will tell for sure.

As a hardcore anarchist, I do not need anybody who is in the position to rule the world and therefore me.
To 'rule the world' is an archist view of the world, and not an anarchist one. To rule the world you need collectivism/state/law and order/society and all this B.S.

People who still live outside of state power do still not have government/church/economy/markets etc.
Anarchy is Autarky and self-sufficiency in non-patriarchal communities.

Have you even remotely understood what I was pointing out?


First off, what I pointed out is not an theory, but an observation, based on the current state of affairs.

What you are producing here is indeed a theory, and even more, a logical theory.

This is exactly the kind of attitude which puts the grand majority of geeky people into a very bad position, when it comes to "ruling the world".
Technology and knowledge and excitement regarding technology won't buy you much in that domain. Because it's better not to reason and theorise about people's behaviour, rather to favour observation, and even more, just plain interaction. With people, not with technical toys, that is.

Now I didn't assess my observations in any way....
As "Zarathustra" pointed out, not to care about other people ruling the world can be a nice anarchistic solution -- as long as those other people are fine with someone not caring about their power.

In fact, nope. I was In a hurry and I read without understanding. Sorry for that.
You are probably right it seems.

However most of you people are so pessimistic that I now regret creating this topic in the first place. It only made me feel worse.

Just read this: :D

---------------------------
He added that he thinks Bitcoin is poised to be a true game-changer for the business world, and the tech community in particular. “Hackers are the animals that can detect a storm coming or an earthquake,” he said. “They just know, even though they don’t know why, and there are two big things hackers are excited about now and can’t articulate why–Bitcoin and 3D printing.”

I am optimistic that the archist world of gods, masters and rulers (organised crime / state mafia / church) will be replaced by the natural anarchist world, which 'ruled' human being a million and more years. Archism (patriarchism/society/collectivism) is a relatively recent phenomenon (about 10'000 years). It is not sustainable an therefore it will disappear, regardless of whether a majority wants to be free or to continue to pay protection money as tribute slaves for the state mafia.

geeks can be had for $5/hour at freelancer.in, in the millions

+1
Well, you posted on a subject matter that is bound to divide people very strongly. That doesn't mean that you're wrong or right, but even if you're right, people wouldn't admit it. Everyone likes believing in their own perceptions of power and will contradict all allegations or evidence to the opposite. It's difficult to define and not something that makes a good discussion subject (see all the libertarism discussions on this forum).

You took a few anecdotes to one side, someone else attacked them point by point with other anecdotes. It has no predictive ability. But don't let the pessimists get to you...

Software is eating the world, and that means that people that understand software will get a greater influence, overall. It does not necessarily mean that one group will "rule the world", that's too black and white, but I'm sure you realized that :)

Personally I believe that in the long run, cooler heads prevail, and despite the power struggles logic will eventually win out in a certain issue. There's just so long that you can deny physical reality and try to bend around it with laws and mind games before it catches up to you. But it is not the kind of power that gives you direct control of day-to-day affairs.  "Nerds" may not directly take the seats of power (in public perception) but control from the background, even to the point of making the seats of power empty puppet shows.

Yeah, they can "be had" because everybody needs money, but that does affect their opinions.
Just geeks' opinions on technological matters could change the future (or actually: are already changing).

Reason: most people don't understand technology, so they turn to geeks when they seek "guidance".

Programming is diffidently a thing of the future, it would become as basic as knowing math for kids in the future.

Nah. History shows that those who ruled the world did so by influencing, convincing and brainwashing the people, and the ability to do so well is usually the result of having a great EQ (emotional intelligence), which nerds and geeks usually lack (see for instance satoshi's infamous quote of "I'm better with code than with words")

IT geeks: Bill Gates and Richard Stallman.

Bill Gates has brought computers to the user.  It is hard to imagine what we would have had without MS-DOS or Windows.  I guess it could have been IBM-DOS and different OSes for each non-IBM PCs.  Software would have been set back ten years.  He has also made himself a big fortune.

Richard Stallman once said "I've always lived cheaply ... like a student, basically. And I like that, because it means that money is not telling me what to do."  Yet with little money for himself he has influenced the world greatly.

His code could end up influencing the world quite a lot. No need for words.

History also isn't really a good guide. Computers don't quite exist long enough to draw parallels.

Most IT geeks don't have the personal skills required to rule the world outside of their computer.  I would however expect that more "world rulers" will start gaining IT skills in order to have more power and be able to do more things.

I just wanted to inject an example of a rare IT person (I wouldn't call him geek) who understands the divide-and-impera concept.

His comments are in the Alternate cryptocurrentcies subforum in the "A proposed fair premine idea":
In a way, the Bitcoin is a nearly perfect example of how to execute a divide-and-impera strategy: draw a bandwagon with 21000000 seats and make the early jumpers-on fight the late jumpers-on. Then watch the commotion safely from the distance.

you're an example of a geek that has been wrong for so long and yet you still don't get it.

the whole project is voluntary and we have more than enough devs to step in.  i understand jeff garzik is now mining with an Avalon and making money hand over fist having been the first.  why don't other devs freely choose to do this as well if the guy you're quoting is complaining about miners?

btw, the free market price of 1 BTC is now $119.

Now the situation is different. They don't need any personal skills.

1. They will have a lot of money to vote with their wallets.
2. They have the Internet using which they can communicate with other people and shape their minds (already happening)
3. They will have companies & lawyers at their disposal so they can push legislation they want.

high intelligence and being adept with any sort of technology have always been valuable skill sets. these will usually go nowhere unless there is a balance of emotional intelligence as well. geeks prolly wont rule the world, they will just be standing very close to, maybe hiding behind, those who do.

sorry about your experiences at highschool. you've got to let it go, man.

The problem probably starts with needlessly putting the equivalence between the two clauses of the above sentence: high inteligence and high aptitude in the CS or EE fields. But anyone who had a closer experience with the CS/EE education/training/testing will know that the field is full of way-below-average-intelligence people who can compensate with extraordinary memorization skills or simple extraodinary perseverance in trial&error development.

Because the feedback from the computers is completely free of emotions the dull-but-persistent will naturally gravitate towards workplaces where the nearly entire workflow is performed alone with no human interactions and the only material consumed is the workers time and a little electricity.

And this board is full of the people from the above paragraph: painstakingly working alone trying all possible combinations and publishing only when the success was achieved. To an outside observer it may look like extraordinary inteligence and/or productivity, but the reality is completely different.

Again anyone with closer personal experience with CS/EE project development knows and recognizes the bitter, aggresive and humourless burnouts that are casualties of some such projects. It is a kind of occupational hazard, sort of like ADHD for traders.

Can we stop using the term "geek" to describe tech professionals and enthusiasts...

I completely agree with this, IT skills are nothing without personal skills to go alongside them. For example making the next major virtual currency is one thing, and getting people to use it is another. You need to be persuasive and social as well.

Yes, as I said before: This is not an anarchist view on human being, but a deeply archist one. The most powerful (archist) companies & lawyers will always have the most power and chances to "push legislation they want", which is always guaranteed by the State Mafia. State violence (legislation) has always been the basis of any economy/market/church/society/citizen/collectivism. The absence of the State is equivalent to the absence of economy/market/church/society/citizen/collectivism: the non-patriarchal, non-monogamous, autark, selfsufficient community, which is not taxed and dominated by masters, rulers, strangers. Most 'libertarian anarchists' believe in individualism as the opposite of collectivism. They are wrong. Individualism exists exclusively in collectivist (state) organisation of 'citizens'. The opposite of collectivism/individualism of the citizen is the human in the selfsufficient community. A citizen is not a human.

Ding dong.
That is all for now.

This was something Bill Gates said a while back:


http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/billgates382922.html




Right now is the "rise of the machine"... to borrow a quote from a movie.

We need some good programmers. :)

I've been lucky enough in my lifetime to have seen and be the the beneficiary of massive technological changes in society, brought about in every instance by people who thought outside the square, people who, for whatever motivated them, pursued an idea and brought it to reality and added to the sum of total human experience.

Geeks, ( I soooo detest that term) already rule the world, always have, not going to bore you with a long list of names, but go back to Archimedes or Einstein for instance, Bell, Dunlop, Baird etc. all Geeks,

I'm siting here typing this on an iPad, when my first electronic experience, 50 years ago was soldering together the parts that made up a crystal radio set.

Banking was something you did by physically going to a "Bank" and talking to "Bank Tellers" and we used real money, ("Bank notes" and "Coins")

Thank you for inventing and propagating Bitcoin, another great step forward, I salute you.

Don't worry about being "cool" in 20 years OP, you are really "cool" right now, here, today.

As for ruling the world, you're welcome, have at it, it's all yours, just keep in mind the ancient wisdom of          " don't ask for what you want, then you may get it"

We are nerds, we are a legion.