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Danielle Buerger
Dr. House
Foundations of Writing
1 March 2013
The Quirk Theory
“Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by
dogma – which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of
others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And, most important, have the courage
to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to
become. Everything else is secondary”
-Steve Jobs “Stanford Commencement Speech”
When we think of Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, we typically associate words such as,
genius, inventor, super-influencer, and iconoclast with him. When we think of one the most
influential people of our time, however, we don’t often think about how in high school students
often affiliated Steve with a whole different set of characteristics. He was often called a nerd,
loner, and loser because he was smaller and younger than everyone in his grade. He was also
bullied and harassed until he was forced to switch schools. If only these students had known that
Steve would grow up to change the technological world as we knew it and that their lives would
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run off Steve’s inventions. Many of the students in The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth share
Steve’s unique intelligence. Throughout the novel, Blue, Eli, and Noah all struggle in their own
way to fit in with their classmates and utilize their unique characteristics for the good of the
school. In The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth, Alexandra Robbins proves that the unique
characteristics people are persecuted for in high school are the gifts that are appreciated in the
real world for inciting progress and calling forth world change.
Blue, a creative freethinker who encapsulates himself in gaming, has trouble forming
connections with people and meeting friends that value his particular way of thinking. Blue felt
isolated from his friends because they did not care to appreciate his interests in non-mainstream
activities such as: gaming, rebuilding cars, drawing, and technology. With his friends and his
mother discouraging his pursuits, Blue struggled to realize that there were people out there who
find his interests intriguing. When the school changed his gaming club to a superficial club that
did not represent the real meaning of gaming, Blue felt like everyone was attempting to hinder
his talents. Blue failed to realize that “we wouldn’t have progress without the foresight of people
who devise or are willing to operate under different philosophies and points of view” (Robbins
161). Blue had a very different way of thinking than most kids his age and he was extremely
intelligent outside of the classroom; he sent his free time doing computer programming and
rebuilding cars. His hobbies weren’t popular among his classmates, but they showed that he had
a different type of intelligence in him that could one day be very significant and change the
world. When Blue joined the AP Government class, however, he met a group of friends who
were fascinated with his unique interests. They found the beach adventure he took them on
exciting and even appreciated his highly organized room. His new friends made him feel valued
and respected for all the things his old friends deemed unimportant. Soon he joined the
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Simulated Congressional Hearings where he would have his chance to use his insights as a useful
attribution to his high school experience. Blue helped the team significantly improve their
ranking by going out of his way to hold meetings, study additional material, and buy books for
team members to read that would enhance their knowledge. Blue soon turned optimistic about
his future with all the appreciation and encouragement he got from his team mates and new
friends. When the University of Hawaii expressed interest in Blue for his exceptional test scores
and rare point of view, he was put in the running for a scholarship. Although he did not get the
scholarship, it was important that Blue got recognized for being global and “look[ing] at things
differently than other people” and for “always looking at both sides, the big picture, and
draw[ing] [his] own conclusions” (238). Throughout the narrative, Blue went from being an
intellectual loner who longed for appreciation to a well-connected individual who shared his
diverse talents socially, intellectually, and globally while maintaining his ideals and staying true
to himself.
Noah, a caring and responsible individual, was misunderstood by his peers. He was
constantly made fun of by his teammates for his long hair, which he was growing to donate to
someone who had lost their hair due to cancer. Despite the harassment, Noah continued to grow
his hair out and put his best effort into the swim team. While it would have been “easier to
conform to the crowd, being different [is what] made [Noah] extraordinary” (168). Noah refused
to cut his hair to fit in with the rest of the swim team when it would have been easier to do so
because he liked his hair and believed in putting other people before himself. Noah’s dedication
and selflessness were positive attributes that his classmates were too blind to recognize.
Additionally, Noah’s devotion to the presidential election although all the odds were against him
and his commitment to the band were two other aspects that would be appreciated in the real
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world. This kind of dedication would be useful in the real world because it is hard to find people
who are truly dedicated to their work like Noah was; his dedication would be a unique aspect
that could help him succeed in the workplace when he is older. At school, however, Noah still
struggled to fit in. “The need to belong is one of the most powerful human motivations,”
however, the challenge comes when figuring out how to belong without compromising yourself
(231). Noah set up a recycling program at school, which helped him find a way to belong while
still representing his ideals. Before Noah knew it, people were reaching out to him to join the
program and students around the school were enthusiastic about recycling. When “a popular kid
whom [Noah] had notions about was willing to help,” Noah’s spirits lifted significantly (265).
The recycling program helped Noah find a way to belong because he earned respect from people
who used to bully him and he was stimulating real change in the school both socially and
environmentally. Not only did Noah’s recycling program save tons of paper, but it also united
students from different social circles. Additionally, Noah was inciting more progress by getting
students to sign a petition to induce a Mandarin Chinese language program in the school. Noah
was getting appreciated in a positive light for his dedication and caring attitude; these were all
the same characteristics he was made fun of for before. Once Noah learned how to express his
ideals to his classmates in a way they would acknowledge, he saw positive changes in his grades,
in his self-confidence, and in his overall happiness. The principal also recognized Noah’s
accomplishments and adopted him into the senior advisory council. These major
accomplishments made Noah realize that you can be accepted while still representing who you
are and your beliefs, you just have to find the right light to express yourself in.
Eli, an intelligent student who had his future planned, dealt with teasing and the fact he
didn’t fit in. Unlike the other characters, however, he had a light in all the darkness to look
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forward to, his future at West Coast University. Eli had trouble getting people to talk to him in
school, let alone hangout with him after school and be his friend. Eli, however, refused to give
up faith in himself because he knew his future was brighter than his classmates futures. He knew
that “if [he] spent [his] school years repressing [his] identity, someday [he would] graduate and
realize that [he] lost [himself] only to appease a temporary crowd” (380). Eli continued to
express his passion for knowledge by taking an active role in the Academic Bowl where his
insights were appreciated and he continued to embrace the fact that “awkwardness define[d] his
life” (34).
Despite his friend’s attempts to persuade him to be more socially acceptable, Eli
continued to remain true to himself and refused to sacrifice who he was for popularity. He
attempted to plan several outings with friends, but his efforts only relayed disappointment. He
clung on to the hope that when he went away to college he would find people who understood
him. Eli emailed a friend telling him that “there [was] a teeny-tiny art of his soul holding on and
thinking the best is yet to come” (271). Sure enough, when Eli went to orientation at West Coast
University, he met a girl named Lindsey who enjoyed talking to him and shared similar interests
in lifelong learning. He realized that “college [would] be full of Lindsey’s: genuinely nice people
[he] could become friends with” (370). Eli finally got the assurance he needed to prove that
people in college would value him for the characteristics people in high school ostracized him
for. Throughout the novel, Eli remained true to his ideals and took assurance in the belief that he
would have a brighter future than his classmates. Eli was bright enough to recognize that what he
was isolated for in high school would help him flourish in real life, so he never compromised
himself due to pressure to conform.
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The unique stories each of the characters all helped Alexandra Robbins prove that the
unique characteristics people are persecuted for in high school for are the gifts that are
appreciated in the real world for inciting progress and calling forth world change. Blue, Noah,
and Eli all have unique characteristics about them that are positive attributes in the real world.
They all worked hard through their high school years to make students understand them and
appreciate them. Also, just like Steve Jobs the characters in this book were smart enough to
realize not to “let the noise of others opinions drown out [their] inner voice” (Jobs Stanford
Commencement Speech).