Don't Forget to Thank the Nerds

I found the most unbelievable thing in Zombieland: Double Tap isn’t that the world has become overrun by flesh-eating zombies. Nor is it that Tallahassee allowed a bunch of flower children to melt down his guns before granting him entrance into their hippie commune. The most ridiculous part of that movie came in this offhand comment from Columbus to explain why buildings still had working electricity 10 years into the apocalypse, “As long as it keeps raining, the dams keep giving us power.“ Your electricity, internet, water, and other infrastructure that you assume to be there for you every day is backed up by an army of very talented engineers, geeks, and nerds. If these people weren’t working behind the scenes to bring you these critical services things would stop working in a matter of days. So while you’re staying at home binging Netflix, staying up long after dark reading those books, and refining your cooking skills be sure to hold some gratitude for the nerds who keep it all together.

Matt Hixson