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Thread: Coping With Idiots

  1. #41
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    Quote Originally Posted by sonofusion82 View Post
    yeah, it is just a different definition of fun and life.
    as much as you think they are wasting their life, they also think you are wasting your life in front of computers and books.

    and the sad thing is that, they might become your boss someday because they are somewhat more "socially adaptable" with their smoooth-talking skills that somehow works well in modern corporate environment. meanwhile, the geeky tech guy like us will always be the backroom boy.

    cheers...
    Ir really think it will be the opposite... It takes brains and skill to escalate high...your knowledge its what delivers! not how peopular or socially adaptable you are, althopugh it obviusly can help you.

    It really find it harsh when you say everyone that is not like you are simply idiots. People are not more or less idiots because of their main motivations. I BET that at the time you are thinking they are idiots, maybe they are thinking you are an idiot too so the core thing of all this is: PREJUDGEMENT

    I know its difficult not to tag people that have a totally different mindset. But you have to give it a try.

    I have my own case. Despite Im a very social person. I also love books and computers and im always craving for knowledge while my friends on their own are always thinking on how to tune up their 4 x 4's and how much cubic centimeters are Vanessa's breast implants...should I call them idiots for that? How should I feel If the call me an idiot for what I do?

    So in brief:

    There is nothing wrong with being a geek
    There is nothing wrong on going to parties (unless you become substance addict or something)
    There is nothing wrong on waving breast to get favors
    a most of all: there is nothing wrong on being ignorant about some subjects!!!!.. I had to learn this one the hard way.. .

  2. #42
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    Quote Originally Posted by Anurag_panda View Post
    What I have observed either girls are plain cheeky or they are very diligent and successful in conventional sujects. (many are both, which surprises me since how do they manage both).
    But I have never seen Girls in real life who step out of line and just follow a non-conventional path or hobby.
    Maybe afraid?
    not keen on male/female conversations as they tend to generalise too much, but...

    (generally) females tend to be more risk averse than males because males have to compete for females to reproduce (females carry children and therefore their task is not to have children, which is easy, but to find high quality males). In human societies women have traditionally had less power (physically and socially), and I think this may be why women lie more (shown scientifically) and also conform more* (also shown).

    (* interestingly women TEND to be better at sub-conciously picking up accents, which is a sign of conformity)

    HOWEVER, it is difficult to say how much of this is due to the different societal pressures placed on men and women. I believe, not only do we have to think on an individual level in most cases (variation within men or women is enormous), but also that the dynamics between women and men are changing.

    Always remember too, if there is a trait you hate about the opposite sex - your own sex is to blame because your sex selected for these traits in the past.
    Last edited by uberdonkey5; August 14th, 2008 at 03:19 PM.

  3. #43
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    PS. to reply to the original post...he he
    I think the best type of work is the work that you don't need to feel recognition for your abilities because you love it so much. Maybe these other people aren't interested in C.S. (I know I'm not!), but imagine how much more boring it must be for them in this case?! Personally I worked in many jobs and ended up in research, partly cos its one of the few jobs where nobody gets recognition for the hard work that you do, except yourself (but then you have to live on peanutbutter sandwiches for the rest of your life)

  4. #44
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    I'm not calling anybody an idiot just because they're different from me. I know many people who are not a bit interested in computers, and yet we are good friends. The reason we are friends is that all of us know exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it. We have not blindly picked up any course just because it was popular at the moment. A guy has gone into architecture, one has taken up law and one of them is going to Bangalore to get a mechanical engineering degree.

    Prejudice is bad, yes. I think I should wait a few months before passing judgment on any of these "idiots" I mentioned. I think I will find a couple of great friends. Yet, right now the whole scene in my classroom is getting me down.

    One thing I still can't understand is this : if none of the people in my class know anything about computers, are not interested in learning about them (they drove the Computer Languages teacher out of the class yesterday) then why on Earth did they take up CS?
    I am the turnip. No, not a turnip, the turnip. Visit my blog here.

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  5. #45
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    Quote Originally Posted by ankursethi View Post
    One thing I still can't understand is this : if none of the people in my class know anything about computers, are not interested in learning about them (they drove the Computer Languages teacher out of the class yesterday) then why on Earth did they take up CS?
    Because CS seemingly has lots of scope, and money with less stress apparently. (not true exactly but a stereotype)

  6. #46
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    Quote Originally Posted by ankursethi View Post
    I'm not calling anybody an idiot just because they're different from me. I know many people who are not a bit interested in computers, and yet we are good friends. The reason we are friends is that all of us know exactly what we are doing and why we are doing it. We have not blindly picked up any course just because it was popular at the moment. A guy has gone into architecture, one has taken up law and one of them is going to Bangalore to get a mechanical engineering degree.

    Prejudice is bad, yes. I think I should wait a few months before passing judgment on any of these "idiots" I mentioned. I think I will find a couple of great friends. Yet, right now the whole scene in my classroom is getting me down.

    One thing I still can't understand is this : if none of the people in my class know anything about computers, are not interested in learning about them (they drove the Computer Languages teacher out of the class yesterday) then why on Earth did they take up CS?

    Well then you have a well defined line between what means friendship to you and what does not: knowing people more intimately. And of course that is pretty valid!

    Im sorry that this passionless environment filled with people that does not share the same motivation as you is letting you down. But hey! those are their lives! if they want to be mediocre in their studies, so be it! you just focus on squeezing all your motivation.

    Im also sure that prejudgement walls will fall eventually. Somehow you will get to break the ice with some on them and begin nice relationships. My only advice here is too keep your mind open at all times.

    Reasons for their behavior can be as varied as each of their personalities:
    -Dad just put me into college.. I had no choice.
    -These course seems to be easier
    -Im up for the social stuff
    -I hate the teacher

  7. #47
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    Just one observation about the "just do your best and ignore them" comments: sometimes it's not that simple. For instance, a lot of teachers tend to give group assignments and not allow "groups of one". And honestly, they are not wrong in doing so because that's what will happen in the market.

    So one must be careful for that "just do your best and ignore them" does not turn into "just let them put everything on your shoulder" in group assignments.

  8. #48
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    Quote Originally Posted by zxscooby View Post
    I know what you mean bud, If only i had a dollar for every girl that showed me her ***** so i would write some code for her.
    You want money too?
    Some people just don't appreciate what they have.
    Girls. I drive a much better deal that zxscooby. Keep that in mind

  9. #49
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    Quote Originally Posted by ankursethi View Post
    This is mostly just a brain-dump. I'm going crazy, and I was wondering if somebody had already been there and could help me with it.

    I've just joined a CompSci course in a not-so-reputed university. I could have made it to a better university had I tried studying a bit harder, but I was too busy poking around in Linux and Python to notice I had a lot of stuff to cover.

    My problem is this : most of the people I have met in my university to date are, to put it very bluntly, idiots. I don't mean to say that I'm one of a kind or something. It's just that the people back at school were much more intelligent and rational. Even though very few had any interest in computers, programming or just geekery in general, I could hold intelligent conversation with them.

    The guys at my university fall neatly into two categories :
    1. The small-towners - Dazzled by the marvels of the big city. They have no clue what a CS course is, and have joined simply because someone told them it was a good idea. Mostly farmer john types.
    2. The city slickers - They don't give a dingo's behind about CS, the college or the world in general. To them, life begins and ends at Elevates (a nearby club) and their definition of a computer is "something you can access Facebook with". They have an inkling of what CS is about, but they are too cool to worry about it. All they want is the B.Tech. degree so they can get a 9 to 5 job and spend the rest of their lives hanging out at Elevates.

    And then there's me. I've been sitting in a corner - alone - trying to look out for people who seem to know what they are up against. I found two people who looked a bit geekish, but I was put off when one of them said "DOS is such a huge language that nobody has managed to explore it yet. It's the best OS for hacking".

    It's not the lack of geeks that is killing me. It's the lack of people with a drive to do something. At school I used to talk about technology with my friends, and we used to detail our own private ventures. Some of us were learning how to program, and some of us were trying to make money online. Even those who were not particularly inclined to anything at all had something intelligent to say. The people at my university are planning to simply take their lives and flush it down the toilet.

    I like to have fun just as much as the next guy, but my definition of fun is not loud music, Facebook, booze and nightclubs. I'd rather go out with two good friends than with 20 people I just know by name. I'd rather sit and talk about nothing in particular than talk about who's hooking up with whom. I'd rather sit down with a nice book than pump blaring music into my ears.

    Has anybody here been in this position before? I need some help out here.
    Been there, too, ankursethi. I know your feelings and it kind of desperates one's live every now and then... But no matter what happens, you'd be better off sticking with that thing you believe in that gives some genuine sense to your life!

    Linux User #469180

  10. #50
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    Re: Coping With Idiots

    Eh, my 2 cents:

    I do sympathize with you. There are a lot of kids who just don't want to be there. They are only there because someone else told them that they need a degree to make decent money.

    It's really a shame, because these kids that don't value academia or education are clogging up our hallways and classrooms. I don't mean to sound harsh, but it truly sucks that people are pressured to get degrees. But there are a bunch of people who really are there to learn and better themselves. I just hope you find a few.

    It sounds like you are just starting out in college. Once you get through your first one or two years, you'll find that the kids in your comp sci classes are more into it. Either, because the other ones failed, or changed majors to something else. I've been there. I'm a Physics major, and for my first year, my physics and math classes were full of engineering students that hated math and physics! I always had to hear these large groups of kids moaning "Why do we have to do the integral ourselves?! There's computers to do that stuff for us!"; "Why is everything a variable, can't we just have some numbers to plug into an equation?" Seriously.

    I'm not sure those particular kids made it as engineers, but my point is that now my classes are all Physics and Math classes that are full of Physicists and Mathematicians. And I actually socialize with most of the kids in each of my classes. There is a group of about 7 of us who have had the exact same schedule of Physics classes for 2 years and counting. Luckily we get along well.

    I guess I'm just trying to say that you'll find your group. They are looking for you too, probably!
    Last edited by Pogeymanz; August 14th, 2008 at 07:35 PM.

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