This thread is inspired by a post in the “Don’t hate me cause I…” thread. It’s true. I get it all the time. I’ll be discussing my life with the bartender or whatever. They say “what do you do?”. I say “I’m a chemist”. The inevitable response is “Omigod you must be so smart”
What! Do these people think there are no average scientists? I’m not at Princeton you know. I just wanted to have a freindly conversation on the same level as you and all the sudden you hoist me up to this genius level where I don’t belong? I’m sorry your highschool chemistry instructor was such an idiot he/she couldn’t peak your curiosity at least a little.
We have serious problem in this country attracting people to study the sciences. If we don’t figure it out soon we will not be the technologically dominant country for long. You don’t have to be a genius to be a scientist. Just be interested.
I get that all the time. Usually, it turns out the person saying it is of less than stellar academic intelligence. Friendly conversation will work great. A technical one (which I tend to steer conversations to, somehow), not so much.
I used to get that all the time when I was in college and grad school (in astronomy). I kind of liked it, actually- it was a nice ego boost, in contrast to the ego-grinding reality that was my science classes.
To me, it sounds like their giving up on talking to me. All the sudden I’m this alien that can’t relate to regular people. I am a regular person. I am of quite average intelligence. I just like knowing how the world works around me.
My high school math teacher used to have a saying that kind of goes along with this. She would always say how funny it was that people will talk about how they just can’t do math or science, yet no one would ever say “I just can’t read. Nope, never been able to do it.” In society it’s acceptable to say you never got math or science, but everyone would think you were stupid if you said the same about reading.
I really hate this when people do this too. I am not that smart - I just studied a lot in school and cared about my grades. Now everyone is always giving me this stupid riddles and IQ tests and crap to solve.
I remember my first semester in college, I was talking with another student after class. I asked him what his major was, and it was something scientific that sounded crazy hard. Genetics, or something. He asked me what I was majoring in, and I said, “English literature.”
Sorry, you’re nowhere close. Every word in your quoted post was spelled correctly (and though you ran the last four words into one, that was obviously intentional).
In other words, even as a failure you have failed.
I have a degree in Anthropology. Most of the questions/comments I get are somehow related to digging up dinosaur bones (Paleontology), and often in that tone that is trying to sound interested, but really comes across as “I’m painfully uncomfortable with how boring your studies seem.” It’s a science, but also a social science; it all depends on which emphasis one takes in the area.
Wow, I wish. When I tell people that I’m in History, I always get “Oh, going for good grades, eh?” Oddly, at my university, the humanities grades peak at about 92%, where the science ones peak at (obviously) 100%. In fact, I’m taking sciences specifically to bring up my average!
Computer Science grad student, I get that too. It’s a little tiresome, but I know they’re usually trying to make conversation. Bothers much less that the students who actually think that they are God’s gift to science.
Heh heh. When I was in college, the first words out of anyone from any girl from Simmons or BU or Wheelock you talked to at a mixer or party was “You go to MIT, you must be smart!”
No - I go to MIT, I must be horny. (Insett leering smiley here.)
Never heard this from anyone from Wellesley at least. I wonder if this is still common, 35 years later.
If I tell people I’m a pilot I used to get a range of reactions.
Pretty girls assume it’s a line and don’t believe you. Other people assume you’re both smart and rich. Ha! Some of the poorest, dumbest people I know are pilots.
When I was younger and less socially adept I’d give up on it and tell the pretty girls I did something mundane like drive a curtesy bus for a tourism operator. It was much easier to have a conversation with someone who could relate to your job.
One thing I find a little annoying, though understandable, is trying to have a conversation with someone about their job when it is something sciency. They will often assume you won’t understand anything and so don’t go into any detail. So then you really don’t understand because they’re being so vague about what they do.
Try being female. I ran into this a lot when I was in college (I studied engineering). The first 3 questions at any sort of social situation were “What’s your name?”, “What year are you?”, and “What’s your major?” As soon as I told a guy that I was an engineering major, he’d say “wow, you must be smart,” and in most cases, I could see his interest in me evaporating. Not that I’d really want to date someone that shallow, but it was discouraging. I used to say that I’d try going out and claiming to be an education or nursing major and see if I’d get more numbers.
Incidentally, my boyfriend, who I’ve been with for several years, did not say that when I told him what I did. He actually asked some insightful questions about my experience in the field (he’s not in science or engineering). That proved to be a good sign.
