“What do you do?”
“I’m in linguistics.”
“Ohhhh, how many languages do you speak?”
grrr. not about speaking languages. about formal theory. now go away.
(Well, there’s at least a couple of different subthreads here, so I’ll comment on this one.)
This is my attitude. Frankly, I don’t understand the categorizing of people as “idiots” because they don’t know the difference between a chemical engineer and a chemist, for example. How many people do? Hell, even I don’t remember the difference and I wanted to be a chemical engineer (among other things) in high school because it seemed to be a good way to make a living at science.
Of course, today I’m a photographer/photojournalist. I’ll get all sorts of questions from what model consumer cameras to buy (I have no idea) to anecdotes about how the person once took a darkroom class in college to “isn’t it all done in Photoshop these days?” So what? I don’t expect people to know the ins and outs of my profession. Why would I?
Most of these people are not idiots. They’re just trying to make conversation, however awkward it may seem. How is a layperson supposed to know that a network technology person may not know how to program a computer, or a programmer might not know how to set up a network?
I say just roll with it. One day you will be the one asking the supposedly stupid question. No need for the condescension.
Don’t mean to pick on you, but this is the nearest example.
What’s wrong with this exchange? Do most people know what linguists do? Hell no. I do, because I have a pretty involved interest in the subject, but most people have no clue. Add to that the fact that “linguist” is also a synonym for “polyglot,” as well as that many linguists do indeed speak more than one language (at least the few that I have met), and I don’t think that’s a stupid question in the least. If you get this question often enough, you should qualify your statement better explaining what it is you do exactly.
I mean, to my ears, a lot of these posts read like “I’m a INSERT ESOTERIC PROFESSION HERE, how dare you not know my job description.” C’mon. Really, people.
This was only true for me when I was young because I believed it. It was easy and convenient to self-identify as a language/literature person, because I could create measures for success that I knew I would meet.
I studied classical languages and history in college, and took no math or hard science whatsoever. I learned half a dozen languages.
Now I am an econometrician. I discovered in grad school that I really could do math. More specifically, I could use math to drive interesting results. I started treating math the same way I treated learning languages and everything fell into place.
Self-categorization as a science/math or humanities person was a product of my mental laziness and insecurity. I try not to assume the same in others, but it can be difficult.
:dubious:
Now, I’m not saying that we don’t have a problem with science education in our country because it certainly needs improvement, as does our immigration policy. However, to suggest we’ve been importing one of the ‘biggest’ sources of brains for the last hundred years is a pretty bold statement. We do ok on our own by any reasonable measure. For example, of the 24 winners of the nobel prize for chemistry (your field) in the last 10 years, 11 of them have been native born Americans, that’s pretty lopsided (BTW there were none for Spain, but… smaller country yadda yadda). Yes, we have many graduate students that are foreign born… this is because we have the best post graduate schools in the world and we still have very open policies for those who want to study here so many do. I know from your posts that you have a somewhat negative opinion of the US, but try not to be unreasonable. There has been a recent upswing in ‘geek’ and ‘nerd’ culture and what were once considered unpopular interests are now much more accepted. I think anti-intellectualism is about to take a downswing and I couldn’t be happier.
You and GomiBoy need this t-shirt.
Same for me in astronomy and physics 
What someone with a degree in math does generally has very little to do with what most people think of as math, anyway (it’s all proofs after a certain point). Case in point: I had a really good professor for Advanced Calculus I and II. He only taught the class at 8am, but his section filled up much faster than sections at more reasonable hours that were taught by other professors, that’s how good he was. One day, during the second semester of his class, he was doing a proof on the board. He stopped and said, “8+5, 8+5… help me here, people…” It was literally the first time we’d seen him try to do arithmetic in class.
Incidentally, Advanced Calculus, as the first real proofs class that math majors took, was a weed-out class, just because the fact that someone is good at arithmetic and algebra doesn’t necessarily mean they’re also good at proofs. A lot of people signed up to be math majors because they were good at arithmetic and algebra, but found out they couldn’t hack the proofs class. And then there were those like me, who loved the proofs class, because we were so much better at it than we were at the lower-level stuff.
Some of them were even chemists. But that’s another matter entirely.
The US has some of the brightest chemists no doubt. The way our educational system works out, the ones who try succeed. One reason our educational system is so good, is that we do allow students from other countries to come and explore with us. The problem lies in the early indoctrination of childeren to the idea that it’s OK to be ignorant of your surroundings. You don’t have to be a genius to know there’s a difference between the chloride in NaCl and the chlorine in a CFC, but for a long time some political groups tried to merge them all together to prove that the hole in the ozone layer wasn’t caused by CFC’s. I don’t care that someone doesn’t know the difference between a ChemE and Chemistry major, that isn’t really relevant to most people.
Unlike the OP, I was at Princeton and my friends and I thought of many ways to answer “Where did you go to school?” without saying so. “Central New Jersey”. “On the East Coast.” And then finally “Princeton?” to not act like we’re assuming they know what it is; I guess we thought it would look like we were boasting? Or to avoid: “Princeton, eh? You must be very smart!” I don’t know. Luckily it’s not really relevant anymore.
Sorry. I guess I assumed that everyone would see where the converstaion has to go next–an explanation of what linguists DO do, which has to be so long and boring that absolutely no one wants to listen to it. Not even me, when I’m the one speaking. After this explanation, the person will freeze, reboot, and ask “so do you know Spanish?”
I’ve started to just say “I work for a search engine company” and hope people have the social brains to not ask for more details unless they’re prepared for the long haul.
Wow, the vitriol… 
Bureaucrat office assistant (no, my official job title makes no sense out of context) checking in here. I switched majors enough times to make my own head spin. Biology, psychology, computer science, Japanese, and ended up in Liberal Studies.
The stereotype is that ‘science’ majors aren’t as fun at parties as ‘humanities’ majors. I think part of this thinking is due to 1) what other Dopers have noted, that Americans don’t think of science as cool, but I also think that 2) scientists could be more ‘humanistic’ towards their audience. Sure, we don’t want to sound condescending, but aren’t we science people supposed to be smart enough to know how to communicate? Maybe I’m one of the lucky ones, but if I ask a science person politely, I can usually get a plain-English version of some of the interesting things they do.
I get my fair share of ‘You must be smart!’/‘Why such a useless field?’/(dead silence), but I sometimes treat it as a challenge. People love to be entertained or talk about themselves. I usually try to find some type of connection between my field and what they do. Or if all else fails, gently steer the subject away from work/school and into what they like.
I get the feeling that many Dopers, like me, are interested in a variety of subjects, so there’s no pressing need to focus on our particular fields. Besides you can always ask “Have you read any books or watched any movies?” And if you get silence from that question, maybe it’s time to find new friends.
Missy2U, I’ve developed my own routine over the years:
Them: What are you?
Me: Liberal studies. (Pauses to examine their facial expressions for two seconds…)
IF (Them=‘What the heck is that?’) THEN (Me=‘It can be used for teaching.’) ELSE
IF (Them=‘How useful is that?’) THEN (Me=‘It can be used for teaching.’)
ELSE
IF (Them=(Blank Stare)) THEN (Me=‘It can be used for teaching.’)
ELSE
(Me=‘It can be used for teaching.’)
Besides, being Dopers and all, wouldn’t you prefer to give a GQ-type answer to their responses? Like “Anthropology is not the same as paleontology because yadda yadda”, “Mechanical engineering doesn’t really mean I can fix my car”, or “We use Linux in CompSci, not that Windows garbage. No, I don’t know how why Word keeps changing the size of your bullets. I use vi to write all my papers.*”.
Oh, and in case anyone’s interested:
Liberal Studies is one of the largest majors at SFSU. It is an interdisciplinary major, which encompasses all areas of knowledge in the arts and sciences in a multidisciplinary curriculum. The program provides the broad academic background necessary for teaching in an elementary classroom and is excellent preparation for careers in management, government, public service, or for professional or graduate education in business, counseling, law, librarianship, and medicine. The major may be planned with a particular career in mind, such as government or public service, health professions, management, or work in multicultural communities.
Cite
I try to give a condensed version of the above. Wouldn’t you know, it usually comes out as ‘It can be used for teaching’…
*I’ve used Microsoft products all my life from MS-DOS onward. I wouldn’t use vi to write a three-item shopping list because I would probably accidentally type :q! when I really meant “Hi Opal!”
I study maths, and I dread telling people because of the social stigma. You’ll also find that most people don’t have the faintest idea what you would study in a mathematics degree. I once got asked if I wanted to “like… find the formula for everything?”
I too hate the idea that you can either be good at sciences OR good at written subjects. I found written subjects far easier at school, but choose to do something I liked. I don’t like it when people suggest that I might be bordering on autistic because I’m capable of getting a maths degree.
Not strictly true… You’re referring to pure mathematics. Most mathematics departments also deal with applied mathematics and probability/statistics. It’s true that there are always many proofs, but it’s not all proofs.
While I’ve never been called a mechanic, people are always asking me to fix things. Just this afternoon, a friend of my mom’s asked me to fix her webpage. I tried to explain that I graduated in mechanical engineering, and that what little I learned during my brief time in computer science is outdated now…no luck though. She also demanded that I explain why her garden hoses spray water everywhere (it’s two hoses connected together, and apparently there is quite a bit of duct tape involved…).
Of course, there are also people who are amazed that I can check the oil in a car, or that I’m willing to get my hands dirty at all. An HR manager at a company I interviewed with was one of these; I’m pretty sure I failed to convince him that I would enjoy working in a shop environment (I didn’t get that job).
All I can speak for is the requirements for the math major at the University of Maryland when I was there, and my mathematician brother-in-law. I guess he’s a pure mathematician- we don’t talk much about our work.
…people get complimented on learning Klingon?
Spain has two science Nobels, but one gets credited as American because that was his nationality at the time. He got it for economic reasons, though: Severo Ochoa. He missed his retirement dinner because he was already in Spain when the dinner took place.
The one thing at which Americans excel over everybody else is marketing. Your graduate schools are at a lower level than Spain’s undergraduate ones, but your diplomas are more valued… by those who haven’t been there and said “holy SHIT, this 405 course is stuff that was compulsory in 10th grade!” Plus, your graduate schools pay enough to live on and ours don’t.
Don’t mistake the packaging with the content, or the economic reasons with love.
I think this is an overly broad generalization and living abroad in Europe for 5 years has convinced me that while American primary and secondary schools aren’t all that hot compared with European ones, the top American universities are, overall, better than the top European universities in my experience. YMMV, of course, and my experience is more with Eastern European and German universities.
It ain’t just marketing. Like it or not, the top American universities draw the best professors with their salaries and they provide superior facilites because of the sick amount of money that is invested in higher education. It’s kind of hard not to have a great university and graduate education with such a set-up.
I mean, don’t take my word for it. This Chinese survey lists Harvard and Stanford as numbers 1 and 2 in the world. Notice the complete dominance of American universities on that list. Spain isn’t even represented in the Top 50. Here’s an Economist article on the same topic. The Times Higher Education Supplement bears out similar numbers. Harvard number one, and seven of the top ten school in the world American institutions.
My experiences with European college students and every single unbiased news source convinces me beyond any doubt that America dominates higher education. If you disagree, you’re going to have to provide me with something more than just your prejudices or experiences. If you’re talking about middle echelon American universities vs. the average European university, I might be inclined to agree with you. If you’re talking the top American schools, forget it. America simply has more resources, both in brain and economic capital.