On Mon, 21 Feb 2000, Jeff wrote:
> Ah, yes, the life of the wunderkind. I've been chased by that
> stereotype since I was a second-grader (no one-upmanship intended), and
> I'm just now beginning to be able to live parts of it down. I've also
> wanted a good excuse to bring that up on this thread (and I've also been
> gone for a number of days).
oh yeah, it starts young... ;)
it's just, what was a challenge at 7 and a pride-thing at 17 is tiresome
at 21
at least for me
> Anyway, what I really wanted to point out is how competitive classes can
> get -- to generalize, the competitive stuff comes mostly from the other
> guys.
definetly! and I've noticed that while people tend to compete in math and
sciences (and the 'harder' the science, the greater the competition,
generally) they *don't* tend to do so to the same degree, or with the same
extensiveness (is that a word?) -- i.e. a group of friends might compete
with eachother, but they won't bug that weird kid inthe back of the
class.. (I have plenty of experience being the weird kid in the back of
the class ;) )
> high school too. Even to this day I get crap about my test scores in
> Physics.
yeah, there's that too...
I'm going to toss out here (as a theory) that girls, in general, because
they tend to be more sensitive to whether or not they are liked (yeah, I
think it's largely socialized, but either way) are more sensitive to this,
and more likely to take it as a negative force rather than a positive
> because *they* don't want to do better and look bad. Guys tend to make
uh-huh
> one feel unwelcome to express this, but that is a generalization, I've
> seen some really competitive girls out there in math and science. Of
> course, there's also those hormones to help things along ;)
well, one learns to be competitive, or one flounders :) in general...I do
know exceptions :)
> This all changes once you get out of the public education setting, but
> that's where most early exposure is.
yup
> You'd hate being around me ;) I've been such a recluse through Middle
> and early High School that I have apparantly become unreadable -- I'm
> getting better, but having to remember to smile when I'm happy is a pain
> in the rump. I say apparently, because this was recently pointed out to
> me, but I'm rambling now.
I've gotten like that at times...but I won't ramble either :P
Vinnie
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