Dr. Free-Ride is trying to goad us into proclaiming our nerdliness. Various science bloggers are having a friendly competition to see who is the nerdliest of them all, and she wants to know why CV isn’t represented.
Regrettably, I’m going to pass on this one. (Not that I couldn’t put up a respectable showing, since past indiscretions are apparently fair game; I loved my old RPN Hewlett-Packard calculator, and I’ll put the glasses I wore in high school up against anyone’s.) It’s just that I’m not entirely on board with the program of reclaiming “nerdliness” as a badge of honor, as gays have managed to reclaim queer and so forth.
Words like “nerd” or “geek” have two very different sets of connotations, and it’s hard to evoke one without the other. One has to do with technical mastery and know-how, or even a more broadly-based appreciation for things academic and intellectual. The other has to do with social awkwardness, the inability to comfortably converse with strangers at cocktail parties, and a tendency to dress in the least attractive way possible.
Roughly speaking, the first of these connotations is “good,” and the second is “bad.” But they’re both problematic. Nobody would be happier than me if we could somehow increase society’s appreciation for people with technical skills, and eliminate the defensive dismissal that so many people fall back on when confronted with math or science or computers. (There are only so many times you can tell people what you do for a living, only to hear “That was my worst subject in high school.”) So in that very particular sense, I’m all in favor of celebrating nerdliness. But for me it’s very much a part of what should be a general appreciation for intellectual endeavor, whether technically oriented or not. And as a matter of personal experience, I’ve found science and engineering types to be at least as anti-intellectual as the average person on the street, when it comes to non-technical kinds of scholarship. Naturally, there are plenty of pro-intellectual types, among people with and without technical backgrounds. That geek cred, however, lends a special kind of bite to know-nothingness when it rears its ugly head; someone with a Ph.D. in physics can not only dismiss philosophy or art or literature as airy nonsense, they can compare it directly and unfavorably to their own sphere of competence. And they do.
But it’s the social-backwardness aspect of being a nerd that is the biggest problem. You can protest all you want that you’re really talking about technical competence, not lack of social fluency, but the latter comes immediately to mind whenever anyone hears talk about nerds and geeks. Wikipedia spells it out:
Nerd, as a stereotypical or archetypal designation, refers to somebody who pursues academic and intellectual interests at the expense of social skills such as: interpersonal communication, fashion, and physical fitness.
What is worse, there’s a certain point of view (I won’t name names … some of my best friends are nerds) that actually celebrates social awkwardness for its own sake. (Trust me about this, I’ve been employed by both MIT and Caltech.) And that’s just wrong. I’m not talking about principled eccentricity, letting your freak flag fly — nothing wrong with that, in fact it’s admirable in its own way. Nor am I saying that everyone should be scouring the latest issues of GQ and Vogue for fashion tips; superficiality is just as bad as nerdliness. And laughing at our high-school (and college) selves is always fun and healthy. All I’m saying is that there is much to be valued in an ability to relate to other kinds of people in a disparate set of circumstances, take care of your appearance, and function effectively in a wider social context. These are skills we should try to cultivate, not disparage.
The point is that these two aspects of nerdliness operate against each other. If we want the rest of the world to appreciate technical skills, then we should work to eradicate the notion that they are necessarily associated with a lack of social skills. And that’s the connotation of “nerd,” like it or not. Celebrating knowledge and competence and intellectual curiosity is good, but celebrating nerdliness sends the wrong message, I would argue. There’s no reason why someone who programs in assembly and is deft with a contour integral can’t also be a well-rounded and engaging conversationalist who is at all the gallery openings and whom everyone wants at their parties — that’s the message we want to send.
What a killjoy, huh? In my defense, if you’d been sleeping on a concrete floor for the last several days, waiting for your furniture to arrive, you’d be grumpy too.
That’s not true. See, for example, Victor Stenger’s The Unconscious Quantum: Metaphysics in Modern Physics and Cosmology. It’s a problem with Copenhagen, to be sure, but certainly not all interpretations (such as coherent histories).
I’m sorry, are you objecting to the fact that QM isn’t deterministic? That’s physics, not philosophy. If and when hidden variables are completely ruled out, it will be by physicists.
Philosophy has a role in interpretation of knowledge. Daniel Dennett, for instance. Rooted in science or math it can be okay. But much of philosophy does seem like a waste of time to those of us in the natural sciences. (And pretty uniquely philosophy, in my opinion. I value art, literature, social sciences, etc. quite highly.)
There are too many people trying to do philosophy of science who don’t understand the science. I’d prefer they left it to those who do.
In my previous comment, I meant a Hilbert space larger or equal than 3.
The measurement problem is indeed usually associated with the Copenhagen interpretation. However, it is the poster boy for similar problems in the other interpretations of quantum mechanics. You can compare it to fitting a carpet in a room that is too small: if you flatten a bulge in one place, it will pop up elsewhere. Consistent histories also has its problems.
I don’t object to nondeterministic theories, it is just that we cannot interpret quantum mechanical probabilities as classical probabilities (i.e., a lack of knowledge). Exactly how we should interpret the probabilities in quantum theory remains problematic.
I have heared many theoretical physicists rubbish the foundations of physics community, but so far they have not come up with a consistent, satisfying interpretation of quantum mechanics either (other than the “shut up and calculate” interpretation). Perhaps it will all become clear when we have a theory of quantum gravity, who knows.
The point is that some physicicsts have the tendency to dismiss certain disciplines out of hand (the philosophy of quantum mechanics is a case in point), without any real knowledge of that discipline. In a wider context, philosophers such as Aristotle, Plato, Kant, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, etc. have had a profound influence on society, and you’ll find that their thinking was incredibly complex. Just to put it out with the trash because there are a few charlatans around is naive and arrogant.
The foundations of physics community isn’t exactly seperate from the physics community; the Kochen-Specker theorm is actually the Bell-Kochen-Specker theorem.
I don’t share PK’s enthusiasm for a satisfying interpretation of QM. I mean, I won’t be upset if there is one that gains any sort of wide acceptance (of course, Many Worlds variants have their enthusiastic supporters already, as does consistent/decoherent histories, etc) but for me, science is about making falsifiable predictions. It we can’t arrange our mental furniture to our satisfaction over an issue like the Measurement Problem, it’s no big deal to me. The hurdle at which Popper fell, that of deciding which of two equally predictive theories is ‘best’, is still alive in that regard. ‘Easiest to make predictions’ might be a decent practical discriminator.
Which isn’t to say that there isn’t merit in attacking some of the same problems from the perspective of, say, what to do when no clear apparatus/system distinction can be made; that’s a science question. I just don’t have much time for ‘what does it all mean, man’ questions. I don’t think that they’re without interest, I just think that they’re not science, in general, subjective and also, potentially, unanswerable. It’s not a significant failure if we can’t make a pretty mental picture to explain things; there’s no reason to expect that such a picture exists/can be created (depending on how much of a Platonist you are).
ATTENTION TO ALL THE MALE NERDS
i go by the name of . but prefer to call myslf Zaphoermiio(zaph)which is my computer
identity.ive been a nerd all my life.I ama south african living on a baron township but i’ve always been facsinated by the wonders of hacking ,science fiction,& I write poetry.iv’e never had a computer growing up so mind my flawed dexterity.Nevr the less i was suppose to be completing my matric this year but circumstances forced me to repeat grd11.See I have a dream ..of studying in america-ucla(film,television&digital imaging)NEXT YEAR!!!! but the question is how.Which made me wonder
if it is by any chance possible to hack into the SA department of educational qualifications,alter hte result renditons(so my name appears in this year’s newspapers),modify my IGETC & EFLTS scores,
get me an ID,passport, visa,greencard,pay my tuition/semester ..etc all htrough hacking?(after all it si hte computer age isn’t it?)& if it is how could u guys help me?Trust me htis is not just another frail
attempt to live hte american dream ,(i know this might sound a bit corny but I have a dream 4 america.(picture Hollywood meets Silicon valley)Beyond all reasonable doubt iam fucken obssesed with computers i even write raps
about htem making out & stuff……..heres a sample
Note i anthropomorphize(robots)……& it’s a bit abstract too
iron caste flirt alert transversional hand pressure activate hte fabio receptor sensory inflex
re-con hte hackers on cupids hovercraft star trek andromeda in garter belts target identifiied
as Kismet. & you r let me guess come to bother me daddy McAsshole?Uh no!Oh i’m sorry
it’s just that most of you prototype banal simulacrums just make me gag.Ooh! u’r in excessive
heat Hal loves that in fact he’s intrigued by retiscence coz his state of the art automation’ll
delete that programme.Mr puffy pistons incessant eclipse text message chewed by livid spams
more like the kookie bloom Bard.from carbon based queer model 2 color coded component honcho AI smoulder doppleganger maneframe .splice it with a solar panel binary download sci-fi mechanism data but she said :Access denied.though she looks like the mannequins enticed
by rusty juggernauts just give it a month then she’ll be autographing my name on the make up room’s mirror wit crimson lipstick the type that’ll pour u’r groin wit hot cofee when u insult a mathatter then her jenga crockery are all that’s left of u’r modus vivendi.Like nurse! my dental caps need adjusting !Up yourz!!!there’s a monkey wrench on the jumpseat & if u ring that bell once more I’ll………….solder my defective circuits wit u’r autonomous magic touch.That’s when my space needle jumped up scope googled backwardsUh! glitch dimensia technical difficulties
seem to be sensual, fuelling up the transmitters wit mirth I cork barbarella shitholes wit a loose knut jackhammer coz i’m haggle priced i cum wit a satellite wave that’ll fry hakes in ya fridge
So do u still dream of Genie when I cud be u’r Frankenstein made 4 every Victorian dessicated
mansion’s furtive lab where the forlorn hasty stench of decrepitude haunts the lab but if u’r skirt
blows up im’a flash the fang & whistle Dixie .Watch the warewolves dismount from linear parchs
while the vampire’s bicentennial corpse deploys splinters to slit thraot.then up cranks ya gizmo
,beter reboot ryt now b4 Deedee cookie cuts the wires.the mothership sputters afterdark trailor
park trash doll wouser emitts chips in relation to Area 51. my gosh!!!u & u’r starky comments
don’t u ever like stop? but i mean i grow on people!so does fungi!!!no… wait !!!honey! plz!!Look at u pathetic, u wreak a deficiant virus & im’a bout to bunch ya red button Sooo?any last words b4 u self-detonate?Oh of coarse.. I forgot to sequence ya countdown
hook;i slash space monkeys ,ratchet wheel tongue ,spot wolly wit a a snaggle gum fitted ,dentures spat out,head mounted version, zorb out of control to gargle your molars. Body cast over a bladed face amputated chain saw iron fist vitamins for the snail racing championships
plz reply if possible
have heart,I know this world is cruel&,hard&that my dream is probably farfetched
but sometimes I hope that one human out there just one, may understand.
(by all means I’m prepared to face whatever pain & consequences my decision would
Have brought unto me(lock me up in a sanctum,train me ,torture me with food & sleep deprivation till I b’cum the best hacker to my fullest potential)
HOPE!2600
MY FELLOW BRETHREN