So I'm sitting at my own very desk (ahem!) at this place where I'm supposed to be working (cough, cough) on my Masters project. Anyhou, leaving the guilt and workload aside, life is good. As good as it gets when you're doing your masters in P. I can borrow books from this place (lots of very nice physics books), my guide asks no questions, and lots of semi-cool, semi-motivated people working on semi-interesting things. :) As I sit here, there's a little scene happening at the desk to the left. Solemn girl (aka typical nerd) is trying to send a data file to Jovial guy (the other kind of nerd).
Solemn girl: I tried mailing you the file, but it's too big.
Jovial guy: Why didn't you try making a tarball out of it? (I'm guessing that's some kind of zipping format)
Solemn Silence.
Jovial guy: You do know how to make a tarball don't you?
Solemn girl: Errr. no
Jovial guy: rapidy-rapidy-rapidy (list of commands)
(Me (silently): okay!!)
Jovial guy: And instead of mailing it to me, why don't you just upload it here on the local server? (or something to that effect)
Solemn Silence
Jovial guy: Okay, we'll do that tomorrow.
Now tell me please: why does this always happen? Solemn girl works all day. To the point of having lunch at her desk. Jovial guy watches movies, plays music and goofs off most of the day. He seems to be doing decent work, but I don't know when he does it. Question: Why are girls so technologically backward? (me included). Linux OS makes me break into a sweat. Yeah, I know. I can function with it, but I can't make it function for me. Is the answer evolution? Or maybe it's just that we don't fool around with computers as much as we should. Do the fixing and finding-out-new-things by ourselves. So much easier to call Jovial guy. He actually has fun fixing it for you and showing off in the process. Everyone's happy. But it makes me Wonder.
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6 comments:
I'm not sure all boys are totally geeked out, but yeah, girls do need to experiment with computers a bit more.
And, Solemn girl? :P Jovial Boy? :P Stereotyping!! Well, low sample size, rather?
Beak, I am sure you could see this coming.
1. Your tone and example presented of jovial "cool-n-smart" guy and solemn girl suggests that you have the stereotype - "Guys are cooler and smarter than girls". While that (or its negation) may well be true statistically, I am inclined to think that the difference, if any, is very small. I would base future opinions on careful statistical studies done on the same.
2. "Is the answer evolution?"
The opposition to the theory of evolution by natural selection when it was being corroborated by evidence ever more strongly, could have been put, in my opinion, into the following three categories:
a. Contradiction to religion and religious beliefs held around that time
b. Taking Darwinism to mean an endorsement of Social Darwinism
c. The fallacy of Genetic Determinism
I think you are committing error c here. Short reply: Behaviours of complex organisms (such as human beings) are governed predominantly by genes and the environment - knobs provided by nature, tunings set by culture.
I would guess that any statistical difference between the sexes in ability to use something, that was so conspicuously absent in the EEA, such as a computer would be least attributable to genes. In this specific case, I will go with AnoNick's low sample size argument against your conclusion.
i swear. i wish i wish i was more techie :(
1. It isn't a question of sample size. This particular is solemn, and this particular guy is jovial. With regard to the same point, Sudeep drew an inference I don't think I intended. In general, I think there are as many or slightly more cheerful girls than guys. :) And jovial does not mean cool and smart. No oh. In fact, I think this particular guy tries a bit too hard to be cheerful.
2. @ Sudeep: With regard to the second point. The computer has been used a specific example of a 'tool'. Pretty much the same logic applies to other modern appliances (?!) and to older stuff. "My love, did you fix the cart wheel yet?"
3. Megha is the only one who truly Understands. :)
No no, I understand too. We rock! Thanku thanku ;)
linux -- bummer.
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