Geek-Filled College Has Required Social Skills Classes

[zoozilla]

I'm kind of wondering how I would do in those interpersonal communication classes...

 

[SageOfCalm]

Ahahahahahahahaha. It is Utah though. Combine typical geek habits with rural midwestern living and you get the armpit of American society.

 

[Twilight_guy]

Why does this remind me so much of my Aspergers' syndrome... oh wait... no social skills, focused exclusivly on one topic, highly studius and factual... I see something interesting here!

 

[iggyus]

This is the very top of nerdiness

 

[Da Joz]

I have reccently graduated from a rather geeky engineering school and it was no where near as bad as this. They need to lighten up on the work and have some fun that does not involve computers.

 

[meatloaf231]

You can't make people be social. All you'll get is resentful imitation of social behavior.

 

[GothmogII]

Often wondered why eye contact is so important though... Still, not as bad as the people who claim to be able to tell what type of person you are just with a firm handshake and a heavy eyeballing match.

 

[Hyper-space]

hahaha!

fuck social skills class, i have a charisma stat of 18

 

[SageOfCalm]

You can't make people be social. All you'll get is resentful imitation of social behavior.

Truth. It's still weird, though, geeks usually are comfortable around other geeks even if they're all imitating normal social behavior.

 

[Zildjin81]

You can't teach social skills in a classroom!

 

[Iron Mal]

... Is it seriously that hard to look people in the eyes when you're talking to them and to remember to shower?

For some people it is a problem that they can't help (such as those with asperger's syndrome etc.) but that wouldn't be a viable excuse for the majority of students at a college.

The only real way to counter this lack of social skills is to force the students to act in a social manner (sociability can't really be taught, it's something you have to learn the hard way), don't give them the option to just slide underneath the social radar or they will.

The students won't like it, it'll be difficult and there will no doubt be a few people who have a nervous breakdown as a result but at the end of it you'll be ready for the big, bad world and it's drunken, stoned, sleezy, horny and prejudiced populace (you'll be impervious to any socially awkward thing anyone can throw at you).

 

[Therumancer]

I have my doubts as to whether Asperger's Syndrome actually exists. I've met enough people with Autism to firmly believe that there is no such thing as 'mildly autistic'. That is another discussion however.

You CAN teach social skills to be honest, that is more or less what prep schools, etiquette courses, and other things are for. Albeit they require fairly willing participation.

Honestly though, my actual reaction here is that it's stupid. I think corperate America gets what it wants too often. The entire point of dedicated schools like this is to produce monsterously talented computer specialists. If you want the skills, you deal with the whole package. I think being detached and singularly focused is part of what makes such people so good.

What's more corperate America has never been especially good at the entire creative process, and one way or another being a computer jockey is about creativity. These people start conforming and their basically shooting themselves in the kneecaps. The annoyance is good for the entire culture these guys wind up working within.

Minimal personal hygiene, yes. If they smell that bad I can see the need for refresher courses on "health". As far as social skills go, that's not really nessicary providing they do the job. Corperate America probably is trying to say it wants bootlickers. Well, when you get to this level of genuine abillity/talent that doesn't usually go with it. Time for those guys to back off and realize that when it comes to computers these guys are THEIR Lord and Master and the computer systems are their territory. They want the benefits, they learn to back off and tolerate the characters in the field.

I'm NOT a computer geek, I have a hard time programming a bloody VCR with instructions. It's just that I've seen these kinds of complaints from "the establishment" over a long period of time in differant fields. The guys on top hate non-conformist mavericks, and not being in direct control of everything that happens, BUT when they bring people into the fold they wind up losing a lot of the benefits that they had, can't realize what happened, and everyone pays the price.

I could give examples, and personal experiences, but this would just get longer.

>>>----Therumancer--->



>>>----Therumancer--->

>>>----Therumancer--->

 

[SageOfCalm]

What's more corperate America has never been especially good at the entire creative process, and one way or another being a computer jockey is about creativity. These people start conforming and their basically shooting themselves in the kneecaps. The annoyance is good for the entire culture these guys wind up working within.

Minimal personal hygiene, yes. If they smell that bad I can see the need for refresher courses on "health". As far as social skills go, that's not really nessicary providing they do the job. Corperate America probably is trying to say it wants bootlickers. Well, when you get to this level of genuine abillity/talent that doesn't usually go with it. Time for those guys to back off and realize that when it comes to computers these guys are THEIR Lord and Master and the computer systems are their territory. They want the benefits, they learn to back off and tolerate the characters in the field.

I'm NOT a computer geek, I have a hard time programming a bloody VCR with instructions. It's just that I've seen these kinds of complaints from "the establishment" over a long period of time in different fields. The guys on top hate non-conformist mavericks, and not being in direct control of everything that happens, BUT when they bring people into the fold they wind up losing a lot of the benefits that they had, can't realize what happened, and everyone pays the price.

No, it's just that trying to talk to these people can be one of the most annoying things a person can go through. It's like they have all that programming power but no common sense. And when you're trying to relay a message on how you want a certain project you need somebody who doesn't piss you off because they can't process a simple instruction.

And trust me nobody is worried about conforming these guys.

 

[Alex_P]

Lol, as if social skills are needed in a programming job.

To program, no, but to interact with the rest of the company that hired you, yes. Nobody is going to want to deal with the IT guy who stinks or can't look you in the eye when he talks to you.

If he was good at his job I wouldn't care otherwise...probably just me though. (Well...maybe the smell would be a bit irritating, but, having been around such, both male and female, I've felt it's rude to comment, though, guess that would change were I an employer? Don't know really...)

I don't know, I always got the impression that a job is a job, you go there to work not socialise, that's for outside.

I'd say it's about collaboration rather than socialization. The ability to communicate effectively is vital for a software engineer.

While a lot of schools teach primarily via solo projects, most real-world programming jobs involve software that is too big for one person to know in full breadth and depth. You're constantly talking to system engineers to clarify requirements, constantly talking to testers to exchange information about bugs and changes, constantly talking to other developers to share experience and make sure your stuff works together with theirs. You don't have to be a social butterly, but if you're a programmer who can't comfortably talk to other people, you're likely to end up being the guy who sits in his office for a month writing code that the project didn't actually need.

Many projects demand maintainable code -- not just code that works right now but code that somebody else is going to be able to go in and change years later, probably without any input from the original author. Understanding how to write things that other people will actually understand -- theory of mind for programmers -- is more important than pure hacker virtuosity.

-- Alex

 

[countrysteaksauce]

Lol, as if social skills are needed in a programming job.

To program, no, but to interact with the rest of the company that hired you, yes. Nobody is going to want to deal with the IT guy who stinks or can't look you in the eye when he talks to you.

Robots can always do the talking.
OT: This is downright pathetic, to be that sucked into a computer that you forgo basic hygiene and interaction. No, wow doesn't count.

 

[Frank_Sinatra_]

Shorten their classes and pay for their beer at a local bar every now and then. Boom, problem solved.

Yeah, no freaking kidding!
This is actually really, really pathetic. I'm a nerd that's glued to my computer but I still have a life.

 

[Altorin]

You can't make people be social. All you'll get is resentful imitation of social behavior.

People can go from anti-social to social.. maybe not through classes, but I don't know the curriculum of the class, so I can't really comment on that..

but if you have an anti-social person, and show them that it's ok to be social from time to time, and it's easy to talk to people, they'll become more social.. they might not do jello shots off girls in the club, but they'll be more comfortable in their skin when their skin is close to the skin of other people

 

[Rigs83]

I have worked with someone who stinks and I don't care if they can break the DOD Database in five minutes or create google like web device that guarantee me a a fortune I can't stand them and was overjoyed when they left. Just a ten minute shower, swab of deodorant, clean (enough) clothes and you are ready for 9 out of 10 public encounter. It is just common courtesy and not too much to ask.