Why do people think it is perfectly acceptable to say that

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dexkaden
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10 Apr 2007, 10:50 am

Yes, I love sitting in a lecture hall listening to someone talk about something I am interested in. It isn't interactive in that I don't talk to the presenter, but we are still carrying on a conversa...kind of...like my mind in engaged in understanding and the presenter is teaching so it is like an ESP conversation...except this doesn't makes sense and I now come across as a psycho.

On a side note, I am minoring in mathematics in a roundabout sort of way in that in order to get into graduate school, I need about four calculus classes and three stat classes and one linear algebra class---and I still say "oh, yes, maths are boring. I would much rather be reading a book or thinking about something else than working through this problem, but maths also make me seem very smart since not everyone takes more than College Algebra, so there!"


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Sopho
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10 Apr 2007, 10:53 am

dexkaden wrote:
Yes, I love sitting in a lecture hall listening to someone talk about something I am interested in. It isn't interactive in that I don't talk to the presenter, but we are still carrying on a conversa...kind of...like my mind in engaged in understanding and the presenter is teaching so it is like an ESP conversation...except this doesn't makes sense and I now come across as a psycho.

I love listening to people talk about history. I'd go to extra lectures if I could :D
A lot of the time, as I'm thinking through what they're saying in my head, I'll be thinking of other points or arguments to make about that as well, so in a way it is like a conversation, without having to worry about getting it right though. I usually feel better after lectures, I come out of them feeling more awake.



SeriousGirl
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10 Apr 2007, 10:55 am

Many people find math painful and humiliating. Saying that they hate it is almost a cliche, a social conversation signal that they don't want to pursue the subject. It can come off as rude. It would be better to say, "How interesting, but I just don't get math." The world is becomming ruder and people are not taught manners.

I have interests so esoteric that people haven't heard of them. I can't even bring up the subject of eveolutionary psychology without causing all sorts of social problems.

It would be a rare person who is able to share your interest in math.


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dgd1788
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10 Apr 2007, 10:55 am

I am terrible at Mathematics but I like it nonetheless.


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Sopho
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10 Apr 2007, 10:58 am

I wish someone on my course wanted to talk about the church with me :(

When other people start talking to me about 'normal' things like what they did at the weekend or music that I don't like, I never just dismiss it as being completely boring or anything... You'd think it'd be the same with what course someone is on



Bart21
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10 Apr 2007, 12:02 pm

I'm going to have to disagree with everyone here.
I do find it boring and it would be the last thing i'd want to talk about with people.



Sopho
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10 Apr 2007, 12:09 pm

Bart21 wrote:
I'm going to have to disagree with everyone here.
I do find it boring and it would be the last thing i'd want to talk about with people.

It's not just that, everone's entitled to their own opinion, I'm not really a 'maths person' myself either. I think it just irritated him that everyone was constantly just replying with how boring it was, even people on his course



SeriousGirl
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10 Apr 2007, 12:31 pm

The point I'm trying to make is that just telling someone it is boring straight out like that is rude, rude, rude. We can all come up with something positive to say about anything and then change the subject without being so rude!

Sopho_soph, it is hard to find people within your group to share your interests and much easier to find a group that shares you interest to hang out with.


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Sopho
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10 Apr 2007, 12:37 pm

SeriousGirl wrote:
Sopho_soph, it is hard to find people within your group to share your interests and much easier to find a group that shares you interest to hang out with.

That's true, I'm sure there are plenty on my course (maybe not as obsessed as me, but interested anyway) I just never talk to people I don't know so I have trouble meeting people with similar interests.
I agree with you about people being rude though. I try not to make it obvious if I'm bored about something, although due to anxiety and not knowing what to say, I wouldn't be surprised if I've done it several times without realising



RaoulDuke
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10 Apr 2007, 12:43 pm

JakeG wrote:
SteveK wrote:
Jake,
If people say they HATE math, etc... It isn't belittling you or your love for it. Frankly, I have had a hard time with math, etc... At a time, I would have wondered how you could like it, but I have thought about it, and can understand. I would NEVER have berated you for it, discouraged you, etc...


Ok, I have expressed myself badly here. It is more when people say that it is boring than when they hate it that I get annoyed although I do get annoyed when people say they hate it but they really don't know anything about it and are just going off a preconceived notion and are following the flock of sheep in saying that they hate math and it is boring just because that has become they accepted answer. If someone has genuinely looked into math at more than a superficial level and doesn't like it or find it interesting then I would rather they said 'It just doesn't interest me' but when they are calling something boring with no knowledge of it - to me that just sounds ignorant...I mean I would rather they thought for themselves and formed their own opinion.

Ah, well then that makes sense. I hate it because I genuinely cannot grasp it no matter how hard I've tried--I'm unable to add, subtract, multiply or divide in my head, and algebra is extremely difficult for me to work around. Even when I think I'm doing well, I'm not--I would do tests very confidently only to find out I had failed.

However, Chemistry is another story. I love chemical equations and can do them in my head very easily. I don't know why, though.



JakeG
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10 Apr 2007, 1:12 pm

Sopho_soph wrote:
I like my lecturers, I've also found I tend to understand jokes they make, whereas with other people I don't. I just wish other people on my course felt the same way... I get disturbed really easily by people talking.


Same with me, in fact it is the bane of my life. I am partially deaf in one ear so sometimes struggle to hear at the best of times anyway but when there is constant murmuring and sometimes even outright chatting in the lectures I get quite upset and uncomfortable. I tend to feel quite bad for the lecturers as well who rarely say anything but just try to plough on through the racket.



JakeG
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10 Apr 2007, 1:14 pm

dexkaden wrote:
Yes, I love sitting in a lecture hall listening to someone talk about something I am interested in. It isn't interactive in that I don't talk to the presenter, but we are still carrying on a conversa...kind of...like my mind in engaged in understanding and the presenter is teaching so it is like an ESP conversation...except this doesn't makes sense and I now come across as a psycho.


No, I understand what you mean, in fact this is what I meant when I was saying that I felt that lectures seem slightly interactive but you just put it better than me :)



JakeG
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10 Apr 2007, 1:17 pm

SeriousGirl wrote:
I have interests so esoteric that people haven't heard of them. I can't even bring up the subject of eveolutionary psychology without causing all sorts of social problems.


See that is where I differ. When I hear something like that that I have never really heard of before I get quite interested. Although in this particular instance, I think I have a vague idea of what you are talking of as I heard it mentioned in an offhand way in a talk I went to about evolution of animals (inc. humans) in a more general sense. I would be interested to hear about that particular element in more depth though.



Sopho
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10 Apr 2007, 1:18 pm

JakeG wrote:
Sopho_soph wrote:
I like my lecturers, I've also found I tend to understand jokes they make, whereas with other people I don't. I just wish other people on my course felt the same way... I get disturbed really easily by people talking.


Same with me, in fact it is the bane of my life. I am partially deaf in one ear so sometimes struggle to hear at the best of times anyway but when there is constant murmuring and sometimes even outright chatting in the lectures I get quite upset and uncomfortable. I tend to feel quite bad for the lecturers as well who rarely say anything but just try to plough on through the racket.

I feel bad for lecturers sometimes as well - sometimes people start packing away their things while they're still talking, or they'll be having really loud conversations. I never know what to do in these situations though because I want to carry on listening, but then if everyone else is putting away their things I panic, thinking I'm going to be late (I'm terrified of being late). You'd think that with problems reading people and interacting, it would be people with Aspergers always coming across as rude etc, but from what I see, other people do it just as much, seemingly without caring.
With the noise, it's the opposite for me, the reason it bothers me is because my hearing is quite good (I think) so the slightest noise can distract me for ages



JakeG
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10 Apr 2007, 1:19 pm

Sopho_soph wrote:
When other people start talking to me about 'normal' things like what they did at the weekend or music that I don't like, I never just dismiss it as being completely boring or anything... You'd think it'd be the same with what course someone is on


I even find that people doing different subjects than me aren't interested in talking about it if I enquire about them as an outsider. I think one of the major problems nowadays in the UK is the motivation that people have to go to university. Too many seem to end up going without any real interest in their subject.



JakeG
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10 Apr 2007, 1:22 pm

SeriousGirl wrote:
The point I'm trying to make is that just telling someone it is boring straight out like that is rude, rude, rude. We can all come up with something positive to say about anything and then change the subject without being so rude!


Exactly and you would also think that when speaking with other people you could also try to take an interest and find out things rather than dismissing everything offhand.