Geek Redefined

Which Geek are you?

Study Shows Nerds are Virgins

I’m guessing this study was completed with Australian tax dollars. As a Nerd/dweeb/geek, I can’t imagine who answered their survey, honestly…

Science Dweebs Often Virgins

By Amanda Schupak

Think back to your college years. Did you spend more time at the lab bench than at the bar? Was getting a date harder than organic chem? If you carried protection was it for your pocket? We thought so.

A study published in the current issue of the journal Sexual Health found that science students were more likely to be virgins than their artsy classmates.

Researchers in Australia surveyed 185 men and women, ages 16 to 25, at the University of Sydney on their sexual history and STD knowledge. Responses to questionnaires revealed that “art students were younger [and] more likely to be sexually active” than science students (who, presumably were too busy doing homework to get out and get busy).And on average across groups, males were less likely to have had sex than females.

As for the reasons behind the disparity between art chicks and science geeks, lead author Bernadette Zakher, of the university’s Department of General Practice, reserved comment, saying that the survey did not delve deeply into demographics or sexual history, “There isn’t enough information for conjecture.”

Nature podcast editor Adam Rutherford has a few ideas. “I just hate it when stereotypes are right,” he posted on the UK’s Guardian website. “The research does not go into the potential causes of this lack of bedroom activity by my boffin brethren, nor does it detail the worthy sacrifice of cheap carnal thrills for rational agility and mental development, which I have convinced myself lies at the root of this problem. That, and the personal hygiene issues.”

He blames a dearth of sexy role models for today’s blossoming men of science, citing, for instance, Charles Darwin’s marriage to his cousin and positing that Sir Isaac Newton “almost certainly died a virgin.”

The main purpose of Zakher’s research was to look at young people’s attitudes toward chlamydia screening. “The important findings,” she says, “are that young people are not aware or concerned about chlamydia infection despite their risk for acquiring it.” As if talking to girls wasn’t already scary enough.

What is a ‘hacker’?

I got this from my fellow WordDreams blogger, the writer. This post won’t come out until tomorrow, but it’s right up my line. I decided I’m not a hacker, but Eitan in my lab is. Read on:

If you had a character who was a hacker (or a cracker), how would you make him convincing. To be  believable, you have to enter their mindset. Here are some ideas I’ve gotten from my computer friends and The New Hacker’s Dictionary:

• They want to write their native language well. Though it’s a common stereotype that programmers can’t write, a surprising number of hackers are very able writers.
• They read science fiction and go to science fiction conventions (try it; it’s a good way to meet hackers and proto-hackers).
• They know a martial-arts form (Did this surprise you? Me too). The kind of mental discipline required for martial arts seems to be similar in important ways to what hackers do. The most popular forms are Tae Kwon Do, Kung Fu, Aikido, or Ju Jitsu. The most hackerly martial arts are those which emphasize mental discipline, relaxed awareness, and control, rather than raw strength, athleticism, or physical toughness.
• They study a meditation discipline. The perennial favorite among hackers is Zen. Other styles may work as well, but choose one that doesn’t require you to believe crazy things.
• They have an analytical ear for music, might appreciate peculiar kinds of music, might play some musical instrument well, or even sing.
• They appreciate puns and wordplay. Very neologistic. They nounize verbs and verbize nouns.
• For true hackers, the boundaries between “play”, “work”, “science” and “art” tend to disappear.

If you want to show a fake ‘hacker’, include these traits:

• A silly or grandiose user ID or screen name.
• Have them get in flame wars in their online communications
• Have them self-describe as a ‘cyberpunk’
• Have lots of spelling errors and bad grammar in their posts