A boring entomologist? Fuck that shit.

[Kai]

Went out to breakfast at a southern diner this morning with three colleagues.

During the meal, a new graduate student came up in conversation. HT was telling me that she had spent some time with this girl, and she had come to the conclusion that the new grad student "wasn't quite all there". S (we'll just call her that) seems to have no interests, read no good books recently, watched no movies, learned nothing particularly interesting. It seems she likes videogames, but by games she means Pacman.

And so I was confused. How is it that a grad student in /entomology/ could be so completely uninteresting, boring, disinterested? Confusion indicates a place where my maps don't match the territory, so I would like to find out what the hell is going on with this. Maybe I'm just used to brilliant people; even a former master's student, B, seemed outwardly like a boozehound undergrad yet had an incredible ability for induction from details to the big picture.

If it's true, that S is sorta dumb, it pisses me off. I mean, even new grad student G who is incredibly socially inept, anxious and has a tendency to talk and talk and /talk/ is equally obviously brilliant and interesting. Maybe S has a rich inner life and she just doesn't talk about it, but outwardly it seems like she's....BLEH. Like there's nothing going on up there.

Entomology isn't the sort of field someone goes into because it's just the next logical step. People that are uninteresting go to grad school for engineering or law school or med school or something that is more straight path like that trains for a profession, rather than a broad study and understanding the most interesting organisms on the planet. As far as I've seen, there's no such thing as a boring entomologist. Maybe your experiences are different, but even my illustrious emeritus advisor who is quite old fashioned and has a narrow focus is far from boring. I'm pissed off because a boring entomologist doesn't factor nicely with what I know of reality. I estimate the department is wasting their time with this one, that S will quickly be out of the program. A waste of my time too.

This world needs fucking weirdness. The most interesting and interested people are also the really weird ones, the ones that have weirdness deep down. And entomology is full of these people. HT describes going to a national meeting like Entomological Society of America, as finally being in her element, the surprise of "Hey, everyone is weird here, everyone is into bugs just like me!" It's a confidence builder, all right, to know that you're part of a discipline that's producing more weirdness on this planet, that's cataloging weirdness, that's getting up close and personal with the weird of the really weird. It pisses me off that the same thing which is happening to the Meatrack in Tucson is happening to entomology, being flooded with boring, unweird people.

FUCK that.

[Adios]

Wait, did you meet her yet to make your own determination?

[Sita]

Good to have it confirmed that I am an uninteresting person.
I would've gone into something like engineering if I was able.

[Jasper]

It seems like you mostly meet interesting entomologists, and this one is the exception.  I don't anticipate that entomology is being 'flooded' by zombies.  Maybe you need to meet this person to make a decision.

Maybe she's like the smiler, only without the smile.   

Maybe she's secretly so weird that even weird ass entomologists would scatter if she let it out.

Or maybe she's just a sociopath.  They're not so rare. 

[Kai]

Good to have it confirmed that I am an uninteresting person.
I would've gone into something like engineering if I was able.

I didn't say that all engineers were uninteresting, just that uninteresting people would be much less likely to go into entomology than engineering. Please don't turn this into an argumentum ad absurdum.

And I've met her, and spent time with her. When I add what I've seen to what I've heard, it ends up painting a picture of a very boring person. I'll be asking her some questions pretty soon just to make sure.

Meh. This is a rant. Don't read too much into it.

[Adios]

Good to have it confirmed that I am an uninteresting person.
I would've gone into something like engineering if I was able.

I didn't say that all engineers were uninteresting, just that uninteresting people would be much less likely to go into entomology than engineering. Please don't turn this into an argumentum ad absurdum.

And I've met her, and spent time with her. When I add what I've seen to what I've heard, it ends up painting a picture of a very boring person. I'll be asking her some questions pretty soon just to make sure.

Meh. This is a rant. Don't read too much into it.

As a personality test for science, grab her boobs, gauge reaction. Oh, don't forget to duck.

[Mesozoic Mister Nigel]

LOL, I seriously don't think you have much to worry about wrt entomology being flooded by boring people! It's unlikely to be flooded by people, period.

Frankly, a not-all-there girl who doesn't have any real interests other than bugs and playing pac-man sounds fascinatingly weird, even if she's not much fun to hang out with. Definitely a far cry from frat kids at the Meetrack!

[Kai]

LOL, I seriously don't think you have much to worry about wrt entomology being flooded by boring people! It's unlikely to be flooded by people, period.

Frankly, a not-all-there girl who doesn't have any real interests other than bugs and playing pac-man sounds fascinatingly weird, even if she's not much fun to hang out with. Definitely a far cry from frat kids at the Meetrack!

You know, you could be right. She might have a deeper, morbid side or something. Going to investigate further.

[Sita]

Good to have it confirmed that I am an uninteresting person.
I would've gone into something like engineering if I was able.

I didn't say that all engineers were uninteresting, just that uninteresting people would be much less likely to go into entomology than engineering. Please don't turn this into an argumentum ad absurdum.

Wasn't trying to turn it into anything. Sorry.
I've been telling people I'm uninteresting my whole life but no one believes me. Thought this would be something I could use as proof.

[LMNO]

S (we'll just call her that) seems to have no interests, read no good books recently, watched no movies, learned nothing particularly interesting. It seems she likes videogames, but by games she means Pacman.

She's hiding something.  A truly boring person would have boring interests, read boring books, and watch boring movies.

I say delve deeper, and see what turns up.

[Cain]

LOL, I seriously don't think you have much to worry about wrt entomology being flooded by boring people! It's unlikely to be flooded by people, period.

Frankly, a not-all-there girl who doesn't have any real interests other than bugs and playing pac-man sounds fascinatingly weird, even if she's not much fun to hang out with. Definitely a far cry from frat kids at the Meetrack!

169% this.

Just thinking about the kind of background and experiences which would make someone into a somewhat withdrawn, pac-man playing bug lover is highly interesting.  Also, psychologically speaking, withdrawn people usually have very high excitement thresholds and she may seem boring because it's very hard for her to get stimulated by anything.

[Jenne]

"Still waters run deep"?  That seems a viable notion, especially since I tend to find most in grad school "odd" to say the least, anyway.

I'd say it's quite possible she's hiding a lot under a "duh" exterior and just may not be as extroverted as some are.  Or perhaps she is well and truly a dork.  *shrug*  That's also very possible.

[P3nT4gR4m]

I can't be arsed even looking at people who bore me, let alone talk to them. Maybe you and your pals are too dull for her, not vice versa! Maybe she's got this penchant for getting high, stealing sports cars and driving them off bridges for kicks. It's not the kind of hobby you'd advertise to people you just met. My advice - get to know her, fuck her a couple of times. That way even if it turns out she is dull as shit at least you got laid once or twice and maybe, just maybe you end up broadening your horizons some and end up running guns into mexico or some shit 

[Doktor Howl]

LOL, I seriously don't think you have much to worry about wrt entomology being flooded by boring people! It's unlikely to be flooded by people, period.

Frankly, a not-all-there girl who doesn't have any real interests other than bugs and playing pac-man sounds fascinatingly weird, even if she's not much fun to hang out with. Definitely a far cry from frat kids at the Meetrack!

You know, you could be right. She might have a deeper, morbid side or something. Going to investigate further.

Being absorbed in your work and enjoying a vintage video game != boring.

[Doktor Howl]

Definitely a far cry from frat kids at the Meetrack!

That has apparently been fixed.