Anti-programmer stigma

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Original post by Ravuya
Why do you think there exists such a fear and misunderstanding of programmers in the minds of the common person? Is it because of the media? Do they just fear that we know stuff they don''t?

I''d love to hear what you think.

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I don''t think there is any fear from the non programmers. I don''t think programmers are some kind of "special" (non common) person. I don''t see the media talking about programmers very often. What could programmers possibly know that the "commmon" person wouldn''t? DirectX?

How about the stereotypes?

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You mean how people think that programmers are all unshaven freaks that wear loud hawaaian shirts and do nothing but use the computer all day?

That''s not a stereotype, I''m actually like that.

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"Iraqi baby milk doesn''t kill Americans, I kill Americans."
- Albert Einstein

To be honest, I doubt that programmers know on general as much as say a physics undergraduate or or other physical science.

The idea that programmers are more intelligent or are in some way more special than any other physical scientist is a nonsense.

Someone (Arthur C Clarke, I think) once said something along the lines of: "Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

Seeing as the vast majority of people don''t really know how their computer works, and don''t have the faintest idea what programmers actually DO, I guess that makes us akin to sorcerors

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pan narrans | My Website | Study + Hard Work + Loud Profanity = Good Code

quote:

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Original post by Ravuya
Why do you think there exists such a fear and misunderstanding of programmers in the minds of the common person? Is it because of the media? Do they just fear that we know stuff they don''t?

I''d love to hear what you think.

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I''ve never noticed this ''fear and misunderstanding'' of which you speak. Occasionally if I get dragged into a technical discussion I''ve noticed ''boredom and apathy'', but never ''fear and misunderstanding''.

I''ve noticed "cluelessness and apathy". Programmers invoke a lot less fear than, say, lawyers, IRS agents, etc. Standard conversation:

Them: So, what do you do for a living?
Me: I''m a programmer.
Them: Oh. So, what do you do for a living?

The most interesting result was a guy asking me to please make him a logo, because apparently he was under the impression that programmers are equivalent with computer graphics designers.

He got confused when I told him I can''t draw.

-fel

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Original post by felisandria
The most interesting result was a guy asking me to please make him a logo, because apparently he was under the impression that programmers are equivalent with computer graphics designers.

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I''ve noticed that most people tend to lump anything to do with computers into the same niche too.

Whenever I tell someone that I am studying to become a games programmer they always start telling me about the problems they are having with their computer like I''d know how to fix it, guess that must be what a doctor feels like. They think I must be a useless programmer if I don''t know exactly why their hard disk crashed or why their speakers aren''t working just from their descriptions.

Another frequent reaction is that they stare at me blankly for a second and then say something along the lines of "Well, computers are the way to go nowadays, good pay for that". If only they knew the kind of salaries I see on job advertisements

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pan narrans | My Website | Study + Hard Work + Loud Profanity = Good Code

It''s funny how much LESS confused people are when I say "I do network marketing" instead of "I''m a computer programmer" when 99.9 percent of them don''t know network marketing exists.

"So what do you do?"
"I''m doing network marketing"
"Wow! That''s awesome, what is it?"

instead of

"So what do you do?"
"Computer programmer"
"Oh"

I think mainly people get confused when you''re only 16 and a computer programmer... at least they were with me when I was 16.

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"Love is a disease"

Network Marketing? They probably think you mean Amway.

The second "Oh. So what do you do for a living?" was supposed to note their abject lack of knowledge concerning what a programmer is.

-fel

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Original post by pan narrans
Someone (Arthur C Clarke, I think) once said something along the lines of: "Sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic".

Seeing as the vast majority of people don''t really know how their computer works, and don''t have the faintest idea what programmers actually DO, I guess that makes us akin to sorcerors

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MUAHAHA!! I will smite you all with a for loop!

I LIKE that explanation

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Gamedev for learning.
libGDN for putting it all together.
An opensource, cross platform, cross API game development library.

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Original post by pan narrans
Whenever I tell someone that I am studying to become a games programmer they always start telling me about the problems they are having with their computer like I''d know how to fix it, guess that must be what a doctor feels like.

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Well, that''s true for anyone with computer experience.

IDIOT: "What do you do for a living?"
PERSON: "I make computers out of sand, clay and witty remarks."
IDIOT (hearing ''COMPUTER'', the key word): "Oh, you''re one of those computer people, right? My Windows is broken, it won''t do this, this or this... *continues on*... So, canya fix it?"

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Original post by AnonymousPosterChild
You mean how people think that programmers are all unshaven freaks that wear loud hawaaian shirts and do nothing but use the computer all day?

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You forgot the Doritos, Twinkees and Mountain Dew - Code Red.



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For me it''s Lays with herb and garlic dip, Oreos and Vanilla coke.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Iraqi baby milk doesn''t kill Americans, I kill Americans."
- Albert Einstein

its not really a programmer stigma thing. its more of a nerd thing (at least at my highschool it is)

where i go to highschool everyone is like fearing being a "nerd." i mean god forbid you know anything, lest you be a "nerd" good gracious how could one live with himself, i mean, being a nerd and all is definatly cause for suicide...

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Sam Johnston (Samith)

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Original post by Samith
where i go to highschool everyone is like fearing being a "nerd." i mean god forbid you know anything, lest you be a "nerd" good gracious how could one live with himself, i mean, being a nerd and all is definatly cause for suicide...

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So you''re saying it''s an "intelligence stigma" thing? Hm, that''s probably what I was meaning to put out.

Okay, topic change: How have you noticed that people don''t want to be intelligent? How do they act out against people who are (in school and out)?

This 500 error brought to you by ASP -- A Failure Of Intelligence

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Walk into any university-level Computer Science lecture, and you'll see why programmers get a bad rep. You will immediately be accosted by a plethora of terrible fashion senses, unkept hair, medicinally bad breath, hyena-like obnoxious laughing, and a guy/girl ratio of about a 100:1. Ok, it's not that bad, not it's not too far off the mark either.

Compare this with your average university-level Business or Education lecture class, and you'll see a world of difference. Programmers get a bad rep, not because people misunderstand them or fear them, but rather because quite frankly, it's embarrassing to be seen associating with many of them.

I don't think programmers are socially mal-adjusted because they like computers; I think they like computers because they are socially mal-adjusted. Of course I'm overgeneralizing here, but I think this holds for the general case.

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Okay, topic change: How have you noticed that people don't want to be intelligent? How do they act out against people who are (in school and out)?

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Yeah, there's a definite fear being regarded as intelligent, by many teenagers (especially in high school). I think people associate intelligence with being 'nerdy', and as a result, not socially well-adjusted (coming back to my previous point). I think many people believe there is a trade-off between being respected, and being liked -- if they come off as intelligent to their peers, they fear they will be perceived as serious and boring, and not fit into the rest of the crowd. Afterall, most people are *not* intelligent (in the IQ sense), so it's only natural for those who are to feel different.


[edited by - Estese on January 15, 2003 6:57:58 PM]

What highschool do you poor kids go to!??

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Original post by C-Junkie
What highschool do you poor kids go to!??

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It''s called public education... smart people are lower in the pecking order than drug-addicted morons.

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