mcat2

At my child's circle, a small group of students believe that the college education should be all about such pure academic pursuits and despise those who are on any preprofessional tracks in college. -- But they learn to live peacefully with each other. Heck, my child's closest friend has this attitude and they are still best friends and learn a lot from each other.

At my work place, if you talk about this kind of stuff during coffee/lunch break, you will likely be regarded as an odd ball. Even mundane topics like refinancing or some details about how to interpret tax code (for preparing the tax return) are more popular than the intellect stuff.

I am not against the pursuit of the academic stuff especially while you are in college, but it appears to me that a lot of things that seem to be very important or interesting for a college student become not so relevant only a few years after s/he is graduated from college. It is as if they move onto the next stage of their lives. The next stage of life is neither better nor worse.

owlice

As the mom of a kid with an autistic spectrum disorder (nearly but not quite Asperger's), I have to say that my kid definitely knows that a title such as the one used for this thread is insulting.

The OP doesn't strike me as Aspie-ish; the OP strikes me as someone desperate for adult attention and trying to get that attention however it's possible to get (hence the provocative thread titles). Of course I could be wrong about either side of the preceding sentence....

Northstarmom

I was at a workshop yesterday that was designed to be an acting experience that eventually would lead to a local performance of Romeo and Juliet. I was irritated when the first part of the workshop was "What is a sonnet?", something that seemed to have been brought up only so some literature majors in the group could show off their knowledge of the intricacies of literature.

Some people don't seem to outgrow their need to show off intellectually. Fortunately, there are many people -- including very smart ones -- who don't have to make every experience some kind of intellectual competition. There even are plenty of smart college students who aren't into doing things like this. They probably are the ones who are really living their lives while enjoying the intellectual opportunities of college.

There's also a big difference between intellectual discourse and pretentious b.s.

AnudduhMom

Owlice, peace. I am also a parent of a child on the spectrum and as you know, what one person with autism perceives does not equal the perception of another person on the spectrum. I might say "my child would get this joke", therefore that doesn't describe the characteristics of another autistic individual sort of negates what we think we know about the tricky nature of this syndrome.

My mentioning AS is in no way meant to disparage the OP or people with Asperger's, but to say to him -- if you feel misunderstood, there may be a reason beyond just differences in "passions". There may be no "fault" or problem, beyond that of self-examination and understanding that differences vis a vis the mom may NOT be due to lack of will.

I am also somewhat Aspie, and I'm glad I know that at my advanced age. Lack of eye contact, perseverative thinking, arcane "passions", wordiness (sesquipedalianism), the whole mishegoss, that's me all right.

owlice

AnudduhMom, oh, I didn't think your mentioning it was in ANY way meant disparagingly!! I knew how you meant it; the OP has just never struck me that way, is all, based on the Aspies I know, including my nearly-so son, and the OP's posts. I recognize that one or both sides of my penultimate sentence above could be wrong. It's a big spectrum with lots of variation, indeed!

burningbright

I agree that the OP tends to look down on people. He's sort of like Raskolnikov in that he feels smarter than the vast majority of people and believes that if he will allow his ambitiousness to overstep ethics, he will become another Napoleon. But no, that comparison fails, because Raskolnikov did care for others, which does not appear to be the case with galoisien.

In his more controversial threads, he's been asking questions like how can he hide his college enrollment for a job application, how can he avoid confrontation from the 50 y.o. lovesick man he seduced for housing, how can he quickly attain a vocational degree from a community college by transferring his many credits there instead of being "lectured" (there's that word again!) by "nobodies"...

It seems that the common trend is that the OP is egotistical, lacks empathy, and has problems understanding widely-accepted ethical standards. He can do and think whatever, but his surprise at receiving negative comments on his remarks surprises me. He's intelligent, yes, but has a lot to learn about human interactions.

galoisien

Okay, I have to step in here. That would just be part of the pain. I already have credits for the material ... I wouldn't learn anything. Actually it would also suck because I'd have to pay for all those credits, and also because the vocational job would only be useful while in school without a degree (or in grad school) or between permanent job searches.

I don't really get how you think I'm looking down on people. My IMPRESSION of many adults is that they've lost passion and curiosity COMPARED with my peers. Of course, I want to know why this is. Impressions can be false. There are a lot of phenomena that appear to defy reality but can actually be traced to more subtle mechanisms (e.g. acupuncture, confirmation bias...)

I've never been tested for autism spectrum disorder. I do wonder though, because my father was essentially a psychopath to the family -- his malicious acts were conscious and he displayed no love or affection, etc. (Except maybe, when he pretended to my mother, but I never got any from him.) Somehow the genes that lead to psychopathy are also factors for autism spectrum disorder? But no, I have noticed that am very empathyless and passionless at certain times, even when I don't want to, contrasted by periods of a sudden surge in empathy, emotion, etc. It's very annoying -- gets in the way of good customer service and fun at parties.

Pizzagirl

This is why people wonder if you have some sort of processing disorder or are on the spectrum. You easily believe yourself to be OH so superior intellectually to the vast majority of people at community colleges, esp those on a vocational nursing track. You said that you didn't want to be taught by "nobodies," as if you were so superior to a community college professor. People with normal social skills and a sense of humility don't call perfectly hard-working community college professors "nobodies."

galoisien

I don't know where you think I want to break widely-accepted ethical standards. (An interesting point to consider is -- how did those standards come about?)

You didn't hear the full story about the 50 yr. old man. I was drawn in and then he did a bait and switch on me on 100% commitment -- and my fault was playing along because I was already living in his house (without other summer housing) and suddenly he decides to mention it now! So I fled into an apartment I actually *had* to rent, but I wanted to know how to refuse him in the best way possible. I don't want to be coerced into a relationship. And the housing was a perk -- I was trying to avoid spending on rent (I ended up doing so anyway) -- and I was looking for companionship.

It violates ethical boundaries to ask about transfer credit to a CC without forfeiting your existing transcript at your parent institution? Really? If you were applying to a vocational program while already in college wouldn't you want to know if some of your college credits could apply to? Would you really be satisfied in taking general chem from a sketchy CC (I say sketchy because its quality is clearly questionable compared to NoVa community colleges) when you already have taken organic chemistry at a more reputable 4-year institution anyway? Why do you accuse me of arrogance when you would never send your child to such a school? I really think YOU ALL would be rather alarmed -- I didn't mean just myself, I expected other college students would know what I meant.

Pizzagirl

Galoisien, if people called my posts pedantic, boring, thought I was overly arrogant, focused on irrelevant detail, and thought I might be on the autistic / Asperger's spectrum, I'd engage in some self-reflection. It doesn't seem as though you are willing to entertain the fact that you're not within the realm of "normal" in terms of your intellectual passions and your ability to connect with others.

Pizzagirl

No. That's deflection. You don't want to confront the fact that you were about to break ethical standards, so instead you pretend to be fascinated by where those standards come from. If I'm about to steal candy from a grocery store, should I deal with the fact that I"m doing something wrong, or ponder why societal norms have evolved such that stealing is wrong?

Most normal 20 year olds aren't hanging around with 50 year olds as romantic partners. This again speaks volumes to your social ability.

And this is what we mean by overthinking. "How to refuse someone in the best way possible?" Why not just say no? You overthink everything, absolutely everything.

galoisien

Huh? Not really. People at CC are doing their thing. And I don't get the idea of where you think I was slamming every community college out there -- I have tremendous respect for the NoVa community college system -- I have many friends from there, and they teach their students well. I do see vocational institutions as somewhere where you get TAUGHT on a specific skill or trade, by people with experience in the field, and I respect them for that.

Presumably I assume getting into an RN program should be easier than getting into a BSN school -- that is, I expect the SAT distribution mean to be shifted lower, etc. Where do you get the idea that I thought myself "superior"? Rather I thought I had an edge in terms of admissions and competitiveness because I already had existing life and physical science coursework and decent scores -- doesn't that occur in every chance thread? I'm sure plenty of vocational nurses are hardworking, disciplined and intellectually-interesting. I respect people in vocations.

???

Where did you get the idea that I thought myself superior to a community college prof?
Plenty of community college profs are smart and worth listening to -- my debate coach was a part-time English prof at a local CC in Maine.

Centh

Hokey dokey, over 100 posts on this thread since yesterday.

May I suggest an alternate topic:

Why do children seem to be so self-centered and unappreciative? (Gross overgeneralizations may lead to flagellation in any forum). [Yes, I'm being sarcastic.]

Pizzagirl

When you used the word "nobodies" to describe being taught by cc professors.

You really don't have a clue how you come across, galoisien. You are truly oblivious to what's been pointed out to you by numerous people.

blankmind

Oy vey galoisien. We get all these ideas from reading your posts. Perhaps you would get the responses you desire if you post in some non-parent oriented forums, though somehow I don't think it would make much difference.