Math majors vs. athletes

<p>

</p>

<p>Yes, it was the second corniest line in your post.</p>

<p>Sorry to revive an old thread.</p>

<p>I have nonexistent background in psychology, and am curious whether there is some psychological basis for the generally indisputable fact that good mathematicians are unathletic and “nerdy.” i.e. something like, are those who are psychologically disposed to mathematics so introverted that they do not care for extroverted activities like athletics? I kinda just threw out that statement; correct me if I am wrong.</p>

<p>well one reason why it seems like only the skinny, unathletic people do math is simply because they are unatheletic. If you are not strong or well-built, there is very little motivation to try and succeed in a sport that requires physical strength (football, basketball, etc.). This causes them to try to succeed in areas that are completely unaffected by physical strength - like math. </p>

<p>On the other side, if your strong, well-built, and generally good looking, there is a lot of pressure to be good at sports and atheletics. Factor in the media, fcking hockey moms, and society in general, and you got yourself someone who believes that succeeding in sports is the way for them to be popular and well accepted among peers. Its definitely psychological - if all the other atheletic guys are doing sports and getting all the girls, you would be pressured to do so too. Any wisp of interest in academics pretty much disappears when all you need to do is be ripped to be popular and liked.</p>

<p>sorry double post!</p>

<p>I also want to mention that it is similar to the psychology of good-looking and not-so-good-looking guys. People often act according to the way they physically look. I mentioned that atheletic guys are naturally drawn to sports while their polar opposites look for something unathletic to enjoy. </p>

<p>Do you guys notice how girls sometimes (or maybe often) complain about how all the “hot guys” are jerks while all the “average/ugly guys” are nice? Guys with good looks and physical shape know that regardless of the way they treat others, many girls (albeit very shallow ones) will still gloat over them simply because they are good-looking. Arrogance is also a factor - if your good-looking and surrounded by girls, less influential guys look lame and stupid to you. </p>

<p>On the other side of the coin, guys that are not good-looking as celebrities know that they are at a disadvantage in their appearance so they have to make up for their appearance by positioning themselves with better personalities. I.E being nicer and polite when treating girls because girls like nice guys in general.</p>

<p>this thread is old, but i’d like to say . . .</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>it sometimes can be misleading to compare squat numbers because people don’t do the motion the same way. </p>

<p>if you squat like an olympic lifter, you can’t lift as much weight as someone who only moves his butt down 8".</p>

<p>even if you do do a full squat, 250lb isn’t a tremendous amount of weight, but it certainly isn’t something that the average person can just pick up and do.</p>

<p>I grew up overseas. Athletics were organized by the township, not the school, and there was no noticible correlation between popularity in school and athletic involvement outside. The science students did sports recreationally like everyone else, but few if any were hardcore athletes or interested in watching sports on tv or attending big sports events. My conclusion: peer pressure / misguided messages by society do not explain why math majors are not interested in athletics. What’s so interesting about watching grown men chase after a ball anyway?</p>

<p>I thought this thread would be about a new Japanese game show. What a disappointment.</p>

<p>Ron Artest is a math major.</p>

<p>Trent Reznor studied computer engineering, and he’s ripped like paper:</p>

<p><a href=“http://beattrend.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/05/slarge.jpg[/url]”>beattrend.com;

<p>

</p>

<p>that rules. ron artest rules.</p>

<p>@collegebound_guy</p>

<p>I don’t agree with your post at all. In my high school most of the people in my higher level classes (AP Calc for instance) were athletes, about half of the class. </p>

<p>In my college classes now, theres these two guys that are extremely jacked and are into track and field for the Big 10 and one is an engineering major and the other Pre Med.</p>

<p>I don’t buy collegebound_guy’s arguments. Quite apart from the fact that my personal experience has been completely different, I don’t think he made a logical link between doing sports and not doing math.</p>

<p>EDIT: I seem to remember a Rockies player a few years ago who was a math major. And of course there’s Ron Artest :)</p>

<p>Ron Artest doesn’t seem like a smart guy to me. He doesn’t strike me as someone with a high enough IQ to handle a real math major. I could be wrong here. He was only at St.Johns for two years. I wonder how far along he was in his “math major” and what kind of grades he made in classes like linear algebra and real analysis. My guess is that he never took those classes and spent the greater part of his time in college taking remedial math courses. If anyone can find out more information about Artest’s academic career, that would certainly be interesting. Forgive me for being skeptical. </p>

<p>A math major is difficult at any school. It takes a lot of time and commitment. Playing sports also takes a lot of time and commitment. Doing both at the same time is probably overkill for most kids. There is not enough time for both. </p>

<p>Additionally, if you are an athletic recruit with borderline academic statistics, you will be competing in the classroom with students who are significantly smarter than you are. Math majors are usually some of the top students in terms of intellectual quality. Lower academic ability (IQ) combined with a rigorous athletic schedule and tough competition (in the classroom) makes pursuing a math major a highly dubious economic decision. Math is a challenge even for smart athletes with high academic ability.</p>

<p>I’m not surprised that many athletes choose not to major in math.</p>

<p>Newsflash, math nerds: being in shape improves mental prowess and significantly benefits your health. Get away from the computer and go play foursquare or something.</p>

<p>If it’s between “being popular and athletic” or “being a reclusive math nerd” do you really expect anyone to seek out the latter?</p>

<p>for those who doubt Ron Artest’s math capability</p>

<p>[Celebrity</a> Video | TMZ.com](<a href=“Videos, Full Episodes & Clips | TMZ”>Videos, Full Episodes & Clips | TMZ)</p>

<p>There are at least five appplied math majors on the baseball team at Princeton this past year. I don’t think it is “indisputable” that people who are good at math are unathletic or nerdy. If only 1 of 100 people is a college-level athlete and 1 of 100 is a potential college math major, then it is not surprising that is is hard to find mathematician-athletes. But they are out there.</p>

<p>

</p>

<p>There are three types of mathematicians: ones who can count and ones who can’t.</p>

<p>well there sure aren’t any guys at my (high school) who are good at math and athletic… hope to meet some in college though ;)</p>

<p>ok…you guys throw out completely unverifiable anecodotal evidences. Just because a number of people you know have math-atheleticism combinations doesn’t mean its true for most other people. And so what if half the people in your calc class were atheletes? Did most of them enjoy math or go on to complete a math degree in college?</p>

<p>People tend to play up their strengths and downplay their weaknesses. Naturally skinny and small-built people have less motivation to pursue sports and they are already miles behind someone who already has the physical strength and only needs to actually practice their sport. So what do unatheletic students end up doing? Definitely not playing sports for their school. </p>

<p>Again, our society pressures people to be good-looking, athletic, and glorifies celebrities and atheletes. It makes it look like the only way to make a lot of money in life is to be a reality star or athelete. So young people end up trying to be good at athletics. Be honest - do the smart and intelligent students in the school get the most respect?</p>

<p>

My question is simple: why would someone with athletic ability not major in math?</p>