Academic (or other) backgrounds of AH denizens

[Zootonius]

College dropout computer programmer here. If it counts for anything, my wife has an Ivy League M.D. i.e, the brains here.

 

[XerXesXu]

As a legacy of a period during the property boom, when I was a member of a property flipping syndicate, I have City and Guild Level 4 Award in the Design and Verification of Electrical Installations. I used to design and sign-off the electrical work. Other members of the syndicate had self-certifying construction qualifications in other areas.

Otherwise, LLB, Bar Part 2, LLM (Intellectual Property), BSc(Cog Sci).

 

[Kumquatqueen]

Two masters and a PhD in something like molecular biology. It kinda shows in my I Say Ass series, where characters meet up at science conferences - and, so far, are less debauched than real life.

My elderly godmother (born 1905) concluded that in the 21st century all young women did 'something in biology' and all young men did 'something in computing', which was close enough to true for everyone she knew.

 

[EmilyMiller]

Two masters and a PhD in something like molecular biology. It kinda shows in my I Say Ass series, where characters meet up at science conferences - and, so far, are less debauched than real life.

My elderly godmother (born 1905) concluded that in the 21st century all young women did 'something in biology' and all young men did 'something in computing', which was close enough to true for everyone she knew.

Hello - vaguely kindred spirit here - though less qualified.



Em

 

[EmilyMiller]

Two masters and a PhD in something like molecular biology. It kinda shows in my I Say Ass series, where characters meet up at science conferences - and, so far, are less debauched than real life.

My elderly godmother (born 1905) concluded that in the 21st century all young women did 'something in biology' and all young men did 'something in computing', which was close enough to true for everyone she knew.

I did some work on AT2, but my group got scooped on the structure. As I’ve said before. I was just “the help”.

Em

 

[Comshaw]

Education is important, but formal education as a "must have" is a flawed concept. Formal education is only a start. All it does is give a person a leg up, puts them on a particular path. It really has nothing to do with intelligence, other than requiring the basic minimum needed to understand the subject matter. Self-education, continuing education, the drive to learn, to absorb information, are more important than any formal classes. Formal classes should do one thing, teach us how to learn. One of my all-time favorite authors (and a very educated man) put it this way:




Comshaw

 

[Seadog777]

I have a 130 IQ and never spent a single second in a college course.
I joined the Navy instead of college and have no regrets.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Bachelor of Civil Engineering. That's needed for working in local government, where you really want to be uncivil and yell at stupid people.

Failed 2nd year uni statistics twice. That influenced my "We're sluts for stats" story.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Well, there's a difference between nerds and geeks.

A STEMmer can be a nerd, but a STEMmer is almost always a geek.

I am a proud nerd, though I can barely deal with fractions.

I think I get it, but how would you define a nerd versus a geek?

 

[gunhilltrain]

Bachelor of Civil Engineering. That's needed for working in local government, where you really want to be uncivil and yell at stupid people.

Failed 2nd year uni statistics twice. That influenced my "We're sluts for stats" story.

I love that title. I should read it, maybe tomorrow.

 

[Rustyoznail]

Please do. I wrote it for last year's Geek pride event, but it didn't get a lot of traction.
https://literotica.com/s/were-sluts-for-stats

 

[Voboy]

I think I get it, but how would you define a nerd versus a geek?

Both are obsessive about whatever it is they're obsessive about, but geeks tend to be more data-driven, more number-oriented, and more tech-savvy.

 

[gunhilltrain]

Both are obsessive about whatever it is they're obsessive about, but geeks tend to be more data-driven, more number-oriented, and more tech-savvy.

That's sort of what I was thinking, although the terms overlap (at least to me). "Geek" is about having certain knowledge while "nerd" is more about social skills.

 

[Duleigh]

I majored in English, because I had fun with it. I was burning off my GI Bill (People should hit the workforce THEN go to college!)
What did I do?
1. Certified Aircraft Mechanic (weapons systems and defensive systems) 20 years
2. MS Office Trouble Shoot & Repair, Instructor (Word, Excel, PowerPoint ) 5 years (self educated)
3. Conditional Access engineer (I made sure you got your subscribed channels on your cable box and got billed for them) 18 years (self educated)

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I think I get it, but how would you define a nerd versus a geek?

The first definition I met was 'geeks are nerds with basic social skills who know how to wash.'

Though some people use them the other way round, eg the lovely team of Festival of the Spoken Nerd.

 

[jaykaythree]

I joined the Navy instead of college and have no regrets.

My thanks for your service.

 

[PennameWombat]

OK - so, based on an admittedly limited data-set, all male AH people are electrical engineers, who knew?

Em

BS and MS in Computer Science. But that was after a roaming tour of various majors.

I started out considering something in either anthropology or history (since I hadn’t settled on which era) was of strong consideration. Writing essays and papers there was where I initially honed some writing skills (I’d taken typing classes in high school, because (as I’ve mentioned here) my WWII veteran father said “learn to type, the Army always needs clerks.”) But an earnest discussion with a newly-minted history professor at my university, where he told me he was one of over a hundred applicants, all with PhDs and publications, finally convinced me on something on the STEM side. I passed through Architecture getting to Comp Sci.

My professional life has been in and around software engineering and systems engineer/tech sales roles. I learned more than I care to recall about IP law in being an inventor or co-inventor on a few tens worth of patents.

 

[BobbyBrandt]

OK - so, based on an admittedly limited data-set, all male AH people are electrical engineers, who knew?

Em

Throwing off your curve data a bit: Undergrad degree in education, Masters degree in theology.

 

[oneagainst]

gunhilltrain said:
I think I get it, but how would you define a nerd versus a geek?
Both are obsessive about whatever it is they're obsessive about, but geeks tend to be more data-driven, more number-oriented, and more tech-savvy.

At the risk of establishing a recursive loop: given that this appears to be nerd-sniping (https://xkcd.com/356/) I'd say nerds are the ones who care about this definition, whereas geeks have something more fascinating to occupy them??

 

[oneagainst]

I have a 130 IQ and never spent a single second in a college course.
I joined the Navy instead of college and have no regrets.

I've never had my IQ measured. Does this mean my IQ is literally off the charts?

(don't forget to tip your waitress, and do try the veal)

 

[Bramblethorn]

BSc (Hons), STEMM-related PhD, worked in a few different R&D-related jobs since then. I won't give too much potentially-identifying info here, but some of my academic interests show up in my stories, and I helped build a thing that gets in the news occasionally.

(Not, thankfully, for catching fire or driving into walls. So far.)

 

[Bramblethorn]

Two masters and a PhD in something like molecular biology. It kinda shows in my I Say Ass series, where characters meet up at science conferences - and, so far, are less debauched than real life.

My elderly godmother (born 1905) concluded that in the 21st century all young women did 'something in biology' and all young men did 'something in computing', which was close enough to true for everyone she knew.

And then computational biology came along and that's why we have nonbinary people now!

 

[AlinaX]

Maths, physics, mechanical engineering. Self-taught computing. Once did an amateur writing course. Absolutely a nerd. Calculus is fun.

 

[Tayloroc]

I've never had my IQ measured. Does this mean my IQ is literally off the charts?

(don't forget to tip your waitress, and do try the veal)

lol! Well put

 

[EmilyMiller]

I've never had my IQ measured. Does this mean my IQ is literally off the charts?

(don't forget to tip your waitress, and do try the veal)

IQ is utter bunk.

Em