Anyone ever confused by your profession?

[prolixity]

I always receive the ubiquitous, "so what are the real-world applications?", when I talk about fs TAPPS spectroscopy of nanoparticles. For me, the joy isn't in making a better iPod, but in studying the physics involved. No one, I repeat, no one, outside of academia can understand this.

Certainly, we'll have better solar cells, new cancer treatments, better catalysts for the oxidation of water, superior biological dyes and protein sensors, etc.. but no one understands those either. The joy is in operating bad-ass laser systems. That's it.

[BlueSwedeShoes]

See, this says to me, "ROBOTS!" Yet for 'program,' you have listed "Human Factors."

Does not compute.

That's because that phrase is the big catch-all for "Cognitive Science". Indeed, some cognitive scientists do robots/AI, some do cognitive anthropology, or user design, or in my case, human factors (I'm still in a cogsci masters program though).

Also, like your name/post combo

[Sparky]

That's because that phrase is the big catch-all for "Cognitive Science". Indeed, some cognitive scientists do robots/AI, some do cognitive anthropology, or user design, or in my case, human factors (I'm still in a cogsci masters program though).

Ah, yes, I tend to forget that cogsci encompasses other subjects, because the pop cogsci I read deals almost entirely with AI (personal choice; I'm quite interested in robotics/AI). "Human Factors", on the other hand, sounds like a name for a rock band.

[jordy]

"Human Factors", on the other hand, sounds like a name for a rock band.

OMG it totally does!

On a more specific note, telling people I plan to study romantic relationships and sexuality usually induces one of four general responses: genuine fascination (followed by detailed sex questions), requests for relationship advice, scoffs, or ridiculously inappropriate jokes.

Though it makes for a helluvah pickup line, not gonna lie.

[(A)musing anthropologist]

This was inspired by a conversation that was had in another post. I thought it might be an interesting way to pass the time. Does anyone have misunderstandings about what you do for a living when you first introduce the subject? I've had the following conversations...

Unsuspecting Individual: So what do you do for a living?

Me: I'm an anthropologist.

Response A: Oh...dinosaurs are so cool!

Response B: So you like, work in Egypt digging up dead people, right?

Response C: Like Indiana Jones/Bones???

Response D: You're a young woman. I meant a real one...aren't their any older gentlemen around in the profession?

Most recent response from an old lady: What is an anthropologist? (at least she was honest!!)

Me: Well...it's the study of culture really. I study different cultures, and analyze the processes behind their behavior.

Old lady: Oh...Like in a hospital with sick people?

Me: (realizing the conversation is going nowhere) Something like that.

Yes, these were real responses! It's sometimes unbelievable. So what about you?

WOW, its like we are living the same life....

As a waitress in a small town, all of my regulars know about my schooling ups and downs (and most of them know my schedule... I think that gossip must be slow these days)....

most of the time I try to explain what it is I'm doing, but generally they are older (60-80yrs crowd) and I just let them ramble on about how I will be digging in the dirt, or playing with bones, and how so-and-so's grandson wanted to be an anthropologist but then had an epiphany that he wouldn't get anywhere in that field and decided to go to law school....it's a little depressing for me as none of these have anything to do with my sociocultural anth dreams....

I told one of my customers that I was applying to grad school (and where, and how much that might cost, and am I going to leave the restaurant? *gasp*, and what degree I am going for)

Stupidly I replied that I was going for my doctorate

this only elicited a look of confusion, as they exclaimed that "at least you will always have a job as a doctor"

I didn't bother to explain that I wasn't going to med school for my doctorate.....*sigh*

sometimes you just get tired of trying to explain your field and then trying to justify it to others (and yourself simultaneously)

[moralresearcher]

Me: I study theology.

Conservative Christian: So you want to teach?

I'm more surprised it's not also:

Conservative Christian: So you want to marry a preacher?

My interesting stories

Realtor: So what are you studying?

Me: Psychology, but I want to go to grad school to study moral decision making and social psych in general and become a professor.

Realtor: You must not have gotten out much in high school.

Person at my church/my dad: What do you want to study?

Me: Moral decision making. I want to understand why people decide to do things they know/believe to be wrong.

Person/dad: you don't need to study that--it's sin nature.

But my main go to is:

Person: What do you study?

Me: Psychology

Person: so you want to be a therapist?

Me: No. I have no patience/sympathy for crazies. I want to do research. (this response precludes them asking me to psychoanalyze them/their m-i-l/their dog/whomever)

Edited January 25, 2010 by moralresearcher

[Smaudge]

I haven't figured out a way to say, "We look for the underlying, universal patterns in human cognition by testing them cross-culturally," in a way that is interesting to non-academics.

But I love meeting a linguist; you guys get it right away.

oooOOOOooo I'm intrigued. Can you summarize a universal for me? It's good practice for when you meet linguists at a party... since that happens so often.

[repatriate]

oooOOOOooo I'm intrigued. Can you summarize a universal for me? It's good practice for when you meet linguists at a party... since that happens so often.

Hah, I meant you get it from "cognition and culture." I usually don't have to explain much more than that; linguists both a) understand both words and know why the two things might be interesting to investigate together.

But, basically, the particular orientation under which I work aims to discover patterns in cognition that are not culturally determined (kind of counterintuitive from the name). Linguistic universals/universal grammar would fall under this domain of inquiry, but it extends beyond that. An example that might be of particular interest for linguists is the development of theory of mind. A researcher in my field would ask, "Does theory of mind follow the same pattern of development regardless of cultural input?" A perhaps-less-interesting-to-linguists example might be to what extent men and women share the same mate preferences across cultures.

Does that answer the question well?

[i ought to add that the field as a whole is broader than this. Not everyone is looking for cognitive universals; some are interested in how cognition influences culture or how culture influences cognition.]

Edited January 25, 2010 by repatriate

[profound_g]

Person: "So what are you going to grad school for?"

...

*bangs head*

Yes.

Yes! This is my thread!...Hi-fives to all of the above.

And Yes.

And I love when people try to launch into a debate about Freud when the overwhelming majority of the field had discredited 95% of what he said/thought/wrote/believed/ate for lunch by the mid-1970s.

Ah. Finally. Someone who understands!

But it's worse here, because a. apparently the discreditedation (what, I can make up a word) hasn't arrived here. b. In people's minds Psychology = Clinical Psychology = Psychoanalysis = Freud = Couch. (With every '=' being wrong).

Edited January 25, 2010 by profound_g

[Smaudge]

Does that answer the question well?

I get the kind of questions you ask, but could you summarize an answer to one? I'm curious and universals are the best!

[skada]

Actually one might think with Engineering these things might be rare but not so.

RP: So what do you do ?

I: Control Engineering.

RP: & That is ... ?

I: Controlling machines and robotics.

RP: Have robots gone out of control ? I knew we shouldn't have trusted them..

others:

RP: When will we have flying cars ?

RP: I LOVE discovery channel/science fiction/Star Trek.

On grad school:

RP: I know because of recession job are low but you should wait...

Dad: Professor? Do they earn anything ?

Mom: Who will marry you ?

[Euphoria5L]

I'm not sure if this is misunderstanding or outright rejection :

"My friend's son studied philosophy. I think he's in the circus now."

Welcome to my life.

I actually dodge the question now. I tell them I study philosophy, and if they press further, I tell them my interests are in technical things that they won't really care about. If they continue, I start telling them about various technical things. I avoid saying 'metaphysics' completely.

Half the time they don't press further and will either express wide-eyed amazement or say something like "well, isn't philosophy just thinking? why do you need to go to school to do that?" The latter essentially involves me agreeing and asking them technical questions. It's fun.

[kroner]

Here are some responses for math.

"Ok what's 15 million divided by 73,426?"

"Do you want to be an actuary?"

and my personal favorite:

"But hasn't all the math been discovered already?"

[TMP]

I'm in history as well. Jewish history to be more specific.

Person: Grad school for what?

Me: Jewish history.

Person: You're going to be a rabbi?

Me:

I think the bigger catch is that I study the Holocaust as a broad theme

Person: So what kind of Jewish history?

Me: the Holocaust

Scenario A:

Person: *uncomfortable silence*

Me: Really, I'm okay with it. It should be talked about.

Scenario B:

Person: So, have you seen that article about Auschwitz sign being taken down? (or any other relevant recent article)

Me: Um, yeah, I read that.

Person: I think (states opinion). What do YOU think?

Me: Um, as a historian, or my personal opinion?

Person: As a historian.

Me: (explains from a historian's perspective)

Person: Wait a minute, you don't mean you don't really believe in that, don't you?

Me: I didn't say that I agree with it!

Person: But isn't it really terrible that Hitler killed millions of Jews?

(Then we get into a bit more political side of things)

Scenario C:

Person: OH! My parents/grandparents/cousins/etc. is a survivor! His/her story is just incredible!

Me: Uh-huh, so what's the story? (I've read sooo many stories that sometimes they blur together that it takes at least one distinct fact to make it unique for that survivor)

Person: He was deported in 1942, had to ride the cattle cars to Auschwitz/Treblinka/etc. It was horrible. The conditions were horrible (blah, blah, blah...)

Me: *nods along in rhythm*

Scenario D:

Old person (born before mid-1930s): Oh goodness gracious, the world MUST know about the terrible things that Hitler did to Jews. I'm so glad that a young person cares! What are you going to do with the degree? Teach? Whatever you do, make sure it gets told to the next generation. We were so shocked... we couldn't even talk about it....

Oh, the responsibility...

[Matilda_Tone]

As someone else has noted, people do generally know what history is- which does avoid some of the sorts of comments others seem to get.

On a more general level, I am sure we all get:

Person: What do you do?

Me: I’m a graduate student right now.

Person: Wait...so you LIKE school!?

My favourite more specific comment has been from my dear Mom, who isn’t terribly academic or interested in my area of study (Irish History).

Mom: How is your essay going?

Me: Alright. I think that I have decided to focus on Ulster this time.

Mom: Who is Ulster?

(Ulster= Northern Ireland, generally)

I nearly died laughing, which I suppose was a bit mean of me...but I couldn’t help but be amused.

The other thing one has to put up with in Irish history is EVERYONE in North America wanting to assert their Irishness.

I often have conversations like:

Person: What do you study?

Me: Irish history.

Person: Cool! My great-great-great-uncle’s cousin was Irish. And I have this awesome Celtic knotwork tattoo!

Edited January 30, 2010 by Matilda_Tone

[Infinite Monkeys]

I love this thread! And yes, as someone standing at the intersection of English and Religious Studies, I have also had to listen to my share of Dan Brown mania. No, I don't read his stuff, yes, I've seen the movie, no, I don't want to listen to you analyze it in depth and then ask me if I think you're right.

For background: Undergrad degree in both English and Religious Studies. Finishing MA in English, focusing on religion in America/American Lit, hoping to get into PhD in English, Religious Studies, or Comparative Studies.

Parent (reacting to undergrad degree): So, you're getting a degree in two useless subjects?

One of my family members: Are you ever going to have a real job? (Note: Never say this to a person who's just spent the last eight hours straight grading freshman essays. The reaction's just not pretty.)

Person: You're studying religion?

Me: Yes...

Option 1: You realize that Muslims/Catholics/Mormons/atheists/other random religious groups are evil and going to hell, right?

Me: *whimpers, because this usually devolves into me getting shouted at--they don't want an answer, they just want a setup to a screaming fit* (I had a period of about 8-10 months where I was told on at least a weekly basis that I was going to hell. Fun times.)

Option 2: They're trying to convert you!

Me: No, see, we're studying about a lot of religions; no one wants to convert me. (I got recruited for a Jewish sorority, but they only wanted to convert me into someone with an actual social life.)

Aaaaand because it's a repeating theme....

Option 3: So you're going to be a priest? You should really be a priest. You know so much about religion!

Me: Yes, and the semesters on Judaism, Hinduism, and Catholicism are going to do me so much good in the Episcopal Church, don't you think?

Or, for English:

Person: So, what're you studying in your MA program?

Me: The intersection of American religion and literature, specifically how the trends in religion affect our literature and the way literature reflects or critiques those trends.

Person (blank stare): So... you read books?

*headdesk* Yes. Yes I do.

[Moonrose]

I've gotten to the point where I explain my subfield within anthropology in order to cut off the usual comments about mummies and Bones and Indiana Jones. So now my conversations are like this:

Me: I study Shi'a Muslims in Lebanon.

Person A: Are they the good guys or the bad guys?

Me: ...

or

Me: I study Shi'a Muslims in Lebanon.

Person B: Wait, are you converting? Please tell me you're not converting!

Both of these responses conclude in a smackdown from myself. I think it's partially the area where my college is located, but... my other favorite is

Me: I study Shi'a Muslims in Lebanon.

Person C: So do you have to go there?

Me: I'd really like to. I've wanted to for years.

Person C: Don't go! You'll get blown up!

Oh, people. *shakes head*

[Slarti]

Here are some responses for math.

"Ok what's 15 million divided by 73,426?"

"Do you want to be an actuary?"

and my personal favorite:

"But hasn't all the math been discovered already?"

I usually hear "I'm terrible at math," or "Wow, I failed college algebra..."

My uncle keeps asking my parents when I'm going to change my mind and become a lawyer or a doctor and I've heard "You're smart, why don't you study ____" from other people more times than I can count.

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

I just tell people that I'm a graduate student and leave it at that. It's just too difficult to explain why I left a 6-figure career to go back to school.

[pea-jay]

When I tell people I am an Urban planner, too often I will get this:

1) So when are we going to get that Costco?

2) Why on earth are you allowing that (INSERT WRONG DEVELOPMENT IN WRONG JURISDICTION) to occur.

But my favorite was telling some I was in Grad school for Urban Planning and BEFORE I explained what one did, the person blurting out why on earth do you need so much schooling for that. I asked what do you mean and she said well arent you the guys that plant all those trees and mow the grass in the big cities?

Urban PlanTing? hahahah....

[The Pseudo grad student]

Well sadly enough it's not some much my profession as it is my major: Material Science and Engineering.

I say that whole entire line and what everyone EVERYONE gets from it is materials management. From there I have to explain that it is in no way related to that profession and next I have to explain what material science and engineering is which is so expansive in itself. Sometimes I hate my major just because I have to explain it everyone every time but then I like the fact that I can just lie about anything with it so it's a trade off. So, often conversation moves from disgust to confusion, it's getting to be frustrating. Maybe when I'm grad student I can finally define my major in a focus but for now I'm stuck to explaining it away...

[Marshall]

Most people don't even know what a paleontologist is. if they kinda do I usually get asked "ohhhhhh, like Ross?"

Wtf? I never onced watched friends and odds are, no. Not like ross.

[LadyL]

I just tell people "I study brains" (cognitive neuroscientist). Usually people bring up the latest article that made the news about brain research, which is ok because I keep up with that stuff and can chat about it. The one annoying thing is because there's been so much press about CAT scans and radiation, I get a lot of people asking me about how dangerous my work is and if I worry about the radiation exposure...except I work in MRI research where there is no radiation. It's amazing how the radiation paranoia persists even after you've explained several times that magnetic waves and radiation are different/unrelated. This has even happened with consented research participants, who have been told exactly that a billion times verbally and in writing.

[Sarah S.]

"So what are you going to graduate school for?"

"Primatology"

"What's that?"

"The study of primates"

"What's a primate?"

OR

"I don't believe we evolved from monkeys! Tell me they don't teach you that!"

Yes. Yes, my professors discuss how humans evolved from monkeys *facepalm*

Reminds me of my archaeology prof. Her daughter drew on the back of some of our homework assignments and our prof pointed out that she drew dinosaurs on everything. She said it was sad that her own daughter thinks archaeologists dig up dinosaur bones.

[moralresearcher]

Most people don't even know what a paleontologist is. if they kinda do I usually get asked "ohhhhhh, like Ross?"

Wtf? I never onced watched friends and odds are, no. Not like ross.

I'm certainly no paleontologist, but I did watch a lot of Friends, and Ross was a paleontologist. I doubt the portrayal was what one would call "accurate," (especially since he spent an awful lot of time talking about anthropology) but for the sake of ease, I would just say, "Yeah, like Ross."