Anyone ever confused by your profession?

[Marshall]

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."

I have no desire to enable =).

[Tiglath-Pileser III]

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.

When I told people I was doing a degree in archaeology, I got "ohhhh, like Indiana Jones?"

I've never fallen in a temple full of snakes, never had to out run a boulder, don't carry a bull whip, and don't even wear a funky hat. No, I am the boring kind of archaeologist who spends all his time in the library scouring journals. Perhaps, I'm missing out on something.

[cheekymonkey]

Generally people don't know what Bioengineering is, which is understandable as it's a pretty new field, comparatively. So they ask. What bothers me is that I can never get more than 10 words into an explanation without their eyes glazing over. This makes me sad, because if they would listen for two seconds they would realize that this field affects their lives.

Person: What are you studying?

Me: Biomedical engineering.

Person: What is that?

Me. Well, there are actually many different things that bioengineers do, including medical devices, tissue engineering, drug deliv-

Person. Right. *change the subject*

[geodrake]

Haha. One of my good friends/roommates in college was a geography major, and though we knew the gist of what geography is about (and some of us had even taken a few classes in it), we still reveled in teasing him about being a map-maker/cartographer ("You know, I hate to tell you this, but I think they've already mapped out the whole world...") and for his bad sense of direction. But only because it irritated him and drove him to insist that geography was not about maps. (Duh.)

However, his argument was always undermined when he'd run home all excited after a number of hours in the GIS lab: "Look at the map I made!"

Ya know, speaking as one, it's sad how many Geography majors are direction-impaired (we should do a study, come to think of it... oooo). What's sadder is I was completely with your buddy (it's not about making maps dammit!) until you pointed out how excited we get about making a really cool map *hangs head in shame*. We all do it and we don't even realize it! You got us, I guess it is about the maps *sigh*. But they're different honest!

As for comments..

Me: I'm a geography major

RP: Oh, geology's so fascinating

Me: *grrrrr*

Me: I'm a geography major

RP: What's the GNP of Zimbabwe (sorry, I could care less. Where's Zimbabwe anyways? Africa, right?)

Me: I'm a geography major

RP: What's the capital of Morocco?

Me: I have no idea, I suck at place names

RP: And you call yourself a geographer?!??

Me: Hi, I'm a geography graduate student and I wanted to find out about the biology graduate minor

Head of Biology: Geology you say?

Me: geography

HoB: Why would a geologist be interested in biology?

Me: as a geography major I'm interested in biogeography and landscape ecology

HoB: You're looking at soil creation?

Me: no, I'm looking at the spatial relationship of various biota

HoB: I didn't know geologists are interested in biota. Well, do you even know what biology is?

Me: I was 3 classes away from a B.S. in Genetics from Texas A&M before I had to move

HoB: Oh, you're practically a biologist anyways then. *pauses in thought* Did you say geography major? Oh, well then...

Me: *silently smacking HoB upside the head on the ethereal plane* (NOW he heard me?!??)

[Diverchica]

On my undergrad major:

OP: What are you studying?

Me: Wildlife Conservation

OP: Oh so you're going to be a forest ranger, like Smokey the Bear!

Or

OP: Wait, but you eat meat. You went HUNTING?! How dare you call yourself a conservationist!

On my grad studies

Me: Coastal Management/marine science

OP: I always wanted to swim with the dolphins... Or be a dolphin trainer! You should do that! Or wait, you won't make much money doing that, why do you need a grad degree?

Me:

Edited March 9, 2010 by Diverchica

[HFSteph]

When people ask me what I am going to go for graduate school and I tell them Human Factors Psychology, I explain it as a mixture of computer science, psychology, and a hint of economics (decision making). Uh, they look at me like I have three heads or ask how that can be a combination - then I go into my interests in Usability and making things more usable. I am not sure if they understand me or are just trying to get me to stop talking.

[Mmphln]

I'm in Communications so I get a lot of confusion. Usually people think that means I work with computers or repair phone lines, or do media relations, or PR...

Which technically, any of those I could do within the field. Instead, I study television

[opapotamus]

Usually goes something like this:

Person: Soooo what are you going to study in grad school?!

Me: Geophysics.

Person: Geo-huh?

Me: It's like geology and physics... COMBINED!

Person: Oh! Ok!

Somehow that always seems to be an acceptable response, though I'm about 90% sure my answer didn't clear anything up.

Edited March 25, 2010 by opapotamus

[lorax]

I get to explain the difference between school psychologists vs. school counselors, which seems like a small difference but actually matters a lot (to me!).

School counselor: NOT a psychologist, NOT trained to handle psychometric instruments, NOT trained for therapy, usually a certified teacher with further training, generally doesn't go beyond Master's, doesn't do research. Practices within schools only. Addresses career counseling, vocational assessments, behavior management, education and awareness, and referrals among many other services.

School psychologist: Certified school psychologist, as well as a registered psychology associate or psychologist with the provincial regulatory body (at least in Canada), trained to handle psychometric instruments, can provide therapy, is an MA or PhD, is NOT necessarily a certified teacher, more likely to be involved in research. Practices in schools but also in hospitals, jails, clinics, social service areas or private practice. Addresses psych/psychoeducational assessment, group/individual therapy, consultation, education and awareness measures, education planning and sometimes deals with unrelated work that they are not trained for because people are confused about their exact roles.

Oh well, they get paid about the same so most people aren't terribly interested in the distinction.

Edited March 25, 2010 by lorax

[Sarah S.]

I get to explain the difference between school psychologists vs. school counselors, which seems like a small difference but actually matters a lot (to me!).

School counselor: NOT a psychologist, NOT trained to handle psychometric instruments, NOT trained for therapy, usually a certified teacher with further training, generally doesn't go beyond Master's, doesn't do research. Practices within schools only. Addresses career counseling, vocational assessments, behavior management, education and awareness, and referrals among many other services.

School psychologist: Certified school psychologist, as well as a registered psychology associate or psychologist with the provincial regulatory body (at least in Canada), trained to handle psychometric instruments, can provide therapy, is an MA or PhD, is NOT necessarily a certified teacher, more likely to be involved in research. Practices in schools but also in hospitals, jails, clinics, social service areas or private practice. Addresses psych/psychoeducational assessment, group/individual therapy, consultation, education and awareness measures, education planning and sometimes deals with unrelated work that they are not trained for because people are confused about their exact roles.

People confusing these two has always been a pet peeve of mine and it's not even my focus.

[oldlady]

Me: I'm getting my degree in Organizational Behavior.

Friend: Does this mean that you get to teach organizations how to behave or figure out why they don't?

Edited March 26, 2010 by oldlady

[remixed486]

To the other cognitive science people here...I CAN TOTALLY RELATE TO ALL THOSE RESPONSES! After awhile, I too began just saying that I "study brains"...but then I either scared people off or got the same responses psychologists get: "so you probably know what I'm thinking right now, right?" or "so you want to be a psychiatrist?"

I can't wait to hear people's responses when I tell them I'll be getting my PhD in Communication Disorders! Hahaha. I think it'll be easier to explain since my program does more translational stuff (and therefore I can provide a real-world application for my research, woo hoo!)

[ootg]

Well, many people actually confuse chemists (pharmacists) with laboratory chemists. Thankfully, I've left that behind...

[Strangefox]

Oh, another great old thread!

[repatriate]

I had another of these moments recently....

Neighbor: What do you study?

Me: Psychology of religion

Neighbor: Oh, then my prayer came true! I prayed for a good Christian neighbor.

I didn't want to lie or to disappoint her (I'm an atheist), so I just stared blankly until the topic changed. Probably could have handled it better, but I was totally not expecting that response.

[Zouzax]

whenever i say "linguistics", I ALWAYS get the blank stare. Then, when I try to explain what it is, I always get the inevitable, 'So, how many languages do you know?"

THEN, I'm left explaining the fact that I've studied many languages, but some of them I can just read, while some I actually speak. Watch as their eyes glaze over during this.....

or, if their eyes don't glaze over after this question, I always get the inevitable next question ... "Soo... what are you planning to do with this degree?". Once i explain THAT, anyone who was sticking with the conversation falls off.

[balderdash]

Frankly, I'd rather a blank stare than the conversation I usually have:

"What do you study?"

"Political Science."

[Cue half-hour rant on bleeding-heart liberals/soulless conservatives.]

When you give people the word "politics," they immediately think they know what you're talking about because they watch The O'Reilly Factor or Keith Olbermann. It's not what Poli Sci is about. At all. Especially given that my focus is on the theory of the state and the international relations of sub-Saharan Africa.

[m.giugno]

A: "So, what do you study?"

B: "I'm an Aerospace Engineer."

A: "So you're an astronaut! When are you likely to go on Mars!Cool!"

HOPELESS

[Ludwig von Dracula]

Geez, totally. Maybe 3% of people in the world have some clue what ethnomusicology is. Most in this category ask me if I can play the sitar (nope). The people I study are actually right here in North America, and they don't have any "weird" musical instruments. "So why study them?" Aargh. "What are you going to do with an ethnomusicology degree?" Don't remind me.

For the majority, I usually say it's like musical anthropology, or studying what people actually do with music, or how music intersects with culture, that sort of thing. Or I just tell people that I'm in music if I don't feel like watching eyes glaze over...

[coffeecoffeebuzzbuzz]

Person: So is that a book for one of your classes?

Me: Yes, I am studying Remote Sensing

Person: Wow, that's great. There really aren't very many classes on psychic astral projection (ie new age reference)

Me: Um... this class is actually about using the reflectance patterns of light and heat to classify landscape patterns and changes in vegetation using things like satellites, lasers, and multispectral photography...

[matilda]

Other: So, what do you study.... haven't you graduated?

Me: I am doing double masters. That is after you do your undergraduate.

Other: But, why two masters? In what?

Me: Chemistry and pharmacy.

Other: So, you are going to work in a pharmacy!!!

Me: No, I study about pharmacology, and pharmacokinetics,,

Other: You are confusing me even more. Why don't you get married and have children (here comes the peep talk like in "My big fat greek wedding").....

...........................

Other: And, what do you do?

Me: I work as Drug Regulatory Affairs Manager.

Other: ............(confused face...) That is ....what....and where?

Me: I basically work in a pharmaceutical company.

Other: So, you sell drugs? From door to door (nobody does that anymore:)) Do people let you get in their house??

Edited December 18, 2010 by matilda

[repatriate]

Person: So is that a book for one of your classes?

Me: Yes, I am studying Remote Sensing

Person: Wow, that's great. There really aren't very many classes on psychic astral projection (ie new age reference)

Me: Um... this class is actually about using the reflectance patterns of light and heat to classify landscape patterns and changes in vegetation using things like satellites, lasers, and multispectral photography...

Haha, nice! I had a similar experience with a book called "Mindreading" (psychology speak for thinking about what other people are thinking).

[neuropsych76]

How is it that people can't figure out that maybe, *just maybe*, there's more to a field than their tiny little ignorant idea of it? Just because your roommate's girlfriend's cousin's frat brother's uncle slept through an intro course 25 years ago and got a D- does NOT mean you know what you're talking about when you trash someone's line of work.

*RANT OVER*

Sorry, I know we're trying to keep it light, but some of these stories are just so rude and disrespectful.

I get this all the time with psychology. The general public's perception of psychology is a combination of Freud, psychobabble, couches, and the perception that psychology is easy.

It's interesting to note that when I tell people I'm applying to cognitive neuroscience programs or experimental psychology programs I get completely different responses even though they are the same thing for me.

[Sheepi]

Person: So, what are you studying?

Me: Neuroscience.

Person: So, you study the brain. Are you going to be a neurologist?

Me: No, I just want to do research in a lab.

Person: You want to experiment on small, defenseless animals all day!??!?!

Me: No? I want to cure your brain cancer. D:

[warpspeed]

No. I don't dig up dinosaurs. I study people. Dead people. Yes, I excavate cemetaries. No, they still have skin. Yes, they're dead. No, there's no dinosaurs.

This is the definition of my field:

http://www.mcsweeney...dreamjobs3.html

Edited January 5, 2011 by warpspeed