I''m sorry, but why are so many people here upset because there are people that act there age. Yes, they are acting there age. I started down the road of programming myself to death, but that''s no fun. Life has so much more to offer, than just computers and money. One day most of you will wake up and see that you wasted a large chunk of your life. Youth is the time to make friends and build up the long lasting relationships that you are going to have. Just because you decide to skip this, does not mean you have the right to bash people that choose not to. To many people on this board think they are better than everyone else. You may know a lot more about computers, but life is more than just computers.

Domini

BTW, the last message was not just directed at the original poster, but young computer people in general.

Domini

Quote from Zipster
---------------------------------------------------------
All those ppl who say"oh, the problem is with kill. He's just a snub..." are probably either 1) one of those dumb morons he's talking about and don't like to be insulted,
---------------------------------------------------------

I got straight A's in highschool and am doing so expceptional in college that I am still being given awards and more money, on top of my full scholarship from the school, and Science and technology scholarship from the state.

---------------------------------------------------------
or 2) live in a upper class community with a bunch of rich geniouses. You can'e tell kill he's wrong because he is 100% right. I know first hand.
---------------------------------------------------------
I live in a middle class community with average people.

Edited by - Domini on 4/24/00 6:57:51 PM

Listen, I hate a stupid moron as much as the next guy ... as a matter of fact, I despise ''em ... but each to his own, right? Who are we to say where and in what communities stupid or smart people live? Who are we to say that kill is a snob or genius?

This thread certainly brought out a lot of interesting opinions, but many of you are a little quick to jump to conclusions. I mean, what difference does it really make, so long as WE all know that we''re smart? =)

Alex
Atypical Interactive
www.atypical-interactive.com

life is what you make of it. quit bitching, and keep in mind, everything that happens to you IS your own god damn fault.

-goltrpoat


--
Float like a butterfly, bite like a crocodile.

What we''re all taking to be stupidity is, IMHO, just immaturity. And it''s present everywhere. Smart people aren''t exempt. Example 1: I''m aquianted with a senior who will be going to MIT next year. He''s fluent in 3 languages, and is cosidered practically a genius. He is also one of the most annoying people I know. I can''t hold an intelligent conversation with him. Example 2: I''m lucky enough to be going to (arguably) one of the best high-schools in NJ. Our average SAT scores are higher than anyone in our area. out of 400-500 people that take the entrance exam, 200-250 make it. Most of them are ''smart people.'' Guess what? Most of them are obsessed with sex, and can''t wait to get wasted over the week-end. I''ve come to the conclusion that at the high-school level, being intelligent is not ''cool.''

I''m certainly not a great coder, but I am a capable one. Unfortunatly my school offers very little in the way of programming. The only course available to me was a QBasic course, but I figured "What the hell, why not?" and I took it. Oops. Despite the high intellicts that we have in our school, no one could pick any of it up. They just didn''t care in the slightest. And if you knew what was going on, you were weird, and automatically a computer nerd. Partly because I didn''t feel like taking a bunch of crap, and mostly because I couldn''t stand the teacher, I basically slept through the entire course, and still managed to finish with a perfect score. Our term project was a text adventure, and after convincing my teacher to let me code it in C, I wrote a basic 3D engine.

I''ve been rambling, but my point is, I go to a school full of intelligent people, and I have yet to find someone to carry out an intelligent conversation with. In fact, the only people I''ve had intelligent conversations with have been people over the age of 20. Damn. Can''t wait to get to colledge =]

-Lutrosis

Well, I didn''t have a very good time in high school either, until I took over tech support for the school (apparently the 48 other kids in my farming community class thought I could do something bad to their grades or schedules if they messed with me after my sophomore year. I could have but I''m not the vengeful type) I''m not complaining, I think it taught me to be a better person. I''ve realized a few things since then, that I hope might help some of you guys out.
First off don''t be bitter for the rest of your life about it. There''s no point, and it will drive away people who DO want to be your friend. You were treated badly. Lots of people were. Get over it.
Second, be friendly to everyone. Even if it is that one guy who is just gross... this doesn''t mean you have to fawn on them, just don''t treat people badly or ignore them because they don''t seem "cool" to you. The people who bag groceries have feelings too. Thank them. Open the door for somebody with their hands full. Most people who are worth being friends with will flock to someone who is kind and friendly.
Be a little nuts. I was painfully shy in high school, until my junior year. Then I basically decided that the whole sanity thing wasn''t working for me. Crack jokes, do crazy (though not stupid) things, don''t be disruptive to the point of getting detention, but my teachers would even banter with me. Most people are self-conscious, don''t think it''s just you. Rise above it.
Go outside sometimes. The big yellow shiny thing in the sky won''t hurt you. Wander to the mall or a park. Say hi to the people you know... if you''re brave say hi to people you don''t know. Join a club.
In college, you have a clean slate. Decide who you are and who you want to become. Follow through with it. I found a group of relatively crazy brilliant people to hang out with, we blew up dry ice bombs under the interstate, jammed in a band, made potato guns, played capture the flag in the middle of the night in full cammo on the school commons, and basically had a blast. I eventually married one of them. *grin* Nobody knows who you were in high school, nor will they care. Don''t leave yourself back there.

-fel

It seems like you people have different opinions on what a friend is.

I have my share of friends.... I try not to pick them by judging their intelligence or looks.... sometimes I still do it and later hit myself on the head and try to repair the damage.

Why do we exclude people that are called nerds or geeks? Is it because they don''t try to "fit in" or simply becase they don''t know how to do just that??

I have a few friends that were called nerds/geeks/whatever... actualy I have yet to find a bad person among geeks. Most of them try to fit in. They are not trying coz they feel like it would be OK for them they trs simply so they would be accepted as they are. Their problem is that they don''t know how to fit. Fredric gave a perfect example. The "nerd" is himself when alone with him. He knows that he doesn''t have to play cool with Friedric so he''s just being himself. When others are around that same person trys to hard to impress Friedric''s friends so they would like him too. With trying to hard he actually achieves the oposite thing. Most of the time people like this just need a little guidance and help. They will never ask for it (yes even geeks have their pride even if it hurts them) but believe me if somebody is willing to let them know what they are doing wrong they will certainly open up and listen and that is what friendship is all about.

One of my best friends is a strange person. I don''t have much to talk about with him, we have very different looks on life. The point is that he is always willing to listen to what I say even though he might completely disagree. If he does disagree he tells me so from his point of view never putting me or my views down he simply accepts them and trys to present me his point of view so I understand him. Another thing I like with him is that I can actually take a long walk with him (through the woods for example) and we can both be quiet for a long time yet somehow I never get bored of it. It amazed even me when I found it out. I was actualy able to do nothing with him and not get bored doing it.

OK let me finish with a quote:
"When you plant lettuce, if it does not grow well, you don''t blame the lettuce.  You look for reasons it is not doing well.  It may need fertilizer, or more water, or less sun.  You never blame the lettuce. Yet if we have problems with our friends or family, we blame the other person. But if we know how to take care of them, they will grow well, like the lettuce.  Blaming has no positive effect at all, nor does trying to persuade using reason and argument. That is my experience.  No blame, no reasoning, no argument, just understanding. If you understand, and you show that you understand, you can love, and the situation will change."
Thich Nhat Hanh
Vietnamese Zen Master