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Computer Science Personality Disorder?

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Computer Science Personality Disorder?

#1

Post by academictemp »

I'm an academic in CS. I'm constantly frustrated with the way people in my community behave (I call it computer science personality disorder).

It feels like so many academics in my community are competing to be that stereotypical "genius non-personable guy who just doesn't realize he's rude." Don't get me wrong, these people are smart. But they're not geniuses -- mostly just above average guys LARPing as Sheldon Cooper. I sometimes wonder whether the CS community would be better off with people half as smart but twice as collaborative and supportive.

Is this everyone else's experience?

Re: Computer Science Personality Disorder?

#4

Post by nullindividual »

IT is a profession that attracts that type of personality. From autism to assholes. "Technically correct" is the best kind of correct for technology. Technology is an often "exacting" science in the eyes of those individuals even when it isn't exacting, it's just their strongly held preference or belief.

If you go into the profession, you will not be able to avoid it in a corporate environment. If it isn't something you feel you could handle and burn your way through, consider small teams, non-IT companies, or consulting/running your own business.

But these kind of people exist in every profession as do autistic individuals and assholes. It's part of being an adult and improving your interpersonal skills.

There have been many lone wolves who have created great things in our world. Don't discount them. You would not be "better off".

Re: Computer Science Personality Disorder?

#5

Post by sircastor »

It’s not CS, it’s the world. You go into any industry and you’ll find jerks that assert their power by correcting and out-explaining someone else. It’s even become a popular gendered concept: mansplaining.

It feels like there are more in tech, but I think that’s just a side effect of tech being a space where a lot of genius things have happened in the last 100 years. You’d get as many guys trying to outdo one another at a fishing expo, their expertise is just in a different area.

LARPing as Sheldon Cooper is a fantastic turn of phrase.

Re: Computer Science Personality Disorder?

#6

Post by zero-sharp »

Sounds like they didn't pass a high enough filter. It's easy to have a high impression of yourself when you didn't actually compete. I remember having conversations with roommates and people in my classes about how hard so and so works, how you would always find them in their office, how we would get emails from this or that professor in the middle of the night, etc. My guess is that most people don't see how competitive academics can be. Without that visibility, people form inflated (egotistical) attitudes.

Re: Computer Science Personality Disorder?

#7

Post by academictemp »

joeroeg wrote: post #3

This is very interesting could you please describe your experience in more detail? What was the turning point that made you want to share this idea here?

Mostly just repeated observations of my peers. It's kind of hard to articulate an exact experience other than general rudeness and sneering but I'll give it a shot.

Recently, a colleague of mine was presenting their work. Another colleague with CSPD (comp. sci. personality disorder) interrupted the presentation to say "this all seems very obvious." The remark was self-aggrandizing and completely dismissive of my colleague's hard work.

Witnessing this made me realize just how toxic our community can be to one another.

Re: Computer Science Personality Disorder?

#8

Post by academictemp »

zero-sharp wrote: post #6

Sounds like they didn't pass a high enough filter. It's easy to have a high impression of yourself when you didn't actually compete. I remember having conversations with roommates and people in my classes about how hard so and so works, how you would always find them in their office, how we would get emails from this or that professor in the middle of the night, etc. My guess is that most people don't see how competi…

I consider myself pretty competitive. I'm in a top 5 CS PhD program, have published several first author conference papers in top-tier conferences in my field, and I consider computer science to be a big part of my identity.

That being said, I feel that I have a pretty good grasp on "academic competitiveness" and can distinguish that from what I'm describing above (which I'm calling "computer science personality disorder"). It truly is a behavior that appears unique to our field and I feel that it drives a lot of smart, collaborative, and supportive people to leave.

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