I’m convinced the primary goal universities have for Doctoral students is to make them even more socially awkward than they were when they showed up. I realized this at a party the other day when I noticed I wasn’t talking to people as much as I was observing them. I used to be interesting, now I’m just weird.
This education-induced awkwardness doesn’t start in graduate school. Remember your elementary school days? I’ll bet you were a happy, outgoing kid with a lot of friends, right? Remember High School? How did those years work out for you socially? See what I mean. More education equals more social awkwardness and it doesn’t stop at high school.
OK, so just because there appears to be a correlation, it doesn’t imply cause and effect. But really, what else could explain my need to observe patterns associated with behavioral economics over dinner with my husband and his parents and then feel compelled to go home and write about it.
One reason I might appear socially awkward is because when I relax, things I’ve been struggling to understand all day suddenly make sense. A glass of wine somewhere—anywhere—other than my desk sometimes makes me see problems more clearly. There’s nothing quite like having an AH-HA! moment in the middle of a cocktail party and feeling compelled to try to explain it to someone. While everyone else is talking about what happened on Dancing With The Stars last night, I suddenly say, “You know I’ve just had a thought, I wonder if values gates are the reason decision sets change? Let me explain…” They never assume I’m brilliant and might be a Nobel Laureate someday; they just smile politely, assume too much time in a windowless office has finally driven me mad, and discretely move to another group.
I’ll be really glad when my degree program is behind me so I can work on being interesting again. In the meantime, I need to work on my small talk. Anyone know what the Kardashian’s did this week? I’ll need at least 3 reliable sources to support your information.
Peter House
May 17, 2012
Thankfully, one can acquire three sources on the way to the checkout at the local grocer. It might be harder since you asked for reliable but at least you didn’t ask for independent sources.
HollyB88
May 18, 2012
@ Peter: You will be happy to know I have not found any academic journal articles on the Kardashians. Therefore, since the Enquirer has proven to be credible on occasion, I will accept it as a source in this case
Scott
July 10, 2012
I think your notion of more education making people more awkward might be onto something. Watch “The Big Bang Theory” and look at Sheldon Coopper, PhD, ScD. He has two doctorates and is the epitome of awkwardness. Sources will be forthcoming; do you want them in APA, MLA, or Turabian?
HollyB88
July 11, 2012
@Scott: I accept source citations in any format. Regardless of format, once you try to publish what you\’ve written, the journal will inevitably use a format you have never heard of. Or, worse yet, have their own proprietary format!