Went to a party this past week - had lots of different sorts: profs, postdocs, biotech folks, artists, etc. It was tons of fun.
The most amusing conversation was with a prof that I met, who knew Asperger's, my co-supervisor during my PhD. Like so many academics, although brilliant at his work, this faculty member was more than deficient when it came to social etiquette and just plain social interaction. It made me wonder if there was some form of antagonistic pleiotropy at work on these two traits. Selection for academic brilliance, reduces the ability to understand and follow social etiquette.
Dr.Bobblehead never looked directly at me or HippieHusband when he was talking with us. Even when he was talking with his wife. Instead, he would look at the wall or up at the ceiling or side to side, like he's scared or freaked out that he's engaged in a a non-scientific conversation. And when you ask him questions, the best he can muster is either "Yes" or "No" even if they're not yes or no questions. Unless of course he's talking about his science.
When I mentioned where I did my PhD and with whom (because they always ask), he said,
"Asperger's is a nut. He's so maladroit at social interaction."
I had a really hard time containing myself.
Kettle meet pot. Pot meet kettle.
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4 comments:
If you stay in academia this may be your future.
How verbal someone is depends on how engaged they are with the topic. The book, "The Bush dyslexicon", argues that when George Bush was lying he verbally stumbled. He was coherent when speaking on topics he believed in.
Well this is why people like you, who have good communication skills, would do well in academia. :-) Once you get an interview, these are the kinds of people who are your competitors. :-)
Most academics are so poor at communication that anyone with the slightest communication skills has little competition. And anyone who has written a paper or grant or given a talk at a conference knows how much communication skills matter in academics.
bad blah, blah is the worst!
@Edward
Not all academics are like this. My supervisor, GSG was awesome.
@Anon
I really hope so. It seems like there are two aspects though to commuication: written and verbal. I don't really know what emphasis is given by search committees to verbal communication. But it certainly seems like publications matter the most. Both Dr.Bobblehead and Asperger's write great papers.
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