Just was wondering if anyone else has noticed the large amount of rude people in computer science field. Why is this so common exactly? Seems like so many people are arrogant and unwilling to help or even care about others for fear of ridicule.
Rudeness in computer science?
Fairly large number of rude people in all fields. I ended up taking a long tour through university due to scheduling conflicts and other reasons, so I picked up more extra credits in arts than strictly necessary. Also spent lots of time hanging out with people in bio, chem, and physics.
In my experience physics students were on average ruder and more arrogant than other majors (How dare you suggest that continued research and study into sciences from different approaches is needed to help ensure we aren't wrong. Physics majors are GODS! They already know all the answers!... except the ones they can't answer, but those subjects aren't to be talked about with non-major types...), and English lit were the least openly rude but by far the most subtle with their superiority complexes.
More than a few Computer Science types were simply just dicks. Had to work with a group of classmates that were more worried about being clever than being productive. Was exceptionally fun to have one of them rewrite part of a large project a few nights before it was due so that it was done in fewer lines of code. Run time was reduced about 5%, it sure wasn't any easier to read, and completely ignored multiple edge cases that lead to critical failures of the code... But it was Better, because it was done in less than half the lines of code I had written it in. Really wouldn't have bothered me all that much, but he hadn't come close to submitting working code for his sections of the application.
In my experience physics students were on average ruder and more arrogant than other majors (How dare you suggest that continued research and study into sciences from different approaches is needed to help ensure we aren't wrong. Physics majors are GODS! They already know all the answers!... except the ones they can't answer, but those subjects aren't to be talked about with non-major types...), and English lit were the least openly rude but by far the most subtle with their superiority complexes.
More than a few Computer Science types were simply just dicks. Had to work with a group of classmates that were more worried about being clever than being productive. Was exceptionally fun to have one of them rewrite part of a large project a few nights before it was due so that it was done in fewer lines of code. Run time was reduced about 5%, it sure wasn't any easier to read, and completely ignored multiple edge cases that lead to critical failures of the code... But it was Better, because it was done in less than half the lines of code I had written it in. Really wouldn't have bothered me all that much, but he hadn't come close to submitting working code for his sections of the application.
you are right. In fact I have seen many people who find them self to be gods gift to the occupation. I personally think it is because we are well paid and often treated as some kind of VIP in many organizations.
My own philosophy is to treat people as I would be treated my self. Sadly many do not follow this rule.
Just was wondering if anyone else has noticed the large amount of rude people in computer science field. Why is this so common exactly?
Can you give an example? One common attribute of a CS person (that people usually acquire over time) is conciseness. I'm busy programming. I want to help others because it's my way of "paying it forward" to the others who helped me when I was learning. Additionally, I've learned a ton by helping others (it can send me on a fascinating googling quest!). However, I don't have time, and nor is it in my personality, to hold your hand and say "Ooooh, what a pretty little function! You made such a good effort and I'm soooo proud of you! Now, if you could just change this itty bitty..." Instead, I'd rather just say "Look up C++'s 'most vexing parse,' because that's what you're running into here." It doesn't carry any fluffy joy and love, but it really doesn't need to. Cut the crap, get to the point. You'll see this a lot, especially in mailing lists. It's easy to mistake a cold, hard one sentence response (that tries to quickly answer the question) for a cold, hard soul. They're not the same. If someone is helping you, they're being nice. Even if they don't talk with all the fluffy crap.
Also realize the internet is international. Different cultures have different standards. Americans often think others are rude, pushy, arrogant, etc. when really, it's just a different culture and being blunt in their culture doesn't come across offensively like it does in American culture. They also tend to think everyone on the internet is also American...
Seems like so many people are arrogant and unwilling to help or even care about others for fear of ridicule.
Really? We have awesome communities like GameDev.net, StackOverflow, and several other large programming communities. I see a lot of people going out of their way to help and care about others.
Of course, there are rude or arrogant people, but I've found no more in the CS field than I have in other walks of life.
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Can you give an example?
Acting like they know everything for one. When they simply reuse code repetitively without knowing what the libraries etc do. It might not matter depending on your job but someone has to write that stuff. And then laughing at someone for wanting to figure out why that works, instead of just coding. This seems a very software-engineer point of view and not one of computer science.
But this is only one of many possible examples I could make an entire thread.
Another good example is females in the computer science community are looked down upon and treated as second rate developers why is this?
Then there's groups of people who act like elitists.
Really? We have awesome communities like GameDev.net, StackOverflow, and several other large programming communities. I see a lot of people going out of their way to help and care about others.
Of course, there are rude or arrogant people, but I've found no more in the CS field than I have in other walks of life.
If anything I would say in my experience the CS scene has far more then it then any other community I have seen. Most people are more humble. Willing to accept that they are not gods gift to the world, and willing to put in effort instead of being an arrogant idiot.
It has nothing to do with hand holding either, the cut to the point attitude while acceptable and does help, is not very effective. It makes you look like a total tool, if you hate your job that much and just wish to cut to the point every time. Why do they study and work in computer science? I am sure they don't cut to the point when learning a new topic. It would be pointless to do that you would end up learning hardly of the material.
It has nothing to do with hand holding either, the cut to the point attitude while acceptable and does help, is not very effective. It makes you look like a total tool, if you hate your job that much and just wish to cut to the point every time
How does wanting to cut to the point translate to hating our jobs, exactly? I don't follow. Nor do I quite understand how it makes one a "tool," either. I actually prefer it when people cut to the point when explaining something to me - it means I have to take less effort to boil the point free of the whatever irrelevant pleasantries in which it's been embedded.
Why do they study and work in computer science? I am sure they don't cut to the point when learning a new topic. It would be pointless to do that you would end up learning hardly of the material.
On the contrary - "cutting to the point" generally means that you're actually studying and working with the material, rather than the material + extraneous fluff that's intended to make the material palatable.
I've noticed it, too. God help you if you ever express an idea that is debatable, questionable, or--worst of all--wrong. Programmers in general seem to jump at the chance to either prove that they know more than you about something, or they're just naturally smarter than you. Especially as a beginner, I've learned to just let them rant themselves into silence rather than even have an exchange. It's as if programmers have a serious disease where, once they've learned something, they forget that they were ever beginners in the first place, and think that their knowledge comes from natural superiority rather than having had someone tell them what they know, be it verbally or through a textbook. So instead of simply helping you out, they'll help you out and take a cheap snipe at you for not knowing what they know.
On the other hand, there's also the subtle "Psst, hey, you don't know as much as me" exchanges you'll see happen, either on forums or in person. For example, I'll ask a general question, like "What are some math topics I should learn relevant to graphics programming?" and person A will give a response, with a respectable list that he makes clear is just his opinion. Then, of course, a couple of posts down, here comes person B, stepping through A's list, giving criticisms that are only vaguely helpful to a newbie, and making no true point other than "Hey, I know about this thing you mentioned in detail. Rather than add to the conversation, I'd prefer to challenge your knowledge on this subject with mentions of esoteric stuff that add nothing to the conversation for the OP." At that point, I just try to skip over the ensuing passive-aggressive argument.
My response is to be as kind and helpful to others as I can be. To counterbalance the "cut to the point" people who seem to do anything but cut to the point, I give straightforward, friendly answers to the questions I know I can answer. If I can't answer, I offer links to resources with the answers. And even if I think the question is dumb, I try to keep from joining the chorus of smart-alecks. I'm not perfect, and sometimes I do end up sounding like the "cut to the point" guys. But I try.
A lot of CS people aren't masters of socializing. I think a lot of people come off rude because they aren't good at presenting their ideas with any sort of social gentleness. A lot of CS people (myself included) are the types of people who know a lot of stuff about a lot of stuff, and a lot of cs people (myself included) aren't afraid to point out when something is incorrect. Having poor social skills can make that seem rude, which it might be, but it's not with an intention to be unkind.
That said, I have noticed a lot of CS people hold very negative attitudes. There seems to be more of us that are more apt to criticize and very frequently not constructively.
Just was wondering if anyone else has noticed the large amount of rude people in computer science field. Why is this so common exactly? Seems like so many people are arrogant and unwilling to help or even care about others for fear of ridicule.
I haven't seen much rudeness in my computer science class. I just see clueless people solving problems in the most interesting (and inefficient) ways 
. I'll gladly donate some of my idle time which I would have otherwise spent on some youtube video, to some random stranger on the internet, though I don't usually help classmates, because they tend to start leeching shortly after. As for arrogance, yes it can happen, but you get that in any field, really.
I confess I am guilty of sometimes accidentally "showing off" (as some people put it) but I try to avoid it. In general it's out of good will to provide a better solution, but is usually misguided and/or simply too complicated for the matter (and OP) at hand. I am also guilty of sometimes sounding blunt, and that's because I just don't have the time nor the skills to wrap my posts with social niceties so they tend to come off with a sort of finality and people get angry at me.
I like to help people because it's in my nature, and I'm similar to Cornstalks in that it's also my way of giving back to the internet what the internet gave me. But I'll get irritated when people who are supposedly computer science students/graduates either don't understand even the most basic concepts (I see this *all the time* on stack overflow and it gets on my nerves sometimes) or when people attack me on forums for giving advice, fortunately I have never had that on Gamedev so I feel at home here :)
Are there a lot of rude people in the software industry? Yep. I'd love to tell you that all other industries are only full of shinny, happy people, but I have years of anecdotal evidence that says otherwise.
For example, I worked a few years ago with a brilliant scientist. He did things with code that were amazing. But no one will ever know it, because he is an arrogant prick. He told me once that if I couldn't use his undocumented, untested, constantly changing functional API, it was because I was too stupid. He didn't have time to explain how brilliant it was. And it was amazing code, but no one used it. No one will ever use it, I imagine, if he keeps the same attitude. He will have wasted his carer, in my opinion.
But those people are in any career field you will choose, and the bottom line is that there isn't a damn thing you can do to fix them. That is their journey to make, and their lessons to learn.
So I say, learn how to deal with them (because they aren't going anywhere), and don't become one.
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