[Nataku X]

Most girls I know are generally respectful of authority figures in general, and care about doing a good job in school.

Most guys I know are generally apathetic... they have better skills and they are far better programmers than girls, but they don't study nearly as much.

The smartest computer programmer I know reverse-engineered the Dreamcast, the Nintendo, and we were part of a 12-hour computer programming team in a competition. He did almost all the work and he built a freaking X window manager from scratch in 12 hours. (Me? I just wrote the code for the custom X mouse cursor.)

Yet his GPA is in the tiolet, because he hates doing homework, he hates studying for tests, and he hates authority. That's why girls will excel men in computer science in terms of GPA, but girls in computer science are very unenthusiastic about computers & programming.

[Tribune7]

I think a lot of young boys learn pretty early that official state education is largely BS.

[steplock]

"Yet his GPA is in the tiolet, because he hates doing homework, he hates studying for tests, and he hates authority"

Boy does THAT bring back memories of my days at Texas A&M! :>)

That was way back when girls (that weren't family of faculty) were FIRST allowed at A&M - 1968

[Utilizer]

The smartest computer programmer I know reverse-engineered the Dreamcast, the Nintendo, and we were part of a 12-hour computer programming team in a competition. He did almost all the work and he built a freaking X window manager from scratch in 12 hours. (Me? I just wrote the code for the custom X mouse cursor.)

I can imagine. I too was one who did things beyond the pale, but I do not wish to waste the resources of JimRob's site on My personal reflections (although if anyone would wish to enquire, well...)

[mdmathis6]

Two Words....Bill Gates(college drop out extrordinaire and founder of some dinky computer company out west)

You see there are flaws in the education system in our country....they tend to shackle ones dreams. Thomas Edison practically invented modern America....but his early teachers thought him to be retarded; I reflect on this while looking at the lamp and light bulb next to my desk.

GPA's and the time it takes to polish them, for some-people actually bollux up the creative capacity of a male who can solve a probelm in a burst of insight, but says Yuckk when his teacher tells him to "show" his work.

For some teachers it becomes a clash of power and will when they encounter students who turn in science or math tests with perfect scores, while refusing to do the homework. They feel those students must learn discipline and to be more "humble". In this case the teacher becomes less of a proctor for learning and more of a scolding NUN!

My solution would be increased support for home-schooling and other programs that allow tailoring schooling to the specific proclivities of the individual....our society needs those who are content in the exacting details of bureaucracy and ordered conformity; (we need the pencil pushers). But what we cannot afford to lose are the dreamers, the unconventional, the occasional failed drop-outs that rock our world with innovation and change!