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Members of the military wear ribbons or medals to show
off their achievements. With the exception of highly
prestigious awards bestowed by elected officials, most of
the achievements associated with these devices are
prescribed and very standardized. They might be for skills
such as marksmanship
or for service in particular theaters
such as Vietnam. Proposed is an academic corollary. Geeks
or nerds would wear standardized ribbons to prove that
they majored in engineering or physics, read certain books
such as On the Origin of Species or The Republic, or
participated in lab research. Graduation ceremonies
already include such an achievement-based dress code, but
the achievements are not particularly specific, and the
ceremony itself consumes a very short fraction of the year
and is confined to academia. What I have in mind would be
worn to a Linux users group, a Mensa gathering, or a Star
Trek convention.
"I know regular expression"
http://store.xkcd.c...larExpressionsShirt
[hippo, Oct 01 2012]
Doctoral hat
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctoral_hat
Part of the doctoral regalia in Finland and Sweden. [Alx_xlA, Oct 08 2012]
[link]
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Effectively, yes- because you would run the
risk of being cornered by a geek with the
same insignia who really had read the book
cover to cover 437 times and who would
want to discuss every minute detail of Elvish
battle tactics, in fluent Elvish. |
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Would you want to take that risk? We think
not. |
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The place you wouldn't need these is a Linux
group/trek convention/Mensa meeting as
attendees are self selecting. Better for formal
wear at meetings, and in non-geek social
situations. |
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hmm... Mensa ribbon with IQ emblazoned on it (different coloured ribbon for member or non) |
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//Origin of Species// filigree wire pin of the evolution-drawing |
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//lab research// guinea-pig, duh. |
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Of course croissant/fishbone lapel pins or earrings, maybe with cumulative bun/bone scores ;D |
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These things all exist of course, though rather unorganizationalized. |
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This is a bit like the achievements on Khan Academy. |
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This could be a bit misleading, as somebody like me might
have a huge fruit salad simply for having read many
important books and having traveled extensively and
absorbed other cultures, whereas somebody who's spent
the last decade at MIT working on a single project for the
genuine betterment of mankind would only have a couple
of rows. Only somebody with near-instantaneous recall of
the various accolades and a good view of my chest
plaquard would be able to determine my complete lack of
formal education. Others would just see about twenty
square inches of spangly ribbons and be disproportionally
impressed. |
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I say this because the same thing happens in the military. A
ring-knocking colonel who's spent thirty years in rear
echelon logistics commands and never fired a weapon in
combat may have six or seven rows of fruit salad, whereas
a career NCO who has spent the same three decades down
in the dirt catching bullets with his teeth might only have
three rows. If he's never been wounded andor recognized
for meritorious action, he might not even have that, whilst
under another command he could have a DSC to hang
above his garden. |
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This brings to mind another issue; who awards these
things? In the military, there is a well-established (if
sometimes unfairly subjective and occasionally downright
nepotistic) protocol for citation that has no civilian
counterpart. Who is to recognize geekly prowess? On the
same turn as my diverse self-education may win me a shit-
ton of accolades and leave that hard-working genius
engineer in the dust, I might come up totally empty
because I'm not a member of MENSA or any other
intellectual organization and have never earned a college
degree. If this isn't formalized under a unified body, it will
be about as meaningful as XBox Live rankings (Struggled
Through 'Atlas Shrugged': Achievement Unlocked!) |
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I heard recounted the story of a chap who could have worn a chestload of the things but dodged public notice by only wearing one: the rather understated crimson ribbon bar of the Victoria Cross. |
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I imagine things with the import of the Harry Potter series would have a medal at the back of each book. |
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Managers would hate and fear this … |
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Consider a meeting between two groups
from different companies. Each group,
despite deep misgivings, has felt obliged to
include a geek to provide technical support. |
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Just prior to the meeting, each side's geek
recognises the other, examines the tin, and
identifies areas of mutual interest. They then
proceed to converse fully and openly about
mutual problems without any concern about
"commercial sensitivity", knowing that each
is the Servant of a Higher Truth. |
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They then sit next to one another in the
meeting and continue to covertly
communicate using their data devices. |
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When asked for an opinion, they both give
the same answer, which is in all likelyhood
exactly what both sets of managers don't
want to hear. |
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loveitloveitloveitlov eitloveitloveitloveitlo
veitloveitloveitloveit |
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^ don't be shy, tell us what you really think. |
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//HB ribbon// IMnsHO should list total numbers of posts, buns and bones. |
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You elitist bastards. Why is it always about quantity? This
isn't a competition! |
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so you'd go with a simple "HB" monogram then. |
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I'd say a simple croissant embroidered on a white ribbon
with no monogram or further embellishment would be
plenty elitist and simultaneously an egalitarian nod to
those of us who prefer ideas of quality and insightful
discourse over simply
putting up high scores. |
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... faint smell of sour grapes in here ... |
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Isn't this the *real* purpose of pocket protectors??? |
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I think this might be semi-baked. When Windows 7 came out my employer required that I complete Microsoft's online training and still have my Win7 Expert pin that proves I did. |
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(Actually, I received 2 pins but I have never worn either, at least not out in public!) |
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That makes me think of the 'certificate(s) of achievement' I
received at the end of various training courses when I
worked in heavy industry. I always wondered why we were
given a meaningless quasi-award for learning how to use a
crane or work in confined spaces. |
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' Geeks or nerds would wear standardized ribbons to prove that they majored in engineering or physics, read certain books such as On the Origin of Species or The Republic, or participated in lab research'. |
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Doing such things used to mean that you were averagely-intelligent and academic. |
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I could at least get behind some kind of insignia that
denotes one's higher education. For instance, in
Nordic countries, people who complete a PhD are
allowed to wear the doctoral hat in lieu of a top hat
with white tie. Finnish PhDs also have a doctoral
sword. [Link] |
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