The Myth of the Passionless Geek

Yes, I've been around long enough to hear it all--about how engineers, scientists, programmers, whatever are all "supposed to be" generally "lacking" in being able to express emotion. We're "supposed to be" "introverted" or "lacking in social skills" or whatever. The labels they give us are "four eyes," (in the days of my 'uthe) "brain," "nerd," and nowadays, "geeks." And I won't even go into the psycho/social analysis of how the 'popular people' (read: jocks and prom queens) 'look down upon,' or 'pity,' or even seek to 'lord over' us. E-Blogger doesn't have enough bandwidth for me to launch into that rant. The thing is that we're not any of that, and, I freely admit, they're (i.e., the 'popular people' ) not either.

When I was a young man and an emerging engineer (my thanks to Russian Cosmonaut, Yuri Gigauran--but that's another story), part of my life plan was to find out about myself and other people. (In modern MBA-ese it would be called, "...getting laid is part of the business plan." ) The methodology I chose ...well... actually I stumbled onto was what was called (in those days) "Growth Groups." (I can see my contemporaries all wistfully nodding now.) But alas I had this nasty habit of asking questions, "...but why is it that way?," and the like. I sometimes wished (business plan, remember) that I could just "go with the flow" like the others and just "experience" and "be one with the... ya-de-ya-dah." But that was not meant for me. So I went to original sources. The psychologist, Abraham Maslov, with his "self-actualization" and his "hierarchy of needs" were some of the big things touted by my fellow Growth groupies back then, so I started reading his works. For me it was cracking open the Rossetta Stone ...the first of many as it turned out.

One of Maslov's works that especially influenced me was his "Psychology of Science." In it he stated that the primary factor in the motivation of a scientist (or allied profession) was curiosity--an emotional state. This was quite an eye-opener. And it made sense. How often did I notice in conversations with fellow engineers the enthusiasm in, the curiosity about, and willingness to share the things we were discussing. True, the context was mainly technological in nature and not sports or movie stars, but emotions were a key part of the interactions. The range of topics widened in my discussions with fellow Mensans, but again discussions were full of emotional involvement and sometimes even spirited.

One of the little side treks in my journey that pointed this out occurred when moving into an office at one place I worked. I was cleaning out a file cabinet, and I ran across a rather poignant poem penned by the previous occupant. Pushkin it wasn't, but it did convey what was in his heart rather well. For me, this pointed out that technologists are also emotional people too.

So called "linear thinker" technologists are perhaps more aware than others of the non-linearities, the discontinuities, and the blind canyons of curiosity-driven paths of discovery. So I had my ups and downs, but I expected that. (I often didn't like it, but I still expected that.) And in this journey I suddenly realized that others--i.e., non-technologists--had their own keys to their own passions. I could now more readily appreciate the passion that the high school jock cum professional baseball player seeks to perfect his(er) athletic prowess, or how a musician or artist or writer passionately struggles to convey the vision in their head to others. All of us have at least one good thing that we're good at and take pride (an emotion) in and will strive (an emotion) to do well. All can be appreciated for their unique passion. (And one nice, serendipitist result of this journey of self-discovery was that ...the business plan was being more successful.)

Now, yes, I have run into technologists that fit the passionless stereotype. Here the (gallows humor) joke of "'engineer' is a psychological syndrome" describes them, but, to be fair, I've also seen artists, athletes, etc. with similar hang-ups. But if anyone has seen a typical bunch of engineers or programmers working together on solving a problem, it's easy to catch their infectious enthusiasm. Passionless is not an apt descriptor here.

You'll never convince me of the myth of the passionless geek, but then I'm having too much fun ...discovering something new all the time, studying about electrical play, doing presentations, introducing young lovelies to electrical play, etc. Nonetheless I hope this little piece sets you to thinking.

Cao-4-Now

Unc'

NGGE

A fellow (and contemporary) BDSM presenter (i.e., in the BDSM Rubber Chicken Circuit) once passed on a truism that was passed onto him from another presenter, towit: "...ya ever notice that the really well-attended presentations are the ones with an NGGW -- Naked Girl Gets Whipped." (Now none of that "...not me, man" stuff from you gentle readers--and the not-so-gentle ones too.) Well, I've found the same thing too in my presentations. The only thing is I now have to morph NGGW into NGGE -- Naked Girl (or Guy for the mens' groups) Gets Electrocuted.

Enjoy...

Cao-4-Now

Unc'

How Unc' Got His Start as a BDSM Scientist

A lot of my friends know that I lived in Russia at the end of the last century. In reality the job I had there was an easy gig, so I had lots of time on my hands. One day shortly after I had finished the manuscript for my book, Juice, I started thinking about E-Play--particularly the commonly held belief (amongst some) of "...no electrical play above the waste." From my electrical engineering background, I knew that was a highly restrictive view not really within the bounds of how an electric current acts within a 3-dimensional conductor. Current kinda takes a more or less straight path from the source to the sink, but if the carriers--say the electrons--can't follow in an end-to-end, 'conga-line' fashion, they'll try to get there by going to the 'next lane over' (or above, below, whatever). In other words current tends to 'spread out' from the general straight path. (If you want to persue this further, may I suggest looking at the subject of solid state physical properties. EE's have to.) "But," I asked myself, "how can I show that?"

Then I remembered my electrical engineering student days. We did experiments in lab to study electric fields using a material called "Toledus Paper." This is an electrically conductive paper. By placing electrodes at different places on the paper, charging them with a battery, and then taking voltage measurements at different points on the paper. In this way, a map could be drawen showing the fields. It's all quite interesting experiment, but dull to conduct. (It's amazing what a thing like "getting a grade" will inspire.)

But, alas, no Toledus Paper did I have. "How," I asked myself, "could I duplicate this experiment and study different field paths resulting from different electrode placements." "Ah, how about a conductive liquid? ...like salt water?" This would also have the advantage that other people could also duplicate the same experiment and satisfy their own curiosity.

And so on with the experiment. I used a plastic food container, salt water, nails, clothespins, and batteries. I used an ordinary VOM and a ruled piece of paper to do the measurments. (I've always appreciated that some of the resourcefulness of the Russian people rubbed off on me.) The only thing left was performing the experiment, and I had lots of time to do that.

So much for the easy part. How the hell do I reduce all this raw data? Fortunately I owned a computer in Russia, and I was fluent in Excel. As a student I had been trained in relaxation reduction techniques--a mathematical numerical technique taking advantage of a computer to reduce and smooth-out spacially arranged data. And Excel made it so easy. (I wish I had had it in my student days. It would have saved me hours of Fortran programming.) And I had also had a course or two in HTML, so being able to do a web page of the results was easy too.

It was hard work, but I had lots of spare time and enthusiasm in the project. The rest was--as they say--history. (Actually it's at my website if you want to see it all laid out.)

Cao-4-Now

Unc'

Musings of a BDSM scientist, educator, and someone who's been around for a while (a.k.a., "Ol' Fart")

I love it when two of my interests intersect. So, why not the intersection of science and BDSM?

It's not all far fetched. There are certainly play techniques such as Electrical Play, Fire Play, Spice Play, usv, usv that could benefit from the understanding and investigation of the physical principles that underlay the play. I know for others, it may not be sexy, but for me it's just as exciting as ...say... flogging some young lovely.

E-Play is one example of this--as you can see in such things as the experiments I feature in my website. But there are times when I think I am alone in this. (Not really, but it certainly seems so from time to time.) So besides sharing experiments, thoughts, and researches, I will also share the journey I undergo in following my drummer: the ups, the downs, the joys, the disappointments ...whatever. Who knows? Maybe this will encourage some, and bring others from their "geek closet."

And over the years, I've had many wonderful opportunities to share some of my knowledge with others (see Unc's Schedule). I go back to the days when to actually go to an 'out-of-your-locality' event was little heard of, but to actually be invited by such an event to present was a rarity indeed. I think I commented at the time that, "...it may be the start of an S/M 'Rubber Chicken Circuit' ". Little did I realize then that such things would not only be commonplace, but it would produce 'stars' such as Midori, Fifth Angel, and others. While I don't yet lay claim to such stardom (although truth be told that to my wicked delight some people would disagree) I don't yet have such a killer schedule that I identify my domicile as 'seat 21D on the red-eye to Dallas'. Nonetheless, over these many years I've developed some impressions, thoughts, helpful hints, and kevetches of being a nationally known presenter. And some may benefit in my sharing these also.

And you may have noticed my continued use of the phrase "for a long time". Well, that refers to the fact(oid) that I've been "in the scene"--i.e., start of my Society of Janus membership since 1980. Actually--like many of us--I've had the fantasies and did play experimentation much earlier, but lets just say for sake of argument that I started in 1980. Interestingly enough, I have BDSM contemporaries that have more years of seniority than I, but who are younger in age than me (lucky swine -- but I say that in a loving way). And like others of my age and seniority, I'm not immune from the "... why in MY day..." disease(?). Fortunately I like allying myself with the younger and less experienced members of the Community PLUS I have this uncanny memory of when I was that young and inexperienced that I actually think my observations and thoughts might be useful, interesting, or at least amusing. And NO wisecracks from you young whippersnappers... Why in MY day...

So, to these three ends, I dedicate this my blog. Gawd help us all!