Today's quote comes from last Thursday's issue of Oxford Student, one of the two weekly student magazines here. In an article about the apparently-controversial new interview training (which includes a video example) for Oxford tutors, Professor Alan Ryan (Warden of New College) stated:
If mathematicians were admitted on personality it would be the end of the mathematical world. Students can be shy, awkward, even pick their noses in tutorials, we are really interested in their brains.
First, I seriously need to invite this guy to a party at my place. Second, I think I might have to drum up the troops on this one. Third, not a single student of mine has ever picked his or her nose in tutorials.* I'll grant that there is some truth behind this guy's comments, but he's the head of an Oxford College, so I am a bit surprised at his lack of discretion and some response is clearly merited. (I think I'll solicit my Somerville students for their opinions about what to include in a sarcastic response and reward the person who gives me the most amusing comment with a seat as my guest on High Table.)
* As far as I know.
2 days ago
4 comments:
I, um, frequently pick my nose in class.
But you're a computer scientist by training, so unfortunately I can't take responsibility for your degenerate behavior.
My understanding was that if you removed the personality from mathematicians, all you had left was...math.
Sometimes bad personal hygiene remains as well, but that thankfully only applies to a fairly specific subset of mathematicians.
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