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Comment by elinchrome | Hacker News Reader

Clearly he optimized his brain for arts. Why would he be good at math?

Not the point. It undermines the whole STEM promotion that the US is currently undergoing. You never hear anybody brag about how they no can read gooder, if they're an athlete, butcher, scientist, whatever.

Ehhh, I hear STEM people with an embarrassing grasp of writing/social interaction/the humanities wear that as a badge of honor. At least Hanks if self-effacing.

Those guys are idiots. I figure they turned a shameful weakness in high-school into a badge of belonging in college and real-life. It's also a lack of humility. I'm ashamed to be associated with them.

Plenty of otherwise intelligent STEM students and graduates hold the liberal arts in contempt and will take any opportunity to mock arts degrees/students/graduates.

In my experience the prevailing attitude of arts students towards science was that it was arcane, difficult and something reserved only for the smartest and most studious. Many science students, on the other hand, view liberal arts simply as a waste of time.

Neither attitude is particularly helpful.

Very true. I'm a STEM grad, and till a couple of years ago used to have some sort of contempt for liberal arts.

It's only when I started to do technical writing that I let go of that attitude. It was quite humbling, to say the least.

People brag about being bad at everything from public speaking to comedy to, yes, even math.

bragging != being unashamed

I'm not ashamed of many of my faults, and I will gladly talk about them if they're contextually important, but I'm not proud of them.

Well, he wasn't bragging about being bad at math. Also, people use reading every day so it's no surprise that most people are reasonably proficient at it even decades after college.

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