h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I must say, it isn't something I'm particularly proud to admit, but it is the truth. Our schools in America are divided like that, there is a large amount of friction, but it isn't all bad. For example, for those of us who want to just exist, it gives us a sort of compass for what not to drift into. We know that if we become too much one thing or the other, then we are creating problems, so we don't. I am happy to hear that someone has abolished differential groupings among impressionable people, and I hope that Britain never slides into this sort of distinction.

All this talk about there not being specific "groups" and that we're all "individuals" is, if nobody minds me saying, balls. We have different groups, although there are similar cases, however high schools everywhere are basically killing grounds and if you get out alive you're either very lucky or a neurotic left over mess who's life isn't worth living. Not that I'm a cynic or anything.

The situation in an English small town is lamentably small-minded. At the school I am very glad to be rid of, the number of people who were not Townies was too minute to be subdivided. I am very proud to be uncategorisable, even by myself, although most of the Townies called me 'the hippie' possibly because it was the only term they knew.
There is one stereotype which is possibly worse than Townies, because it claims what could have been our finest minds. I refer, of course, to the dreaded MOCK-GOTHS...
(I don't want to go on about them here so I'm off to write a Guide Entry on them. That way you don't have to expose yourself to them if you don't wish to.)

I think that we all have certain aspects of our personality that fall into stereotypes. After all, stereotypes are not without their founding. As a physicist, for example, I find that I sometimes analyse objects closely at totally inappropriate times, and get all excited and waffly when trying to explain something devastatingly simple in theory. Which, I believe, is how many people view us Fizzy-Cysts. It doesn't necessarily follow, however, that I wear dowdy cardigans and a badly-kept moustache, or spend all my time reading science magazines and lecturing on why Big Bang theory refutes all religious oppositional theorems. It's just that some of our traits fit into a neat category, and others don't. Differences between pigs within a psychological pig-pen is what makes us, er, unlike pigs. Human, if you will. Damn, and I was doing so well.

Mark

This does bear out the commonly-held belief that physicists tend to ramble.
However, I do also, and I am by no means a physicist.

I wear the term Nurd with pride I'll have you know sonny !

Ol - geeky and proud !

I personally take Weird, Crazy, Strange, and many other things people say about me as a compliment and puzzle them greatly. When friends are near and a person who just met me calls me one of the above they often respond, " No he is just Greg." This is much to my approval!

I personally take Weird, Crazy, Strange, and many other things people say about me as a compliment and puzzle them greatly. When friends are near and a person who just met me calls me one of the above they often respond, " No he is just Greg." This is much to my approval!

The differences aren't so obvious, but they're there. As Bourdieu said : "tastes classify, and the way in which we classify others classifys ourselves. (See Distinction (1992) Bourdieu, P.)

yeah but do these different groups your chatting about reflect or create the differences? And are these neccessarily issues of class? I don't think they are and, whilst there are still definite class divisions and hexis, these divisions have become increasingly polarised, with the polar groups increasingly decreasing in size. For example : you can tell a Scally is a Scally, you can tell Prince Charles is a member of the aristocracy, but it is becoming increasingly difficule to differentiate between that messive group inbetween. You made three broad divisions between townies, semi - alternatives, and hard core, but are you sure it is not you and others like you who are, BY DRAWING THE DIVISIONS and applying the labels, actually creating divisions where none would've existed before?

Although you have a point, and I'm against defining people as stereotypes as much as the next lefty, like will attract like.

Taking my own school as an example, the goth's/punks/hippies whatever you decide to call them are all socialising in the same group, being a bit of nerd I tend to hang around with other like minded nerds, and since coming out a large portion of my friends are gay or bisexual.

Likewise the "townies" tend to congregate together as well.

Excuse me?

Yes, there are Shooting in American schools, but I'd hardly call it a trend! I'd more call it an unfortunate, but freak occurance. Yes, this is an even freakier occurance outside of America, but I believe that at this point, it's 12 months without a shooting!