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

I always thought, the smoking survivor of the lab explosion look, had a bit more panache.

maybe we don't comb our hair because we realise that it really doesn't
matter in any way and we are more concerned with whatever it is we are passionate about.

I am certainly freaky, and intelligent, but I feel that intelligent people will decide that the normal [school:ignore] people are wrong. Hence they decide to ask questions, sometimes get answers and so appear intelligent. I too have a dishevvelled appearance.

Of course, the obvious solution is to have no hair... I have been working towards this for a number of years now...

I quite like my hair... it makes me look like a certain semi-famous fictional character... see my home page for details
I think some geniuses have great senses of humour... eg: Einstien's best photo has to be on his 90th birthday or something, with his tongue sticking out.

Are geniuses really so freaky? Or are they just not so afraid to show their normality? I mean.. Einstien looked to me like the everyday frazzled housewife before she put on all that fake stuff.

I'll tell you why geniuses are so freaked out:

When you know that you can do something, and you know that you do it really well, and you even know that everyone else knows you are good at it, you just don't have to behave in some manner that is supposed to convince the others that you are good. Get it? You are good, therefore you are right, and you can behave freaky if you like.

But combing my hear is such an awfull lot of work especially if you just like me hate going to the barber (you need an awfull lot of social skills to stand sitting a hour in a chair listening to them) and got really long hair. It did provide me with some fame, some customers of the company I work for know about this programmer with the long hair. I think the uncombed long hair, once-a-week-shaven-boy-am-I-lucky-my-facial-hair-doesnt-grow-that-fast-beard en very neat black suit with black tie and black shoes (no the shirt is white) give me:
1) a distinct look so I wont get thrown out of 1st class compartment of the train.
2) look weird enough to keep the seat next to me free so I can sit relaxed!
3) really confuse pissed of clients who dont know if they actually are endangering themselfs if they gonna yell at you. most of the time they decide to do the yelling over the phone to our supportcenter

I took me year to perfectionize the look.
Not combing takes me about 10 seconds (I take the elasticband out and put it in again after grabbing together the parts of my hair that managed to get out during sleep, if I didnt do that I whave that explosion look)

BTW since we live together my girl wakes up with the same explosive looks in her hair. Before we lived together she could go to sleep and wake up with a perfect haircut. She has allways has been someone who likes to do a lot with her hair (1 to 2 hours.....). Last year she stopped the silly and time consuming behaviour of combing her hair.
I think she lookes cute with the 'exploded hair' look.

Fair play, mate. I stand chastened.

It is a pity that h2g2 forums always seem to devolve into a lower form of life - eg: appraisal of hair styles. Why? Is it that we are all talked out, or that hair styles are more interesting or topical?

Yes

(I don't know what was said between the first 6 replies and now so I don't know what has happened in forum) But on the original subject I have a friend who is a year younger than me. In my grade level and in ever advanced class imaginable. I am told that in history and english classes he constantly corrects the teacher, but what pisses me off about him besides jealousy, is the fact that he won't stop puffing my hair. It's annoying as hell, and it is something that a preschooler would do.
He is supposed to be a skipped ahead genius yet sometimes he is just an annoying child. So genius isn't always success, in fact if genius keeps acting the way it has been then I am gonna ring its little neck and see if it can poof my hair from 6 ft. under.

Is 6 foot under, 6 foot to the botom of the grave or to the top of the body because if it is to the bottom of the hole they are not really 6 foot under

I don't know if anyone has already said this - what a line to start off with! Isn't a genius a freak by definition? If a freak is some kind of irregular condition or occurence and geniuses are unusual (I'm led to believe that they are, although judging by the number of self confessed geniuses on this list I'm not so sure!) then by definition a genius is a freak.........thank you for listening.

Hmm... I think there is a bit more of a difference between freak and freaky that just the part of speech - a freak is usually visually obvious [Elephant man, et al.] whereas being freaky is a complete state of mind. Which, I must say, I quite enjoy.

> I'm led to believe that they are, although judging by the number .. on this list I'm not so sure!

I think h2g2 is special - it takes intelligence to realise how this text-based, non-real time service is actually interesting and fun.

Apologies if it's already been mentioned, (I'm feeling too drowsy post-flu to read everything) but the best definition of genius I can recall is from someone who worked with Alan Turing at Bletchley Park, and who was talking about the difference between someone who's just very intelligent and someone who's a genius.

If a very bright person has a good idea and explains it to you, you think 'Hey - *I* could have thought of that'. When a genius explains a brainwave to you, even if you understand them, you know you'd never have thought of it yourself.

Using that definition, even though I've met many intelligent people, I couldn't say I've met many geniuses.

In that case, though, it seems genius would be in the eye of the beholder--I mean, I just met a guy who by that definition would probably have thought I was a genius. He was totally blown away when I determined within a second or so that $39.75 was divisible by 3, and when I explained how I did it he was still shaking his head in amazement...but I know a lot of people who wouldn't have found it surprising.

About the hair-puffing: How do you react to it? Sometimes I do things like that to people simply because they react entertainingly. Just a little of that "making one's own entertainment"....

When he poofs I say stop that, please stop doing that. Luckily the next semester is starting which means I will only have him in one class. And he does do it for his own enjoyment, but its not like I give him huge reactions. Anyway my point was that just because someone is considered a genius doesn't mean that they don't forget what the class was just told 5 minutes ago. And it doesn't mean that they don't end up violent deaths involving their graphing calculators used as stabbing implements. And I assure you only part of that last line has to do with jealousy.