in geekdom, if a gal regularly backs up her computer, does it make her more attractive?
Chris said,
Backing up files? Hmmm…I’m not sure if that’s particularly attractive. It shows a certain degree of tech-saaviness, but nothing beyond what anyone who works in an office would be expected to know.
On the other hand, I remember that you wanted me to send you a bunch of mp3s shortly after we first met. I figured the best way to do it was via FTP, so I asked you if you had an FTP client and knew how to use it. You replied that you had one running on a Linux box, and you knew how to use it just fine.
In one sentence you were able to boost your attractiveness level on many fronts:
- You knew what FTP was and how to download files using an FTP client.
- You had a computer running Linux, and presumedly knew how to use it.
- You referred to the computer as a “box”, a tell-tale sign of geek-cred.
I wonder if this is an example of a more generic form of finding attractiveness in someone, though. I suppose that if one shows a level of competence or expertise in a field that a potential mate finds interesting, that could be a method of impressing them. I don’t think this is limited to geekdom; I imagine a musician would be impressed by another capable musician, or an athlete might find other athletes more attractive than non-athletic people.
M said,
Ooo I think I should give you a prize for the largest comment_length:post_length.
To your last paragraph - yeah of course it is generalizable. So I guess a better question is - does backing up indicate some amount of computer expertise? People working in an office may be expected to know that they should backup - but do they?
Then again, another view of this is that backing up is more of an organizational/life responsibility skill…like…doing your taxes…than it is a computer skill. I am a little bad at remembering to back up but the other day I really started thinking about it in terms of a chore, like cleaning my bathroom or organizing my closet by colour, and after that the task priority was raised. (Oh for the record…my closet is no longer organized by colour…it was just a phase…but I do try to organize my sock drawer using sock warmth and thickness variables).
d said,
To me, it’s less about “being impressed” than it is about being able to feel normal, act natural - I could mention the fact that I back up my data without feeling like an ubergeek. I think that feeds in to Chris’ comments.
And does that equal “more attractive?” Probably. For computer geeks, musicians, athletes…
