EGU Blogs

Geologists as a social stigma?

So I was browsing for content for future blog posts the other day, and came across this video from Friends (the show people of my era grew up with).

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Ross is a palaeontologist, so naturally one of the coolest, smartest and sexiest of all the science breeds, but takes a little dig at geologists here in a social context.

Now compare that to this video from American Dad, in which geologists are portrayed in the opposite manner, in a James Bond-y way.

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So have any of you ever experienced a social stereotyping or generalisation of some sort, positive or negative, when people find out you’re a geologist (or geoscientist of some sort), or have known about it for a while? On a personal level, I get called ‘the dinosaur man’ quite a bit at university, but that’s more of a sub-affectionate jibe, I think. Interested to know what y’all may have experienced!

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Jon began university life as a geologist, followed by a treacherous leap into the life sciences. He spent several years at Imperial College London, investigating the extinction and biodiversity patterns of Mesozoic tetrapods – anything with four legs or flippers – to discover whether or not there is evidence for a ‘hidden’ mass extinction 145 million years ago. Alongside this, Jon researched the origins and evolution of ‘dwarf’ crocodiles called atoposaurids. Prior to this, there was a brief interlude were Jon was immersed in the world of science policy and communication, which greatly shaped his views on the broader role that science can play, and in particular, the current ‘open’ debate. Jon tragically passed away in 2020.


13 Comments

  1. I remember Sheldon Cooper during a paintball battle shouting out “ Geology isn’t a real science!

  2. People at my 6th form constantly asked if me and fellow geologist licked rocks, not sure if this is a worldwide thing or…?

    Thank god there is someone else that hates Sheldon Cooper. They seem to have created a character who quite clearly has some form of autism or aspergus and then encourage the general public to openly laugh at him. Sure, if he’s genuinely funny laugh… but the character isn’t trying to be funny, its his mannerism. This just makes it all the more difficult to those actual sufferers who happen to be blunt and honest and just get mocked for lack of emotional understanding. *rant over*

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      Couldn’t click ‘approve’ enough times for that comment there – thanks 😉

  3. I’ve never experienced hostile stigmatization for being a geologist, but good-natured ribbing, yes. In University, the stereotype is usually that geologists are the last ones standing at an event where alcohol is consumed. In the workplace (mining) geologists are sometimes considered a rather unruly lot, with a level of comfort for vagueness that engineers consider sloppy (engineers get frustrated and say, “just give me a number!”).

    The Sheldon Cooper stereotype of geologists is interesting and funny, but a bit of an inside joke among scientists. There’s the quote attributed to Rutherford, “All science is either physics or stamp collecting”. Geologists and biologists tend to get lumped together in such comparisons. The general public may not always be aware of it, but physics imperialism, or physics envy, is widespread.

    In Wonderful Life, Gould explains this well, how the Alvarez iridium anomaly and impact crater hypothesis gained popularity and acceptance because it was based on scientists making careful measurements in laboratories, which is somehow seen as more scientific than carefully excavating fossils and slogging through cladograms.

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  5. I’ve had:

    “aww you’re a girl in a guys’ profession”
    “you’re a geology student? thats um interesting but what can you even do with that degree?!”
    “so do geologists really lick rocks?”
    “you’re a geologist? do you have a pet rock then?”
    “if you’re a geologist surely you must have a preference for food that was grown underground? Because thats where all the rocks are”

    And I really hate it when people ask me questions about geology but are really just teasing cos they find it a really geeky subject and find me amusing for liking it.

    • When my relatives and known people heard what I want to study, they said “But this profession is for men. It’s better to choose something suitable for women.”
      Of course, I didn’t take in account their advises.. And now I am palaeontologist.. 😀

  6. I’m not a geologist, but a palaeolithic archaeologist who is a lithic specialist, therefore still a big a stone & geology nerd. Haven’t come across much specialism-stigmatism inside archaeology in terms of choosing lithics rather than ceramics or bones for example. However, I have had a lot of “monkey girl” because I specialise in Neandertals. That does get tiresome.
    Interesting to wonder if geologists have similar pop culture coolness as archaeologists/palaeontologists (i.e. Indiana Jones notions of adventure), and if not, why?

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      Someone called me Indiana Jones at a bar the other night. I smiled politely, then bottled him. (this is a joke for the people on the internet with no sense of humour)

      65% of proto-geologists actually think palaeontology is archaeology too.. (http://www1.gly.bris.ac.uk/bumps/secure/POTW/Stewart_2013.pdf)

      Cheers for the comment Monkey Girl! 😉

  7. I find it funny that if I tell someone I want to be a palaeontologist, the most frequent response is ‘like Ross!’ ….But who doesn’t love Ross.

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