Why do female students listen to my professor questions without asking their own?

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theoritician said:
Probably a trait more common in mathematicians.

Please, if you learn nothing else from this forum, at least take away the point that these stereotypes that you seem to agree with are simply not true. As others have said before, and I will reiterate-- physicists and mathematicians (I suppose I'm a cross between the two) are not all shy, introverted people with few friends and a lack of social skills. We are normal people!
 
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cristo said:
Please, if you learn nothing else from this forum, at least take away the point that these stereotypes that you seem to agree with are simply not true. As others have said before, and I will reiterate-- physicists and mathematicians (I suppose I'm a cross between the two) are not all shy, introverted people with few friends and a lack of social skills. We are normal people!

Ok. Point taken. I like to see myself as a normal person as well but we all have our delusiosn and fantasies.
 
qspeechc said:
A feel like I can really learn something from this thread, being an extreme introvert myself!

What's up?
 
EnumaElish said:
Why don't you ask her?

Or, better yet, tell her your name---you'll find out a lot on how she answers.
 
rewebster said:
Or, better yet, tell her your name---you'll find out a lot on how she answers.

and ask her for her phone number while your at it!:smile:
 
rewebster said:
Or, better yet, tell her your name---you'll find out a lot on how she answers.

Yep, that's the easiest way to initiate an introduction, "Hi, it seems we keep running into each other this way...my name is..." Most normal people will respond by telling you their name too. Then you can give some cheesy response like, "Oh, that's a really pretty name, it suits you." If she rolls her eyes and gets annoyed at the cheesy line, she's not that interested; if she kind of blushes or giggles, then she probably is interested and you can then ask her to do something together.

I didn't realize we needed to start handing out user's manuals for women to so many of our members here. :biggrin: I think we'll need a long section on troubleshooting. :-p
 
Moonbear said:
Yep, that's the easiest way to initiate an introduction, "Hi, it seems we keep running into each other this way...my name is..." Most normal people will respond by telling you their name too. Then you can give some cheesy response like, "Oh, that's a really pretty name, it suits you." If she rolls her eyes and gets annoyed at the cheesy line, she's not that interested; if she kind of blushes or giggles, then she probably is interested and you can then ask her to do something together.

I didn't realize we needed to start handing out user's manuals for women to so many of our members here. :biggrin: I think we'll need a long section on troubleshooting. :-p

Haha, it is logical though. but to see weather she really likes you ,u have to see it in the long term
 
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Moonbear said:
Yep, that's the easiest way to initiate an introduction, "Hi, it seems we keep running into each other this way...my name is..." Most normal people will respond by telling you their name too. Then you can give some cheesy response like, "Oh, that's a really pretty name, it suits you." If she rolls her eyes and gets annoyed at the cheesy line, she's not that interested; if she kind of blushes or giggles, then she probably is interested and you can then ask her to do something together.

I didn't realize we needed to start handing out user's manuals for women to so many of our members here. :biggrin: I think we'll need a long section on troubleshooting. :-p

No, I wouldn't use that cheesy line. I don't want to explain, but I wouldn't use it.
 
JasonRox said:
No, I wouldn't use that cheesy line. I don't want to explain, but I wouldn't use it.

It still works, you know. It would be better for him to continue with more spontaneous conversation, but given his state of anxiety about this, I don't think spontaneous is going to work.
 
It might be helpful to ask someone if they know her name. If you find out the next time you see her you can say "You name is..., right?" If anything she'll take an interest in how you know her name, or be flattered you took the time to find out. Well, maybe not if she's a closet paranoid, but her response will give you a clue.

Edit to add:...will give you a clue either way.
 
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Moonbear said:
I didn't realize we needed to start handing out user's manuals for women to so many of our members here.
There is no users manual for women yet: Chaos Theory is still in it's infancy.
 
theoritician said:
How do you define contact? We've only had verbal contact on two occassions (I don't even know her name yet!) so maybe I need to stay on third base for more time before making the home run?

I'm more of a Dirac then an Einstein. Extremely reserved and impersonal but fundalmentally a good guy. Probably a trait more common in mathematicians.

First of all, I didn't mean to even imply that you can make an equation out of all of this. --'if you do this and then this---and then this--it will work'---that type of thinking doesn't work in starting a relationship or in a relationship.

It goes by more 'Probability and Chance'. When I saw you venture off and post on another thread, my first thought was that YOU are getting out of that little bubble that you THINK you are in---'external thinking'----(you're really not in a little bubble). It showed that you CAN be adventurous (to whatever degree that can be called adventurous).

You don't know anything about this woman (or she about you). She could be married, does not wear (or never has worn) a wedding ring, and could just be looking for some secret 'lab work' on the side. In other words, until you find out just a little more about her, you could have been and may be spinning your wheels 'over her' over nothing.

She could be even more of an introvert (perfect match up, maybe) than you, and she could be on another forum pouring her heart out about 'the guy that won't talk to me because he may think there's something wrong with me'. She could be chewing her fingers down to the first knuckle worried about 'what she could say'.

Just go in thinking that you do have all the 'knowledge' you need at this point in time ---it's like school---you actually never stop learning.
 
Moonbear said:
Yep, that's the easiest way to initiate an introduction, "Hi, it seems we keep running into each other this way...my name is..." Most normal people will respond by telling you their name too. Then you can give some cheesy response like, "Oh, that's a really pretty name, it suits you." If she rolls her eyes and gets annoyed at the cheesy line, she's not that interested; if she kind of blushes or giggles, then she probably is interested and you can then ask her to do something together.

She kind of blushed when I waved (would that be included as contact?) to her the other day .
 
rewebster said:
she could be on another forum

She likes physics as well which makes me wonder if she is actually on this forum!

If you are please pm me or tell me. There would be some serious information asymmetry if you are.
 
theoritician said:
If you are please pm me or tell me.

I really hope that's your sense of humor coming through.
 
theoritician said:
She kind of blushed when I waved (would that be included as contact?) to her the other day .

That's a good sign. Blushing indicates attracted interest. If she didn't think about you one way or another, she'd have just waved back, maybe looked a bit confused about why you waved wondering if you meant someone else, and there would have been no blushing type response. It may very well mean she's simply equally shy, but very interested, and waiting for you to make the first move.
 
theoritician said:
She kind of blushed when I waved (would that be included as contact?) to her the other day .
Did she wave back? If she didn't wave back, the "blush" could be annoyance.

I thought it was decided about 150 posts ago that you should stop obsessing over this girl?
 
theoritician said:
She kind of blushed when I waved (would that be included as contact?) to her the other day .
That was contact: you were aware of her, she was aware of you, you were aware that she was aware, she was aware that you were aware, you were aware that she was aware that you were aware,... ad infinitum.

I think she was interested, but she may also have been annoyed because she had been expecting a more formal contact from you (e.g. "er, hello, my name is... What is your name?" or "Hi, I brought this cup of tea for you.")
 
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EnumaElish said:
Evo--

This is off the thread, but... Why do I see "0" posts for theoritician?

maybe when he asks her out for coffee (or tea), he'll get "1".
 
EnumaElish said:
Evo--

This is off the thread, but... Why do I see "0" posts for theoritician?
Posts in General Discussion don't count.
 
Evo said:
Did she wave back? If she didn't wave back, the "blush" could be annoyance.

I thought it was decided about 150 posts ago that you should stop obsessing over this girl?

Not only did she wave back but also smiling.

I did thought it was all over but she continued doing what I wrote in post 1 even when no one was asking any questions.
 
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theoritician said:
Not only did she wave back but also smiling.

I did thought it was all over but she continued doing what I wrote in post 1 even when no one was asking any questions.
Ah, we'll that's different!
 
She waved back?! Smiling?! And you interpret this as "it was all over"?!

I'll tell you when it will be all over: it will be over if you mess it up. "Yessir," real fast, too.
 
theoritician said:
Not only did she wave back but also smiling.

I did thought it was all over but she continued doing what I wrote in post 1 even when no one was asking any questions.

I'm going to guess that what got her attention in the first place is not the questions you ask the professor but the way you listen to the answers. This is all she knows of you: how you act in class. What could you possibly be demonstrating in that setting that might interest her? I am betting she likes the way you attend to the professor and wishes for someone who would attend to her the same way.

She obviously likes you, but only as much as she knows you. She doesn't know yet if you will attend to her with the same sensitivity you listen to the professor. You have to introduce yourself and demonstrate that you will. Say to her "We're obviously taking the same class. I'm ------ -------."And give your full name, first and last. Then shake her hand in a friendly way, as you would meeting any classmate. She will tell you her name. Then you can ask some light, chatty questions, about how she's finding the class, about her major, about the weather, it doesn't matter in particular. The information she is most interested in finding out at this point is whether or not you are a sensitive listener with people as you are with academic matters. Whatever questions you happen to ask, the important thing is for her to know that you're actually listening to the answers.

If she is shy, then the thing she wants most is someone to open up to. So, your goal at this point is to show her you are paying attention even to whatever light, mundane things she may say in response. You want to be the opposite of the guys who talk girl ears off with tales of their accomplishments, and don't let the girls get a word in edgewise. Introverts are most concerned with figuring out how they, themselves, feel about various things, and are given to introspection to do that. Having figured that out, they are next concerned with having someone to share that with, someone who'll listen to their take on things, and, at least, understand it, if not agree with it. I suggest you pursue this tack with her: assume that she likes something about the way you listen and see what happens when you lavish those listening skills directly on her.
 
rewebster said:
I really hope that's your sense of humor coming through.

:confused: Why do you think I can't be serious with this statement?
 
rewebster said:
maybe when he asks her out for coffee (or tea), he'll get "1".

You've hit the nail on the head. Spending my time here hasn't got me anywhere with her although I have learned many things in this thread.
 
EnumaElish said:
She waved back?! Smiling?! And you interpret this as "it was all over"?!

I'll tell you when it will be all over: it will be over if you mess it up. "Yessir," real fast, too.

No, that's not it. My initial conversation with her didn't go too well that's all. I was too much of a pessimist and it's all good now.
 
I'm going to guess that what got her attention in the first place is not the questions you ask the professor but the way you listen to the answers. This is all she knows of you: how you act in class. What could you possibly be demonstrating in that setting that might interest her? I am betting she likes the way you attend to the professor and wishes for someone who would attend to her the same way.

That doesn't explain how she would come to start listening to his questions, which would require her first staying to hear the question, and then only waiting to see how he listens, which does not at all explain why she stayed to hear him ask the question.