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“Here’s Fred Brooks, this giant. I mean — made IBM, adviser to presidents, all this stuff. And this lady is looking for directions, so he walks with h
by jgrahamc 11y ago
“Here’s Fred Brooks, this giant. I mean — made IBM, adviser
to presidents, all this stuff. And this lady is looking for
directions, so he walks with her out to the street and down
the street to show her where she needs to go,” Bishop said.
Isn't it sad that this was deemed even worth reporting? Why assume someone like Fred Brooks wouldn't do that?
- lubonay 11y agoI believe the assumption is that any average person would not do that. Reporting that Fred Brooks did that sets him apart from the average person.
- coldtea 11y agoSounds like a wrong assumption both for Fred Brooks, the average person, and people of similar status to Fred.
- kzhahou 11y agoYou're at work and someone asks you for directions. Do you: A) Tell them to go down the hall, take elevator, go down, and then they'll find their way. or B) Say "here, come with me." Excuse yourself for a few minutes from whatever business you were attending to. Walk with person to elevator. Strike up a conversation along the way. Once on ground floor, walk with them a little ways more to make sure they see exactly which street to follow. Then return upstairs to whatever you were doing. That was point of anecdote.
- coldtea 11y agoDepending on how pressed I am for time, I can (and have) do either. And not only I'm not unique in that regard, but I can also be totally un-humble/un-helpful (if that's what the anecdote meant to imply) at other times, despite having shown someone around some offices.
- oneeyedpigeon 11y agoAgreed. I guess there's a lazy stereotype that once people reach a certain 'status' they don't trouble themselves with 'the little people' anymore, but Fred Brooks is hardly a megalomaniacal diva (I have no idea what his personal wealth is, though). As much as I absolutely detest the likes of Donald Trump, I wouldn't be surprised if even he acted in a similar way in that situation.
- kelseyfrancis 11y ago> As much as I absolutely detest the likes of Donald Trump, I wouldn't be surprised if even he acted in a similar way in that situation. Then I invite you to read http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/12/donald-trump-mark-bowden-playboy-profile http://www.vanityfair.com/news/2015/12/donald-trump-mark-bow...
- JustSomeNobody 11y agoIt doesn't matter what your status (for lack of a better word) is. You're either a person who would help someone or you're a person who wouldn't.
- GBond 11y agoFame changes a person. Some people, for the worse.
- Spooky23 11y agoThe point is that he is a humble man. Not something you see every day for someone that well known and respected.
- goldenkey 11y ago"and respected" Seems perverse to conflate uppityness with being respected. I'd say it's quite the inverse.
- Spooky23 11y agoGood point... I bungled my point :). I think there is a "celebrity" version where external folks have a great deal of respect for the narrative/persona that they see publicly. A lot of times the "real story" is that the guy is a walking shitshow from the perspective of the folks around him. Then you have the rare folks who are respected in the wider world and by their peers.
- mhurron 11y ago> Not something you see every day for someone that well known and respected. And that is why it is sad, that what is expected of people is to become successful assholes.
- brudgers 11y agoI think its inclusion is more an artifact of the style of reporting. On one hand, owing to the breathless celebrity gossip column template and on the other the pseudo-secularism of public institutions in the American South. For UNC's donating alumni, the religious angle is more likely to elicit funds than professional achievement. The humility parable is a supporting detail. Brooks' contribution to the field beyond Chapel Hill ain't and is left out [i.e. why Brooks won the Turing Award]. That's not to dismiss or disparage Brooks' religious beliefs. Only to point out that they are culturally more relevant to the university's stereotypical alum. Few would assume that a university professor would be above giving directions, absent minded schemas aside.
- chucksmash 11y agoIf you are coming away with something about "pseudo-secularism of public institutions in the American South" from a guy sharing an anecdote about his colleague, I think it has more to do with the lens through which you read the article than the guy, the article or the institution.
- GBond 11y agoShows how unassuming, humble, and willing he is to help others.
- coldtea 11y ago"I put my pants on like the rest of you: one leg at a time. Only when my pants are on, I manage/write hugely influential IT works".
- gohrt 11y agoIn modern Silicon Valley, we can do that without pants.
- jonstewart 11y agoBecause a lot of professors aren't particularly great humans.
- darkr 11y agocitation needed?
- darkr 11y agoYeah, I find that an odd titbit. The implication is that the accepted normal reaction for "a giant", when asked for directions by someone is something along the lines of "WHAT DO I LOOK LIKE, A FUCKING TOURIST INFORMATION CENTRE? GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE, I'M A GODDAMN GIANT YOU STUPID WHORE".
- kzhahou 11y agoNo, it was fact that he didn't just PROVIDE directions, as most people would, but actually took a few minutes out of his day to guide this person, which most people wouldn't bother with, let alone the presumably super-busy founder of the department.
- dang 11y agoPlease don't do this here.
- robterrell 11y agoNote that the Daily Tarheel is the student newspaper at UNC (shout-out to my fellow heels!) so maybe give them a little latitude. It's awkward and stands out, true, but it was a quote, and the author might not have had many more to work with on deadline.
- frogpelt 11y agoSure, kind behavior should be expected but it's okay to point it out and commend it too. There's plenty of unkind behavior going on and being pointed out.
- notnotgood 11y agoDr. Bishop is my advisor and has been very close to Dr. Brooks since coming to the department. It's hard to verbalize the humility Dr. Brooks exhibits. He once held the door open for me a few years ago as I was leaving the building after a long day. Here is this brilliant, monumental computer scientist and founder of the department, holding the door for a lowly, clearly exhausted undergraduate. It almost seemed metaphoric. As a grad student now, I look back and really appreciate that small gesture. These things may seem trivial, but he does them so often. Many of the students at UNC wouldn't even know what Dr. Brooks looks like, let alone his day-to-day personality. Dr. B was trying to describe the kindness and good nature of Dr. Brooks.
- jasonlotito 11y agoShow, don't tell. One tells a story. The other is this: “Here’s Fred Brooks, this giant. I mean — made IBM, adviser to presidents, all this stuff. And humble,” Bishop said.
- elcapitan 11y agoBecause public demonstration of your virtuousness is the new lead currency. If you write about an 'old, white man', you have to apologize and you can compensate that by demonstrating that he is among the righteous nevertheless.
- saalweachter 11y agoWell, we also hear a lot of stories about giants in our field being raging assholes, illegally parking in handicap spots, skipping out on their parental obligations, stealing others' work ... maybe it should be taken for granted that you should be a good person, even if you're famous, but the occasional reminder doesn't hurt.
- copperx 11y agoI hope you're not implying that Jobs was an intellectual giant.