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Party Ideas For Math Nerds?
rbf writes "A girl I like at my university, a graduate student in mathematics, will be having a birthday next month. She had thought of throwing a nerd-themed party — show up with tape on your glasses, pants hiked up, etc. However, she decided against it because most of her friends are math nerds and wouldn't even have to dress up! So my question for the community is: What fun party ideas would appeal to a group of mostly math-major nerds?"
Alcohol. Barry White. Intercourse.
Trust me, its great for the rest of us.
While you're at it, watch Barton Fink.
Ice Cream has no bones.
Play pin the tail on the integer?
Dress up as your favorite nonlinear equation.
Start a drinking game where everyone increases their drinks parabolically. (or alternatively: everyone drinks when someone says "Archimedes.")
TP the English department utilizing the golden spiral....
Careful What You Wish For....
How about not having one?
Set up a mini-casino and have some games running. Be creative with the prizes, and hand everybody their chips at the door.
Blogging because I can...
Imaginary party, you don't even have to show up!
xkcd has some forums. Given the quality of the replies that I've read so far, you should better ask there.
Bring fractal cookies.
;)
Also, try asking on the XKCD forums. They're slightly higher-brow than here, judging by the comments I see for now
Misleading titles? Inflammatory blurbs? Keep in mind that Slashdot is a tabloid.
Just putting myself, a computer nerd/software engineer, in the place of the math nerds, I don't think I would want to go to a party that's math themed. Parties are like miniature breaks from what we do normally. I enjoy dinner parties with people from different backgrounds because the conversations are interesting and new. Better yet, parties where we don't mention work but things we did outside of work are great because we get to see a different side of each other. Plus, parties are meant for socialization, not sure if math is the optimal thing for that. I suggest stepping back and asking yourself what you really want out of the party. If fun is what you're looking for, then cast a wider net because there's a ton of ways to have fun.
All else fails, just have an orgy. That has to be new and interesting to nerds. j/k
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As a self-admitted nerd, most of the fun parties I've been to were centered around games: Smash Bros, Halo, Guitar Hero, Chez Geek, Murder Mystery, Pictionary, Settlers, etc. Most of the mediocre parties I've been to involved becoming inebriated and listening to bad music. Good parties should foster social experiences that are fun. For me, games have filled that role more adequately than other things because they give me a common topic with which to start conversations and drift off into random socio-political-theoretical-conversations. Games also tend to be effective, over say an outing like hiking, because they have no physical requirements and appeal to a more general audience. But, then again, this all depends on what appeals to your friends. I've had friends, for whom playing games was childish and annoying (because they thought they sucked at it). Just try to find the appropriate something that gets people to open up to strangers.
Serve Pi instead of cake?
There's going to be a GIRL there. And she's not deflatable. It's going to be the best math nerd party EVER!
paintball
Don't drink and derive!
I know this isn't an answer to your question -- but you say that this is a girl you "like," and you seem to really want to impress her by throwing her the greatest math birthday party ever. Have you told her that you like her, or asked her out yet? If you haven't, and you're hoping that planning this party will help her suddenly realize what a great friend you are, and how well you know her, and that you're the one for her -- well, it just doesn't work that way (except in the movies). Many a shy guy (myself included) has fallen into that trap way too many times, because friendly gestures are far easier than being direct and facing the possibility of rejection. So if I'm wrong, never mind ... but if I'm right, maybe you could redirect some of the party planning effort into gathering the courage to tell her how you feel?
:)
If that's way off base, at least here's a party idea: have everyone come dressed up as a liberal arts student.
Cheers,
IT
Power corrupts. PowerPoint corrupts absolutely.
You would be surprised- dating is more difficult for nerds because *meaning* is more important, but when it happens, *attention to detail* trumps all :)
"Follow me" the wise man said, but he walked behind.
I've spent the last 11 years at various math institutions and conferences all over the world. I think I qualify as a "math nerd", and I have a PhD to prove it. I find the question dumb, and somewhat insulting.
Firstly the whole idea that their is a single "math nerd" type is ridiculous. Very few mathematicians I know fit into the high pants and thick glasses type. A lot of people at my institution are musicians, several play in rock bands at night, some dance, some are training buffs, one guy I know is combining his PhD with playing professional sports and is on his way to Olympics. While most are still guys, a growing portion are girls: some are straight, some are gay, some are single, quite many are married. In fact the variety is probably the only defining feature I can find.
And when it comes to partying, the only special way I can think of that mathematicians like to party is hard. I can remember from many times the surprise of "numerotypicals" after having partyed till dawn with a bunch of mathematicians. While there are certainly the "study and never leave the lab" types - most math nerds know are more like the opposite. The reason for this is probably that math is high stress occupation (try having as your job to push your mind to the very limit of its ability every day) which tends to lead to hard partying behavior. The stress is also the reason why many mathematicians are creatively worn out by 35-40.
So, seriously, stop the silly patronizing and just organize a good party. With lots of booze.
A friend of mine averaged two Halloween parties a year. The date of the first one in any given year was usually about half way to Halloween, usually at the end of April. The invitations always called it "Halfway to the Haunt". The idea is that finding a decent costume for a Halloween party in October is easy. Doing so in April is, in fact, quite difficult. It's unexpected, it gets people interested, and it gives nerds an uncommon challenge. The conversation describing what you're doing that particular day is always a little interesting as well: "Sorry, I'm busy on Saturday. Going to a Halloween party." "Oh ok... wait, what?" Seems to fit the bill nicely.
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When a math student I knew threw parties, there always were a lot of different sorts of beer. He pinned some sheets to the wall so that everyone could vote for their favorite kind.
If the party is not going so well, voting mechanisms are an interesting enough topic. If the party is going well, everybody is just happy that there's plenty of beer.
This is my first post on Slashdot. Normally I don't have anything useful to say (smarter faster posters seem abundant), but I think here I can step up.
Comatose51 (687974) got very close.
Aside from having thrown a lot of very successful parties in my life (even making the news papers), I formed www.HIKEtheGEEK.com a few years ago. Most of the hikers are indeed mathematicians, physicists, and other technically minded people...we also have an amazing geek-girl to geek-guy ratio, which is very cool.
Let's ignore that they are mathematicians, and just recognize they are smart. Smart people are not impressed by shinny objects and noise makers.
Here are some ideas:
- Play music that people will get a kick out of, like the movie soundtrack to a well known or fun movie. Forrest Gump has a very cool sound track for example. It often surprised people when they realize how much music was in that movie. But camp movies can work also.
- Fondue - It involves very hot liquids, and experimentation. The more pots the better. Some can be wine based, others chocolate, etc. It ain't just for the 70s any more.
- Speaking of wine, don't bring beer. Beer is boring...ask people to bring something small, tasty, and interesting. Most geeks don't drink, but if the do, they tend to want to experience something original.
- Invite non-geeks, and invite as many women as you can... Women are naturally social, it is simply wonderful how a well balanced party will just flow.
- Ask everyone to dress nicely. This is rarely done now-a-days. But it is really cool to see your friends at their best, or at the very least, a great chance for black-mail material for later.
- Ask everyone to bring a fav game. Cheap Ass Games is a good example. But don't start games until later. Apples to Apples is another great party game for smart people.
- Show a movie later in the evening, something fun most people would not have seen. Either really old, or really new. (I'm planning on Surfwise next for example).
- Get the invites out early, invite all people in person (on the phone is fine). Do not invite people just by email.
- Hire someone, or get some friends to agree before hand to help clean up.
- Lastly, host the party. This is worth a thousand words on its own, but to be brief, a host is an active job, make sure people meet each other. Introduce people by name, and by someone that others might think is interesting. Even if you don't know someone, you can still make a statement, for example "Terry, meet Pat, Pat meet Terry. Terry wears white vans to parties, while Pat knows how to make the colour red *work*"
blackjack and hookers...you want to screw the blackjack?
They're mostly maths nerds - have you any idea how complicated those drinking games are going to get?
It's not that hard, you just pick a card and drink half the sum of the prime factors in fingers. If you get it wrong, you have to stand on your head and recite pi backwards (as hard as it sounds.)
Reciting pi backwards gets easier and easier as you go on, but getting started is a bitch.
There's some truth in what both of you have to say really. Being yourself and getting the girl are just not going to happen if your life mainly consists of sitting in your basement playing video games.
That said, searching for dates is really only good for finding one thing--dates. You may get laid or meet the girl of your dreams, but you're mostly going to spend money on dinners, drinks and movies for somebody's company for a few hours. If you just enjoy dating for the sake of dating (and many people do), all that is fine. A lot of the advice out there on the internet is targeted towards guys who want to date more and get laid more.
If you're looking for that serious, long term relationship though, well, you shouldn't actually be looking for it. People who are looking hard for relationships tend to be the last ones who should be in a relationship as they're often needy, insecure and desperate. The best relationships are the ones that you sort of stumble across while doing something else. Obviously, playing video games at home all day is unlikely to provide an environment where this can happen.
Beyond changing significant, alterable aspects of yourself (like not bathing or generally being disgusting), the key is not to stop being yourself, but rather to improve yourself such that other people can find you "being yourself" more interesting. One easy way to do that is to undertake some new hobbies or activities where there will be the kind of people you'd like to end up in a relationship with around. For some people, dating more (and making themselves more datable) is such a hobby. For others, it might be taking an art class or learning to ballroom dance or working on a politician's campaign.