Yes, this is what happens in SMU

One cold and rainy Monday afternoon in our Social Science class.


"Today for the in-class exercise I want each of you to take Rubin's Quiz Part A and B," said Prof, "All of you take a copy..."


I look down at the stapled sheets of thirty odd MCQs in front of me and read the bold black lettering on the first page. THINK ABOUT THE PERSON YOU ARE CURRENTLY DATING OR LAST DATED AND ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS.


"What?" I said stupidly.


'Oh dear God..." said the girl sitting next to me.


After twenty-five minutes of soul-searching Prof called out, "That's it. Time's up! Lets discuss the answers, shall we? But first! Tell me...what did you think of Rubin's Quiz A? What do you think its really about?"


"Commitment?" said a student.


"Sacrifice?" ventured another.


"A waste of time?" followed by a smattering of laughter.


"No guys! Come on...its about love!" said Prof enthusiastically.


Silence. And then we burst out laughing.


"What?" frowned Prof. "I'm serious! Lets see what scores you got..."


Incidentally, the boys scored higher than the girls in this one.


"This is consistent with Rubin's findings since the 1970s. Guys tend to be more in love with the girls they are dating than vice versa. What do we have for Quiz B? Which is, by the way, all bout how much you 'like' the person you're dating, as a human being..."


Girls scored much higher than the guys in this one.


"Note this guys. Girls attach much more importance to your personalities than you think," said Prof, "Studies show that more than 60% men eventually fall in love with the girl they now 'like'. But less than 30% women end up loving the person they now 'like'. Let me explain this in a way you kids will understand. Do you know what its like to 'like' a person and not love them?"


Class full of boys and girls: Yeah, sure.


"Do you know what its like to love a person and not like them at all. That feeling when you know you hate their guts but you can't stop loving them?" said Prof, lowering his voice to a dramatic whisper.


Boys: What??! No.....


Girls: Yeah. Yeah, we know...


"Casing point!" Prof's voice boomed from across the seminar room, "What do you think this proves?" He peered eagerly at the class. "It proves that men follow a logical sequence when they fall in love. They meet the girl, they start liking the girl, they fall in love with  the girl. But for women, there is no such logic. They meet a guy. They like the guy, they even go out with the guy. But when it comes to love, they have no idea what's happening or where they're going. What? Am I right?"


Class stares back at him in a stony silence.


"I know, I know. Home truths hit you hard. Now lets return to reliability and validity in statistical analysis, shall we?"


We put away Rubin's Quiz (Part A and B) and took out our text books and notes. Outside, the rain continued, but we all felt much colder.

Comments

  1. AnjeeJuly 4, 2011 at 1:54 AM

    sounds damn interesting. how true is it though? i mean wat the proff. said abt guys knwing they r in luv but girls nt knowing? i guess u guys were bumped out

    ReplyDelete
  2. Prianthi RoyJuly 5, 2011 at 6:14 PM

    Oh well. It is true. And yeah we sure were bummed out. But c'est la vie, right?

    ReplyDelete

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