Cross-Specialization

Recently, I just realized something. i have 2 friends in camp who are essentially nerds, in other words, they have nerdy interests like gaming and computer hardware and some other stuff. I actually have more, but for this case, just the 2 of them will do. So you have these 2 "more-or-less" nerds but they do have a very distinguishing trait from other nerds.

They are very avid runners. They have essentially blended 2 very different and often times contrasting hobbies as their Main interests. In other words, if they were to have to fill out a survey or governmental form, they would have to put running beside another pretty nerdy activity like gaming. They have Cross-Specialized, a term i just borrowed from D&D

And it never really occurred to me until very recently, because these 2 activities are so far removed that they never ever come up simultaneously in the same conversation.

I think for any non-sporty person like myself, it is quite a reasonable worry that girls will be attracted to people who are generally smart and fit at the same time (of course good-looking is also somewhere in the equation). So I used to think about the fact that my "prime" would be the years immediately following either BMT training or SISPEC training because I would be the fittest and therefore most physically attractive at that time, given that my intelligence or even maturity would not fluctuate wildly.

So when it hit me that these 2 guys have actually Cross-Specialized, I got a little worried for a while, like about 2 minutes (yeah, it sounds weird to be worried about someone else being a "better catch", i know). Then I realized that both of them are actually single and more importantly, have pretty bad track records with the ladies. Granted, experience-wise, I would be the least knowledgeable about any and all Boy-Girl Relationships. But, still, observation would still suggest that while they may have successfully Cross-Specialized, they are actually not as great as others may be.

For example, both enjoy running, but neither can consistently get a Gold for IPPT 2.4km runs. In other words, they may be good but not as good as people who just mainly do that 1 activity. Also, even in the realm of intelligence or knowledge, both are actually "muggers" who work really really hard for examinations instead of just being able to absorb information quickly and apply them.

So to provide a gaming metaphor, they may have put their points into 2 different Tech Trees, but they aren't as far ahead as those who only put in one.

Disclaimer: Of course i know that there are virtually no people who do just one thing and identify their whole personality by that one thing, I just meant that even if they have different things, its usually related, like sporty people like soccer and running and basketball. Stuff like that. It's more important to show the contrast between such "clashing" activities like running and passively gaming.