It's funny that when people ask what use in their lives will learning math and science have, we answer that it's about the clarity and discipline in thinking that will make them smarter - and then we turn around and refuse to believe that people whose training is in applying math and science to life can actually be smarter.

> The technologist, specifically the software developer (ie.. the typical HN reader) seems to often be a non-conformist, even contrarian. Why do you think that is?

I'm a mathematician, not a software developer, but I think that both professions train their practitioners to believe that the way to get good tools (or theorems) is to try to break them, and to keep only those that survive—a 'confrontational' approach that it is (perhaps too) easy to carry over into the rest of life. I won't deny that there is probably some arrogance in my contrarianism, too.

Often not immediately agreeing with a mainstream opinion, or stopping by to evaluate pros and cons, is seen as being contrarian or signaling smarts.