My friend Henry who is of predominantly Irish decent told me a story about the Lochness monster. He heard this story from his cousin who is half Scottish. He said, “So my cousin saw the monster. He went looking for it. He was just walking around the lake trying to be casual and calm. He would stop at different points around the loche and just sit and watch the water for the monster. The first few times he went to the loche he didn’t see anything. But he had full faith that the monster is real. So he kept going back ya know. Then on a cloudy day in March he saw it. He was sitting in one of his usual viewing spots and he saw something stir the calm water. He pulled out his binoculars and looked that the disrupted spot. He watched for what he said was hours but really he has a short attention span so it was probably like ten minutes. He said that he saw a dark figure emerge from the water. He said he saw flippers but then a boat horn went off and the monster disappeared. This was not enough to convince me that the monster actually exists. I still think it is just a legend. My cousin couldn’t give me any proof of the monster. People have been creating hoaxes for years. I won’t believe it until I see it with my own eyes.” This is not an uncommon story. People have been ‘spotting’ the monster for years. Many research articles about the monster reference these sightings. One article that I have read believes that everyone can be split into believers and nonbelievers. Believers believe that the creature exists even if they haven’t seen it themselves. The nonbelievers need to see the creature with their own eyes before they will believe it. I would be classified as a nonbeliever. I would have to see the creature myself in order to fully believe in its existence.

My friend is a computer science major. As part of the computer science community she collects and forwards a myriad of folklore specific to this unique group. Computer science folklore is unique and reflects the beliefs and the culture of the group. Per my informant, as well as personal experience, computer science majors have a unique sense of humor that develops from the difficult coursework, the long hours spent on the computer coding, and the group dynamic required to get through the major. This humor is often expressed through memes and jokes only members of this group can understand and appreciate.

For more information about the legend check out this article:

Lyons, Stephen . “The Legend of Loch Ness.” PBS SoCal. Nova, 12 Jan. 1999. Web. 27 Mar. 2017. <http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/ancient/legend-loch-ness.html>.