> mechanical and aerospace engineers aren't fit to make predictions of a social nature this seems like a hasty generalization. it's probably fair to say that

> mechanical and aerospace engineers aren't fit to make predictions of a social nature this seems like a hasty generalization. it's probably fair to say that a mechanical engineering education is unlikely to include much depth in topics of a "social nature". (of course, there's nothing stopping a mechanical engineer from diving in, be it formal education or self-directed.) that said, identifying one's assumptions (such as: a decreasing search trend implies decreasing interest or utilization) is an important facet of any sort of research, be it "social" or not. i think describing this as a "science/engineering geeks aren't qualified to talk about social stuff" situation seems to miss the mark.