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There is nothing preventing you from talking about traffic systems. There are, however, laws preventing you from claiming to be an engineer with expertise in th

There is nothing preventing you from talking about traffic systems. There are, however, laws preventing you from claiming to be an engineer with expertise in the subject in a public forum.

thomastjeffery 9y ago
A man claimed to be an "electrical engineer", and was fined for doing so, because the word "engineer" was taken in context to mean "traffic engineer", which is a licensed title. The issue I take to this is that you must have a recognized title to claim knowledge. This has two problems: 1. People outside of a group of recognition have unnecessary difficulty giving input. This degrades the "public" aspect of the forum. 2. Common words like "engineer" are redefined to have more authority than they do outside the forum. This means that those with broad engineering expertise and knowledge that is applicable to the subject are considered to not have any applicable knowledge or expertise. It may be reasonable to require credentials from someone who is doing the engineering, or someone who makes final decisions. It is not reasonable to require credentials from everyone who uses a noun to describe him or herself. If you want credentials from someone who claims to be an engineer, then you can ask for them. Credentials need not be assumed. There are positions like MD, EMT, Police Officer, etc. that do imply credentials. These titles inherently require trust and respect, so claiming one without credentials is fraudulent. "Engineer" does not fit into that category.
- notlob 9y ago
  Electrical Engineer is also a licensed profession.
  - thomastjeffery 9y ago
    For good reasons. You don't want someone to wire your house improperly, because non-trivial things like kinked cables can end up starting fires later on. To say that you are an electrical engineer does not carry weight. To say you can do electrical work because you are an electrical engineer implies that you have credentials. This is because "can" changes the context of the statement. "can" implies authority. There is such thing as an unlicensed electrical engineer. That is because "electrical engineer" alone does not imply authority. There are positions that do imply authority, like MD, EMT, Police Officer, and electrical engineer is not one of them.
    - notlob 9y ago
      Electrical engineers do not wire houses. Electricians (a distinct profession, also licensed) wire houses. Similar to how chemical engineers are distinct from plumbers. I'm done here, this is not going anywhere productive or enlightening.

There is nothing preventing you from talking about traffic systems. There are, however, laws preventing you from claiming to be an engineer with expertise in the subject in a public forum.

thomastjeffery 9y ago

A man claimed to be an "electrical engineer", and was fined for doing so, because the word "engineer" was taken in context to mean "traffic engineer", which is a licensed title. The issue I take to this is that you must have a recognized title to claim knowledge. This has two problems: 1. People outside of a group of recognition have unnecessary difficulty giving input. This degrades the "public" aspect of the forum. 2. Common words like "engineer" are redefined to have more authority than they do outside the forum. This means that those with broad engineering expertise and knowledge that is applicable to the subject are considered to not have any applicable knowledge or expertise. It may be reasonable to require credentials from someone who is doing the engineering, or someone who makes final decisions. It is not reasonable to require credentials from everyone who uses a noun to describe him or herself. If you want credentials from someone who claims to be an engineer, then you can ask for them. Credentials need not be assumed. There are positions like MD, EMT, Police Officer, etc. that do imply credentials. These titles inherently require trust and respect, so claiming one without credentials is fraudulent. "Engineer" does not fit into that category.

notlob 9y ago
Electrical Engineer is also a licensed profession.
- thomastjeffery 9y ago
  For good reasons. You don't want someone to wire your house improperly, because non-trivial things like kinked cables can end up starting fires later on. To say that you are an electrical engineer does not carry weight. To say you can do electrical work because you are an electrical engineer implies that you have credentials. This is because "can" changes the context of the statement. "can" implies authority. There is such thing as an unlicensed electrical engineer. That is because "electrical engineer" alone does not imply authority. There are positions that do imply authority, like MD, EMT, Police Officer, and electrical engineer is not one of them.
  - notlob 9y ago
    Electrical engineers do not wire houses. Electricians (a distinct profession, also licensed) wire houses. Similar to how chemical engineers are distinct from plumbers. I'm done here, this is not going anywhere productive or enlightening.