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This is such an important point. Engineering does so much to shape society and the lives of individuals. But we give zero training to new engineers in these iss
by bem94 8y ago
This is such an important point. Engineering does so much to shape society and the lives of individuals. But we give zero training to new engineers in these issues. Worse, so many engineers I speak to are willfully ignorant or disdainful of the humanities.
Engineers mustn't loose sight of who we work for: humanity.
- SamReidHughes 8y agoHumanity and "the humanities" are often direct opposites.
- matt4077 8y agoQuite a way to prove their point...
- tomnipotent 8y agoI'd much rather see engineers trained in law - it's considerably more practical and I'd wager will lead to far more positive outcomes than general humanities Most modern legal frameworks already incorporate the better structured part of the humanities (philosophy & ethics). However, none of this matters when we live in a hierarchical society where most people just do not exist in a bubble where they can dissent on any and all things they're working on without fear of reprisal. The fact that Google employees were able to speak-up about bidding on government contracts is huge, but that's a luxury most workers don't have.
- truculent 8y agoLaw is a humanities subject, though?
- tomnipotent 8y agoYes, but there are so many classes an undergrad can take.
- chr1 8y agoWhat part of the humanities do you think would be helpful to engineers? I so far hadn't seen anything that would be useful enough to make me not disdainfull of humanities, but i would be happy to be proven wrong.
- tarboreus 8y agoIdeally the humanities forces you to think about values and the why of things, not just the how. Not all goals are worth achieving...you can "change the world" and make it a worse place. More practically, the humanities teaches persuasion and rhetoric, in writing and in speaking, as well as reading between the lines when reading or listening. I work with engineers...kind of am one myself, though I was trained as a humanist...and I see them dashing themselves on those rocks on a weekly basis.
- theparanoid 8y agoEvery ABET accredited engineering school in the US is required to give a class on professional ethics as part of the degree. Doesn't seem to have much effect.
- caseysoftware 8y agoSoftware Engineering has only been ABET accredited for a few years and there are currently only 21 programs nationwide: https://www.softwareengineerinsider.com/articles/abet-accreditation.html https://www.softwareengineerinsider.com/articles/abet-accred... We've applied the title "engineer" to many, many people who haven't been through a formal engineering program, accredited or not. * My undergrad is one of those 21 but I went through as EE, not SE.
- gaius 8y agoBut we give zero training to new engineers in these issues This isn't true, as anyone with an undergrad engineering degree will tell you!