But dropping USB sticks or sending phishing emails (which could just as well be called technical hacking btw) is not what social engineering is about. That's l

But dropping USB sticks or sending phishing emails (which could just as well be called technical hacking btw) is not what social engineering is about. That's like saying running a brute password cracker or port scanner requires no skill or hard work at all, so lumping software work under hacking is really an insult to all the "real hackers" (whatever real means). Social engineering often requires you to get someone else to do something that they should not, don't want to and often are trained not to do. Very often in direct interactions, not only is it hard (depending on target you might also need a lot of background knowledge, needing significant prework), but it typically involves much higher direct risk (which makes it even harder).