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This is exactly it. There seems to be a "pseudo-polymath" personality type among some engineers. Based on an unexamined but deeply held philosophical belief th

This is exactly it. There seems to be a "pseudo-polymath" personality type among some engineers. Based on an unexamined but deeply held philosophical belief that engineering concepts and ways of thinking neatly generalize to all fields. The pseudo-polymath engineer is an instant expert in anything he bothers to turn his mind to and subsequently systematize. Engineers who think they have unique outsider insight into an unrelated field like medicine or cognitive science should tread very carefully. If you can, try to validate your ideas and assumptions with a subject matter expert. Don't underestimate the large stock of knowledge and discourse that already exists in these fields.

7sidedmarble 4y ago
There seems to be you say? Are we on the same website? I'd say it's an epidemic among our kind...
Bancakes 4y ago
Only STEM, specifically M, have the cognitive capacity to deal with algorithms over generic data types. We do have unique I sight in the sense that we're professionally trained and adapted to think and find patterns instead of assuming a large array of axioms.
hitekker 4y ago
The metastasis of this belief in a social body is particularly revolting. No need to do the hard work of learning; just read that one's commenters thousand paragraph essay which applies familiar concept A onto unpleasant reality B, and yields easy insight C. Savor that sweet eureka moment in the head, and then when someone else bring up unpleasant reality B, give them insight C to “teach” them and get your fix again. Everyone becomes a salesman, selling different flavors of the same cocaine. Like most positive illusions, the motivation is to forgo truth in favor of power. The difficult, far-away light that borders reality and the abyss, versus, the safe, comfortable, easy to reach thing.
agnosticmantis 4y ago
“All you need is to start from first principles and follow the math” said a high-profile conman…

7sidedmarble 4y ago

There seems to be you say? Are we on the same website? I'd say it's an epidemic among our kind...

Bancakes 4y ago

Only STEM, specifically M, have the cognitive capacity to deal with algorithms over generic data types. We do have unique I sight in the sense that we're professionally trained and adapted to think and find patterns instead of assuming a large array of axioms.

hitekker 4y ago

The metastasis of this belief in a social body is particularly revolting. No need to do the hard work of learning; just read that one's commenters thousand paragraph essay which applies familiar concept A onto unpleasant reality B, and yields easy insight C. Savor that sweet eureka moment in the head, and then when someone else bring up unpleasant reality B, give them insight C to “teach” them and get your fix again. Everyone becomes a salesman, selling different flavors of the same cocaine. Like most positive illusions, the motivation is to forgo truth in favor of power. The difficult, far-away light that borders reality and the abyss, versus, the safe, comfortable, easy to reach thing.

agnosticmantis 4y ago

“All you need is to start from first principles and follow the math” said a high-profile conman…