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I can't find the source at the moment, but I've seen it reported in the past that engineers are actually unusually likely to be fundamentalist Christians who be

I can't find the source at the moment, but I've seen it reported in the past that engineers are actually unusually likely to be fundamentalist Christians who believe in creationism. Engineers are also unusually likely to be Islamist terrorists, though there are many reasons for that. [1] There's a certain personality type that is drawn to engineering that believes the whole world can be explained by their simple pet model and that they are smarter than everyone else. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/magazine/12FOB-IdeaLab-t.html https://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/12/magazine/12FOB-IdeaLab-t....

yard2010 2y ago
What the heck did I just read. It feels like BS - Isn't the sample too small? https://archive.is/FfEK4 https://archive.is/FfEK4
- dekhn 2y ago
  it's sociology- a field which frequently does not provide evidence for its claims.
- olddustytrail 2y ago
  You mean 400 people? No, that isn't too small. Why would you think it was?
rsynnott 2y ago
> I can't find the source at the moment, but I've seen it reported in the past that engineers are actually unusually likely to be fundamentalist Christians who believe in creationism. If it's the same thing I'm thinking of, it was kinda flawed, IMO, in that it was a comparison of such beliefs amongst various types of scientists, with, for some reason, engineers thrown in, too. And yeah, it's kind of unsurprising that engineers are more into unscientific nonsense than various types of scientists, because engineers aren't scientists. It would be more surprising if they were significantly worse than the _general population_, but I don't think that it showed that.
stracer 2y ago
> There's a certain personality type that is drawn to engineering that believes the whole world can be explained by their simple pet model and that they are smarter than everyone else. Lots of failed theorists with that personality type/flaw as well.

yard2010 2y ago

What the heck did I just read. It feels like BS - Isn't the sample too small? https://archive.is/FfEK4 https://archive.is/FfEK4

dekhn 2y ago
it's sociology- a field which frequently does not provide evidence for its claims.
olddustytrail 2y ago
You mean 400 people? No, that isn't too small. Why would you think it was?

rsynnott 2y ago

> I can't find the source at the moment, but I've seen it reported in the past that engineers are actually unusually likely to be fundamentalist Christians who believe in creationism. If it's the same thing I'm thinking of, it was kinda flawed, IMO, in that it was a comparison of such beliefs amongst various types of scientists, with, for some reason, engineers thrown in, too. And yeah, it's kind of unsurprising that engineers are more into unscientific nonsense than various types of scientists, because engineers aren't scientists. It would be more surprising if they were significantly worse than the _general population_, but I don't think that it showed that.

stracer 2y ago

> There's a certain personality type that is drawn to engineering that believes the whole world can be explained by their simple pet model and that they are smarter than everyone else. Lots of failed theorists with that personality type/flaw as well.