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Why do people assume that making more engineering majors = making more people analytical and reasonable? A whole bunch of things: - doing engineering isn't mag

Why do people assume that making more engineering majors = making more people analytical and reasonable? A whole bunch of things: - doing engineering isn't magically going to change your thought process. Some people don't think the same way as others - they probably wouldn't enjoy engineering if they did it (I don't doubt they could apply themselves to get a degree). You think if Obama did a BEng the world would immediately be black and white and he could just make the "right" decisions? - engineers aren't the only people who contribute to society, by a long shot. Besides a world with movies, graphic art or music, an all-engineer world would lack all the scholarly products of the modern world. "Guns, Germs and Steel" is an awesome book which is very accessible, and engineers seem to love it. But it was written by a biologist, on the backs of 100s of academics who did the original research he cites. A work like that couldn't exist without "the arts"

tcdowney 13y ago
I'm pretty sure biology falls within the S in STEM. "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is a pop-science book, surely you could have used a more literary example to represent "the arts."
- alanctgardner2 13y ago
  I chose that book because: engineers love it. Engineers don't necessarily love Marlow's Faust, or the Ring Cycle, or any other great achievements of the arts. Also, there's a significant anthropological and sociological component to GGS. OP's sort of engineer hates "soft sciences" like these. "The arts" was probably a bad choice of words, because few people are brazen enough to say art isn't good. Instead they'll say art is a good hobby, surely you can program by day and still write some little operas or something at night. Of course, this completely understates the dedication and focus required to produce a work. I really wanted to defend the soft sciences: psychology, socioligy , anthro, and other things people on HN don't see the need for.

tcdowney 13y ago

I'm pretty sure biology falls within the S in STEM. "Guns, Germs, and Steel" is a pop-science book, surely you could have used a more literary example to represent "the arts."

alanctgardner2 13y ago
I chose that book because: engineers love it. Engineers don't necessarily love Marlow's Faust, or the Ring Cycle, or any other great achievements of the arts. Also, there's a significant anthropological and sociological component to GGS. OP's sort of engineer hates "soft sciences" like these. "The arts" was probably a bad choice of words, because few people are brazen enough to say art isn't good. Instead they'll say art is a good hobby, surely you can program by day and still write some little operas or something at night. Of course, this completely understates the dedication and focus required to produce a work. I really wanted to defend the soft sciences: psychology, socioligy , anthro, and other things people on HN don't see the need for.