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Precisely this. Elon is a genius, and absolutely one of the greatest men alive. But we must understand that he is an engineer, not a scientist. The fact that he

by FD3SA 13y ago

Precisely this. Elon is a genius, and absolutely one of the greatest men alive. But we must understand that he is an engineer, not a scientist. The fact that he had to put his own money into an ambitious engineering project just goes to show how ridiculously conservative most investors are. Is it any surprise then, that basic science funding from profit driven investors is so abysmal? We need the NIH, we need the NSF, we need CERN, now more than ever. Basic science is the only way to get significantly more return from a dollar invested, but nobody wants to pay upfront. That is why we need taxpayer funding in basic science. Scientific breakthroughs will yield such massive dividends in the long run, that citizens would literally be spending on their own well being in a way that would otherwise be impossible. Discoveries such as vaccines, antibiotics, surgery, genetics and others have allowed humans to enjoy a standard of living unfathomable even a hundred years ago. If politicians had any vision whatsoever, they would have instigated a New Deal with massive investment in scientific and engineering research projects. Yet what did they do? Feed banks infinite loans at prime to keep them afloat, so that banks can choose to continue lending on a profit driven schedule. Guess who gets loans at prime from banks? Not the NIH, that's for sure.

dfc 13y ago
Precisely this? When is this not precise? this 1. Used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced 1.1 Used to introduce someone or something 1.2 Referring to the nearer of two things close to the speaker (the other, if specified, being identified by ‘that’) 2. Referring to a specific thing just mentioned 3. Used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced: More: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/this?q=this http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/this?q=...
- nl 13y ago
  "This" on its own as a word indicating agreement is a fairly recent usage. Notably, the very definition you posted makes no mention of that usage. From that definition there is no way to tell if "This" on its own means "This predeceeding comment is completely wrong" or "This predeceeding comment is completely right". Also, "precisely" indicates degree rather than the generalist term "this". For example, "I'll meet you at this time tomorrow" and "I'll meet you at precisely this time tomorrow" have different connotations for how accurate you are expecting to be.
chroem 13y ago
>Elon ... is an engineer Oh really? Where did he study engineering? When did he take the FE exam? That's not a term that you can throw around all willy-nilly, especially in the context of hardware. Next, are you about to tell me that the CEO of Ford is also an engineer?
- sqrlrgwright 13y ago
  Alan Mulally (CEO of FORD) is a former Boeing engineer.
- robotresearcher 13y ago
  Musk describes himself as an engineer. I'd say his demonstrated ability to lead major engineering projects qualifies him to use that title. http://elonmusk.com/ http://elonmusk.com/ The term "engineer" does not imply chartered/professional status in current popular usage.
- not_paul_graham 13y ago
  Given that some people go around calling themselves Happiness Engineer or Growth Engineer I highly doubt that people in SV care enough about the difference. Also you can major in Financial Engineering at Princeton so I don't really think people take the FE exam before calling themselves an engineer. Although I do take issue with the above (happiness & growth) usage of the term, I'm completely fine with Elon calling himself an engineer because he actually did study engineering (albeit informally) via books, etc.
- kilburn 13y ago
  I just looked it up. The CEO of Ford (Alan Mulally) holds a masters degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering (among others). If you only allow for the term "engineer" to be used to refer to someone who has en engineering educational background, then yes, he is. Musk, on the other hand, holds a degree in physics. He started a PhD program on applied physics, but quit to pursue his entrepreneurial interests. If you judge engineers purely from an educational perspective, then yes, Musk is not an engineer. Nonetheless, if we look at wikipedia's description of what "Engineer" means, we get: > An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics, and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. So, by this definition, Musk is an engineer...

by FD3SA 13y ago

dfc 13y ago

Precisely this? When is this not precise? this 1. Used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced 1.1 Used to introduce someone or something 1.2 Referring to the nearer of two things close to the speaker (the other, if specified, being identified by ‘that’) 2. Referring to a specific thing just mentioned 3. Used to identify a specific person or thing close at hand or being indicated or experienced: More: http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/this?q=this http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/this?q=...

nl 13y ago
"This" on its own as a word indicating agreement is a fairly recent usage. Notably, the very definition you posted makes no mention of that usage. From that definition there is no way to tell if "This" on its own means "This predeceeding comment is completely wrong" or "This predeceeding comment is completely right". Also, "precisely" indicates degree rather than the generalist term "this". For example, "I'll meet you at this time tomorrow" and "I'll meet you at precisely this time tomorrow" have different connotations for how accurate you are expecting to be.

chroem 13y ago

>Elon ... is an engineer Oh really? Where did he study engineering? When did he take the FE exam? That's not a term that you can throw around all willy-nilly, especially in the context of hardware. Next, are you about to tell me that the CEO of Ford is also an engineer?

sqrlrgwright 13y ago
Alan Mulally (CEO of FORD) is a former Boeing engineer.
robotresearcher 13y ago
Musk describes himself as an engineer. I'd say his demonstrated ability to lead major engineering projects qualifies him to use that title. http://elonmusk.com/ http://elonmusk.com/ The term "engineer" does not imply chartered/professional status in current popular usage.
not_paul_graham 13y ago
Given that some people go around calling themselves Happiness Engineer or Growth Engineer I highly doubt that people in SV care enough about the difference. Also you can major in Financial Engineering at Princeton so I don't really think people take the FE exam before calling themselves an engineer. Although I do take issue with the above (happiness & growth) usage of the term, I'm completely fine with Elon calling himself an engineer because he actually did study engineering (albeit informally) via books, etc.
kilburn 13y ago
I just looked it up. The CEO of Ford (Alan Mulally) holds a masters degree in aeronautical and astronautical engineering (among others). If you only allow for the term "engineer" to be used to refer to someone who has en engineering educational background, then yes, he is. Musk, on the other hand, holds a degree in physics. He started a PhD program on applied physics, but quit to pursue his entrepreneurial interests. If you judge engineers purely from an educational perspective, then yes, Musk is not an engineer. Nonetheless, if we look at wikipedia's description of what "Engineer" means, we get: > An engineer is a professional practitioner of engineering, concerned with applying scientific knowledge, mathematics, and ingenuity to develop solutions for technical problems. So, by this definition, Musk is an engineer...