It’s not that Muslim engineers have a special tendency to become jihadis. But engineers do stuff. They solve problems, they act.
My impression of engineers is that they’re more apt than the general population to invent, tinker, and adjust, but this is specifically about the sort of physical stuff where they have some knowledge. They aren’t especially apt to go into politics.
This doesn’t stop them. c.f. the nascent RW article on engineers and woo. Stereotypical engineer arrogance comes from assuming one’s tested competence in one’s chosen field carries through to fields outside one’s tested competence. Engineers can get away with all manner of gibbering delusion as long as the stuff they design still works.
Stereotypical engineer arrogance comes from assuming one’s tested competence in one’s chosen field carries through to fields outside one’s tested competence. Engineers can get away with all manner of gibbering delusion as long as the stuff they design still works.
I’d believe that. Systematic overconfidence when it comes to things outside of their field is ubiquitous across experts of nearly every kind. Experts also systematically overestimate the extent to which their expertise happens to be relevant to a given context. (Thankyou Ericsson).
I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that another factor that contributes to said stereotypical arrogance in engineers is their relatively weak social competence (and orientation) compared to others of equivalent levels of skill. Most of what makes use judge others as arrogant seems to be the force with which they present their position as compared to the level of status that we believe it appropriate for them to claim. Insufficient submission to the social reality makes being perceived as arrogant nearly inevitable. Engineers (and other nerds) tend to do that more due to attitude, ability or a little of both.
Working engineer here. A lot of social ineptitude throughout the industry, at least with respect to interaction with non engineers. Certainly can’t help the arrogance thing.
However I think assumed confidence outside of one’s field is a result of what an engineer should be. Engineers solve problems with incomplete information regularly. So when approaching a field he knows little about, an engineer will not hesitate to be as confident as he is in his normal field. Business as usual. I don’t think it would be hard for that to come across as arrogant.
My impression is that we tend not to participate in the political structures and organizations that non-engineers set up. We are more likely to try to reinvent the whole concept of political action. And, in doing so, to draw our inspiration from science fiction.
My impression of engineers is that they’re more apt than the general population to invent, tinker, and adjust, but this is specifically about the sort of physical stuff where they have some knowledge. They aren’t especially apt to go into politics.
This doesn’t stop them. c.f. the nascent RW article on engineers and woo. Stereotypical engineer arrogance comes from assuming one’s tested competence in one’s chosen field carries through to fields outside one’s tested competence. Engineers can get away with all manner of gibbering delusion as long as the stuff they design still works.
I’d believe that. Systematic overconfidence when it comes to things outside of their field is ubiquitous across experts of nearly every kind. Experts also systematically overestimate the extent to which their expertise happens to be relevant to a given context. (Thankyou Ericsson).
I’ve got a sneaking suspicion that another factor that contributes to said stereotypical arrogance in engineers is their relatively weak social competence (and orientation) compared to others of equivalent levels of skill. Most of what makes use judge others as arrogant seems to be the force with which they present their position as compared to the level of status that we believe it appropriate for them to claim. Insufficient submission to the social reality makes being perceived as arrogant nearly inevitable. Engineers (and other nerds) tend to do that more due to attitude, ability or a little of both.
Working engineer here. A lot of social ineptitude throughout the industry, at least with respect to interaction with non engineers. Certainly can’t help the arrogance thing.
However I think assumed confidence outside of one’s field is a result of what an engineer should be. Engineers solve problems with incomplete information regularly. So when approaching a field he knows little about, an engineer will not hesitate to be as confident as he is in his normal field. Business as usual. I don’t think it would be hard for that to come across as arrogant.
My impression is that we tend not to participate in the political structures and organizations that non-engineers set up. We are more likely to try to reinvent the whole concept of political action. And, in doing so, to draw our inspiration from science fiction.