Re:Thinking too much can be bad for you (2012)
by salawat on Tuesday February 09, 2021 @11:15PM
(#26085688)
I think that in a way that view is like the entry level engineer's lie. It makes it seem like the engineer is there to make shoddy things, always a hair's breadth from failing.
What an engineer is actually there for is to run the numbers and predict behavior without having to go through the mess or expense of doing it any more than absolutely necessary. To plum the depths of our collective technical knowhow to drive a project that makes all the right tradeoffs.
It's not about making a bridge that can hold a semi out of matchsticks and bubblegum. It's about knowing it won't work without having to do it to find out.
What an engineer is actually there for is to run the numbers and predict behavior without having to go through the mess or expense of doing it any more than absolutely necessary. To plum the depths of our collective technical knowhow to drive a project that makes all the right tradeoffs.
It's not about making a bridge that can hold a semi out of matchsticks and bubblegum. It's about knowing it won't work without having to do it to find out.