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ENGINEERING: mindset, not a profession!

Some people love technology, some are not interested. Ever been at a party or other gathering where the moment someone says they’re an Engineer, you either have an instant burst of interest and a mental note “I’ve got to have a chat with her/him” or you barely skip this person’s introduction waiting for the next one? This is the barometer for your Engineering mindset.

Curiosity at the heart of Engineering

The key trait of Engineering mindset is curiosity. I’m against stereotypes and strongly believe the world comes in all colours and shades rather than being simply black and white. One exception to that in my opinion is that people can be divided to two categories: curious and not curious. The latter tend to take the world as it is, are subject to live happening to them. The former find themselves intrinsically interested in the inner workings of everything around. Not all curious people are Engineers, but all Engineers are curious people

Engineer? Tinkerer? Geek? Technology Enthusiast?

It does take the desire to know to even attempt dealing, at any level, with the immense complexity of the technology that surrounds us. The level one is at matters very little! What unites Engineers, Tinketeres, Geeks is the joy of getting their brains occupied with analysing the possibilities. The endless amount of possibilities that link nature, experiences, practicalities, literally everything around us. The satistaction of ‘figuring it out’ is perhaps something only the curious people resonate with.

The Knack

One of the funniest explanation of what it is like to be an Engineer is perhaps the Dilbert scene known as “The Knack”. It resonates with every Engineer I know. Fantastic portrayal of curiosity driving the passion for Engineering from the youngest age. 

It reminds me of my childhood: when I was 9 years old me and my brother got identical old, no-longer-working radios. The same curiosity I felt then had driven my entire life. My first thought was to look inside, figuring out how to take it apart, remember the beautiful vacum tube extracted from this radio. At that time of course had no idea what it was, yet it was magnificent. In fact, I have kept in in my desk drawer for many years. My brother on the other hand got hold of a hammer and bashed his radio to pieces before I could even find the screwdriver to take mine apart. Guess what? He's not an Engineer!

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The World through the Engineering lens

Engineering is a fantastic profession. Engineers build the World around us, use science to make ever increasing complexity our reality. You can think of Engineering and Science as one thing but two opposite ends of compexity. Science is more widely understood, thanks to it’s strive for the simplest principles. Technology is often a mystery due to it’s immense lack of simplicity. Can technology be simple and beautiful? Of course, what Steve Jobs had done with marketing of Apple products and what Elon Musk is doing with Tesla and SpaceX. One thing is obvious, Engineers have a unique insight into the inner working of our modern life. And Engineering is on the rise, after decades of being marginalised it’s sexy again as the World is more dependent on thechnology than it’s ever been.

But does one need to work as an Engineer to appreciate the technological wonders that surround us and push our civilisation forward riding on an exponential curve? Absolutely not. Technology Enthusiasts, Geeks, Tinkerers, all view the World through the Engineering lens. That is the lens of curiosity. Hence, Engineering is a mindset - not a profession.

What do you think? Where do you sit on the Engineering scale? Drop your comments below!

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