# Anyone else notice the arrogance among engineers **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [February 17, 2006, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980 "2006-02-17T18:51:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 11
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/201 "2014-04-23T13:08:34Z")
> [@newton](#): > > Art student says: “I’m the one who’s been nailing your wife while you play overtime with F=ma.” > True story. Whoa! Hold the drugs dude. That wasn’t my wife. That was your mom! Bubbadog EE ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/202 "2014-04-23T18:03:37Z")
I just read thru this whole zombie thread and I gotta say, on whole there are more funny posts here than in most threads. Engineers are not only cool (and humble), they’re funny as hell some of 'em! Here’s another funny engineer: An Engineer’s Guide to Cats ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/203 "2014-04-23T18:06:54Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > Whoa! Hold the drugs dude. That wasn’t my wife. That was your mom! > > Bubbadog EE Amazing how much people can age in 8 years. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/204 "2014-04-23T18:38:13Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I just read thru this whole zombie thread and I gotta say, on whole there are more funny posts here than in most threads. Engineers are not only cool (and humble), they’re funny as hell some of 'em! . . . There were funny bits? Damn. Now I’ll have to go back and read it instead of just forwarding to see how the resurrection happened. And I’ve already been sidetracked trying to find a name for the cognitive bias of thinking that expertise in one area makes you an expert on everything. Didn’t find it. Found this in rational wiki, though. > [@](#): > > **Déformation professionnelle** — the tendency to look at things according to the conventions of one’s own profession, forgetting any broader point of view. That isn’t quite the same thing. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/205 "2014-04-23T18:39:31Z")
> [@newton](#): > > Art student says: “I’m the one who’s been nailing your wife while you play overtime with F=ma.” > True story. I thought it was _Carpenters_ whose problems all looked like nails! ---
**Author:** ![Dag\_Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@Dag\_Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dag_Otto)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/206 "2014-04-23T18:51:10Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I thought it was _Carpenters_ whose problems all looked like nails! That was Pete Seeger, not the Carpenters. ---
**Author:** ![nevadaexile](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb8c5e/32.png) [@nevadaexile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nevadaexile)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/207 "2014-04-23T18:55:22Z")
I work with younger engineers in the energy industry who assume that they are smarter than the people around constantly. While that may be true in certain cases, their areas of expertise are often so narrow that they fortunate that they found a role in which these talents were useful. The old engineers usually have worked around others long enough to realize that intelligence is a spectrum and they aren’t always on the highest of of that spectrum. Usually. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/208 "2014-04-23T19:59:28Z")
In the context of a job, it often isn’t important who’s “smartest”, but who has the information and experience that’s needed to get the job done. If you can, always get feedback from the operators or installation guys or whoever has on the ground experience with that location, that kind of job, that kind of finished facility. If you don’t, you’ll miss things and the screw-ups can be spectacular. I don’t care how smart you are, ignorance is the list of things that you don’t know and it’s always a long list. You shorten the list when you respect other people’s experience. ---
**Author:** ![curlcoat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea5d25/32.png) [@curlcoat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curlcoat)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/209 "2014-04-23T20:31:35Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > I work with younger engineers in the energy industry who assume that they are smarter than the people around constantly. While that may be true in certain cases, their areas of expertise are often so narrow that they fortunate that they found a role in which these talents were useful. > > The old engineers usually have worked around others long enough to realize that intelligence is a spectrum and they aren’t always on the highest of of that spectrum. > > Usually. Usually being the operative word there. curlcoat married to an Engineer ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/210 "2014-04-23T20:34:41Z")
RationalWiki on [Engineers and woo](http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Engineers_and_woo). ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/211 "2014-04-23T20:39:49Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > I thought it was _Carpenters_ whose problems all looked like nails! Nails aren’t the problem. They are the solution. ---
**Author:** ![Calatin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/439d5e/32.png) [@Calatin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Calatin)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/212 "2014-04-23T21:11:49Z")
Just because they get to drive trains, that shouldn’t make them any better than us! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/213 "2014-04-23T21:52:29Z")
I never noticed it on message boards. I have noticed it in real life. What a bunch of ignorant, arrogant assholes. They know everything about everything, and are better than any expert on any subject. At least lawyers know that everybody is on to them. Engineers are completely clueless. I suppose their area of real expertise might be an exception. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/214 "2014-04-23T22:16:40Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I suppose their area of real expertise might be an exception. You may have a floating point. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Surb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ce73a5/32.png) [@The\_Surb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Surb)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/215 "2014-04-23T22:18:53Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > I never noticed it on message boards. I have noticed it in real life. What a bunch of ignorant, arrogant assholes. They know everything about everything, and are better than any expert on any subject. At least lawyers know that everybody is on to them. Engineers are completely clueless. I suppose their area of real expertise might be an exception. The response to your post has been [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7115362&postcount=21) all these years waiting for you to read it. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [April 23, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/216 "2014-04-23T23:34:33Z")
> [@The\_Surb](#): > > The response to your post has been [here](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=7115362&postcount=21) all these years waiting for you to read it. At the end of one of the hyperlinks is a claim that engineers and doctors are prone to mistake themselves for scientists. Not all engineers and doctors, of course. I’ve never seen a study, but this seems like a plausible initial hypothesis to me. I’ve met a couple of engineers (decades back) who treated their wives as if they were idiots because the wives didn’t approach every discussion as if it was an engineering problem. Although that may be a version of You’re Always Wrong, just played with an engineering slant. It doesn’t take an engineer or a man to play You’re Always Wrong. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/217 "2014-04-24T00:05:04Z")
Since my last post a few posts ago (I did not read this whole thread) I do remember encountering a particularly dense engineer on these boards who is under the impression of self-omniscience and everyone who disagrees is an idiot. My personal idiocy is not evidence that the person I disagree with is not also an idiot. I haven’t generally seen that from engineers on this board, so one anecdote does not a set of data make. I am also making allowances for engineers thinking that the meltdown of the-government-knows how many cores at TEPCO Fukishima is no big deal and neither was Chernobyl. But I suppose that since these many anecdotes do constitute data points, that perhaps engineers should be presumed to be lacking in common sense until proven otherwise. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 6:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/218 "2014-04-24T06:51:13Z")
Well, I’m no engineer, and I sometimes…heeeyy, wait one minute! ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/219 "2014-04-24T14:57:22Z")
> [@The\_Second\_Stone](#): > > Since my last post a few posts ago (I did not read this whole thread) I do remember encountering a particularly dense engineer on these boards who is under the impression of self-omniscience and everyone who disagrees is an idiot. My personal idiocy is not evidence that the person I disagree with is not also an idiot. I haven’t generally seen that from engineers on this board, so one anecdote does not a set of data make. I am also making allowances for engineers thinking that the meltdown of the-government-knows how many cores at TEPCO Fukishima is no big deal and neither was Chernobyl. But I suppose that since these many anecdotes do constitute data points, that perhaps engineers should be presumed to be lacking in common sense until proven otherwise. You’re right. Your personal idiocy shines through like a beacon. I’m having a hard time seeing that in some of these engineers. I guess its because I didn’t use your shrewd statistical analysis method of taking a few data points and using it to define all engineers. Well Done! ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 24, 2014, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980/220 "2014-04-24T15:43:32Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > You’re right. Your personal idiocy shines through like a beacon. I’m having a hard time seeing that in some of these engineers. > I guess its because I didn’t use your shrewd statistical analysis method of taking a few data points and using it to define all engineers. > Well Done! You are most welcome. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980.md?page=10) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-notice-the-arrogance-among-engineers/344980.md?page=12)