actually, in today's education landscape, engineers may well be the only people capable of some of the shit that 'homeland security' expect terrorists to be able to pull off.
in the real world, most 'terrorism' is far more prosaic.
the twin towers were brought down by a group of guys with packing cutters and some 'just-to-be-sure' flying lessons (that they could have gotten from a decent flight simulator).
You've no idea how many times I've thought the same way.
Y'see, twice in my career I've been involved in development of various embedded smart devices (can't delve into details of what exactly, but I was neither programmer nor hardware designer, merely someone who had to put them together and send to clients) in two different companies, "paving the way for a better, cleaner tomorrow", and in the end, it has made me decide that I will never, ever have a car that has automated steering, or a building where doors are locked in ways that involve no keys whatsoever or any other devices in similar vein.
In my latter job, the boss was basically telling our development crew to implement something which broke the laws of physics. Took about two months to explain why it can't be done.
That wouldn't explain this: Among Communists, anarchists and other groups whose shining ideal lies in the future, the researchers found almost no engineers. Yet these organizations mastered the same technical skills as the right-wingers. Between 1970 and 1978, for instance, the Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany staged kidnappings, assassinations, bank robberies and bombings. Seventeen of its members had college or graduate degrees, mostly in law or the humanities. Not one studied engineering.
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(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 01:52 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 02:12 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 02:16 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 02:44 am (UTC)Okay, yes, I do think the world would be a better place if I were in charge, but that's megalomania. THAT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 02:57 am (UTC)I still prefer this warning.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 03:00 am (UTC)Sorry!
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 04:11 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 09:21 am (UTC)in the real world, most 'terrorism' is far more prosaic.
the twin towers were brought down by a group of guys with packing cutters and some 'just-to-be-sure' flying lessons (that they could have gotten from a decent flight simulator).
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 09:23 am (UTC)[and yet simultaneously brought to mind harvey birdman.]
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 09:33 am (UTC)Y'see, twice in my career I've been involved in development of various embedded smart devices (can't delve into details of what exactly, but I was neither programmer nor hardware designer, merely someone who had to put them together and send to clients) in two different companies, "paving the way for a better, cleaner tomorrow", and in the end, it has made me decide that I will never, ever have a car that has automated steering, or a building where doors are locked in ways that involve no keys whatsoever or any other devices in similar vein.
In my latter job, the boss was basically telling our development crew to implement something which broke the laws of physics. Took about two months to explain why it can't be done.
Just sayin'.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 09:35 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 10:58 am (UTC)Among Communists, anarchists and other groups whose shining ideal lies in the future, the researchers found almost no engineers. Yet these organizations mastered the same technical skills as the right-wingers. Between 1970 and 1978, for instance, the Baader-Meinhof gang in Germany staged kidnappings, assassinations, bank robberies and bombings. Seventeen of its members had college or graduate degrees, mostly in law or the humanities. Not one studied engineering.
(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 03:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 03:29 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 06:48 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 07:32 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-12 08:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-09-13 07:10 am (UTC)