"Jay Ts" wrote in message ...
On Sun, 15 Jun 2014 08:15:19 -0700, William Sommerwerck wrote:
[a long story]
It's called a "megillah".
Thanks for writing all of that. It reflects much of my own experiences as
well, both when interacting with other people, people in general, and
when doing things alone.
I never believed I was alone in this, and am grateful for the confirmation.
Some years ago, I was reading the day's news of science, and there was a
story about how researchers in psychology found that about 2/3 of people
will follow along with other people around them, rather than do what they
think or feel is right. I think in a healthy culture, this is a good default
behavior, but in today's world (and by that, I mean at least the last 2000
years 
prevents many positive changes.
Ever noticed how much our country is like the Roman Empire?
Given that humans are social animals, it's to be expected. Some of us are
fortunate enough to be sufficiently asocial not to be easily influenced.
One of the reasons I love engineering is that it keeps me watching
myself, checking my thinking, and asking myself, "Am I really sure
I got this right?"
Heck, that applies to life!
1. Good scientists never believe things just because other people do.
2. Good scientists are never sure of anything, and never reach
conclusions.
3. Good scientists are curious and open-minded.
I would add to that... There is a difference between being open-minded and
empty-headed.
All that may seem like a digression because the original topic was on
engineering, but in my mind, the same basic attitude is just what you
need to solve engineering problems, prevent yourself from getting into
trouble, and getting out of it.
I don't see a fundamental difference between science and engineering. In
science, you're trying to figure out how things work. In engineering, how to
get things to work.
Note that //many// more-experienced people quite failed to solve the
problem €” which turned out to be ludicrously simple. I was the one who
solved it, because I asked good questions.
That's it! You have to be like a small child and keep asking, "Why?"
And keep asking, "What are my assumptions?"
It's so easy to get bitten in the assumptions.