There's a problem that afflicts skilled tradespeople, engineers and those working in the professions (science, medicine, law): Expert Syndrome.
We know one subject. We know it well -- really well. We have spent years learning it and years successfully applying our knowledge and skills.
And all too often, we assume that transfers to other areas. After all, we have mastered A Difficult Thing. Picking up others should be a snap, right?
Nope. We have forgotten how to be ignorant, what it's like to have to learn new vocabulary and concepts. We don't see the limits of our knowledge. Outside our specialization, we are often worse off than the novice who comes to it understanding they know nothing.
In dealing with the pandemic and what measures I choose to take (or even urge others to take) in response to it, I have tried not to rely on my skilled-trade* background and instead look to a couple of other areas of experience: my very limited and hasty training to do hazmat work in a basic "moonsuit" and full-face filter mask, and -- of all things! -- arguing about gun control.
Gun control? Yep. The data is generally lousy. The correlation between changes in laws and in behaviors is low to non-existent. The temptation to cherry-pick stats and substitute anecdote for statistics is enormous. The noise level from all sides is outrageous. To make any real headway at all, you have to step way back and even then, one's conclusions are unsatisfyingly general.
It's a lot like public health, though public health measure are often a bit easier to quantify and some changes do result in positive, traceable outcomes. But neither subject lends itself to traditional research design; the "research subjects" are real people living real lives and you don't get to set up "control groups" or isolate one experimental group from another. Conclusions are general, even hazy. There are things we know that work on a macro scale and yet tragedies continue: there are no perfect answers or methods, nor would compliance with them be perfect even if they were.
And for me, these are things I'm not an expert in: I know that I don't know much, that I need to look things up, that there are people who know more than I do, including the ones I think are wrong.
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* People who do what I do in my business are generally called "engineers." Most of us are not Certified Professional Engineers and very few have even a B.A. in Engineering. We're technicians. It's a skilled trade.
Having worked with various and sundry engineers for over 30 years as a technician, I must agree with most of your snap analysis. My winnowing of engineers was asking for a screwdriver. Handed to me shaft-first implied ability to use it. The Dunning-Kruger effect is VERY strong in engineers-as-a-class, particularly among mech-e's,IMHO. As a tech, I made the dreams d'PEs work in reality. Wearing coveralls instead of a tie. Win-win, for fewer management-type meetings AND more comfortable sartorial choices. Worked for me.
ReplyDeleteThank you for a thoughtful post.
ReplyDeleteThe Old Man,
ReplyDeleteWhy shaft first and not handle first, like any other bladed, potentially sharpish tool?
Same applies to Hollywood stars and corporate tycoons when it comes to politics.
ReplyDeleteYou must fall into the same category as railroad engineers and flight engineers, you're the ones that keep everything running so others can push buttons and get the credit for the results.
ReplyDeleteI was a technician; I fixed what the college boys broke.
I've been on both sides of the fence: 30-year career as engineer (sometimes aircraft structures, sometimes air base planning, sometimes flight and navigation control design, etc) and, concurrently for 6 years, aircraft structures mechanic in the US Navy Reserves. I must say that, as an engineer, I learned much from those who worked on the production line, and in maintenance. As a mechanic, I learned a lot from reality - such as when the first hydraulic system that I installed on a heavy helicopter leaked. (BTW: BA Physics, MS Engineering Mechanics)
ReplyDeleteOTOH: Our daughter gets upset when someone refers to the work that she does as being engineering. She took a BS with double major in business ad & small business mgmt, summa cum laude. (A mother is allowed to brag.) In some companies, what she does might require an engineering degree, but she doesn't wish to be mistaken for one.
Ed, I think the group you mentioned have another, related syndrome: "Eyeballs Syndrome."
ReplyDeleteThere is also the unappreciated genius complex. You know you are a widely read scholar, artist and polymath. Then you get married and your wife drags you back to reality.
ReplyDeleteExpert or not, you're rational. Rational bloggers these days are as rare as dogs with good handwriting.
ReplyDeleteOwen -
ReplyDeleteThe fact the injun-ear held the handle implies (s)he is at least vaguely familiar with the intended usage. My bad if I am hurt during the test - I started it. Anecdotally it was surprisingly accurate.
T.O.M.