Originally Posted By: HangFire
This is a favorite topic of mine, and Merkava's bafflement at why people can't do the obvious (to him) is part of the issue. It's the same social maladjustment mentioned in the Dilbert video (thanks for that, Tom, by the way) that often accompanies technical ability. He views it as people who are technically maladjusted. They view it as him being socially maladjusted, putting technical and mechanical things above social priorities.
I used to downplay the talents of people with the "knack". Probably since I grew up seeing it all the time, I just assumed anyone could fix things too. Years later, after working with some very smart engineers, many with masters and doctorates who didn't have the "knack", I realized, this is worth something. Personally I barely scraped by in engineering school (math was not my strong suit) and after getting done, I was really unsure I could ever make a living at it. I ended up in the design end (as opposed to test or R and D) because I had been so exposed to mechanical things at a young age and that provided a good foundation. I think we should feel fortunate that this "knack" is not available to just anyone because if it was, we wouldn't be able to make a living at it as it would be so commonplace.
This is a favorite topic of mine, and Merkava's bafflement at why people can't do the obvious (to him) is part of the issue. It's the same social maladjustment mentioned in the Dilbert video (thanks for that, Tom, by the way) that often accompanies technical ability. He views it as people who are technically maladjusted. They view it as him being socially maladjusted, putting technical and mechanical things above social priorities.
I used to downplay the talents of people with the "knack". Probably since I grew up seeing it all the time, I just assumed anyone could fix things too. Years later, after working with some very smart engineers, many with masters and doctorates who didn't have the "knack", I realized, this is worth something. Personally I barely scraped by in engineering school (math was not my strong suit) and after getting done, I was really unsure I could ever make a living at it. I ended up in the design end (as opposed to test or R and D) because I had been so exposed to mechanical things at a young age and that provided a good foundation. I think we should feel fortunate that this "knack" is not available to just anyone because if it was, we wouldn't be able to make a living at it as it would be so commonplace.
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