Re: An observation about the writer-engineer relationship

[Bruce Byfield <bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com>]

Dick Margulis wrote:

>The engineers here are a great bunch of people. They are available 
>resources and real team players. So this is not about arrogance. They 
>aren't shirking some menial task so one of us lesser beings can handle
>it. No, that isn't it at all. They are genuinely oblivious to the 
>details of how stuff works.

I've noticed the same phenomenon - usually in regard to phone systems 
and how to use them. Perhaps it's related to another observation: the 
fact that, while many people from the non-technical part of the company 
can lead a project or become managers, far fewer engineers or 
programmers are even interested in trying.

I suggest that it illustrates the difference between specialists and 
generalists. To become an engineer or developer, you have to focus your 
studies and interests fairly narrowly. By contrast, writers, especially 
if they have Arts degrees, are encouraged to be generalists in their 
education, and, if they want to thrive, in their jobs as well. Writers 
can't afford a narrow view - they have to understand both experts and 
non-experts. But engineers and developers don't have that necessity.

--
Bruce Byfield 604.421.7177 bbyfield -at- axionet -dot- com

"All rights and all wrongs have long since blown away,
For causes are ashes where children lie slain."
- Stan Rogers, "The House of Orange"



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