November 16, 2007

The World We Live In

Our interpreter (OK, we called them guides) at Northern Tier was in college studying to be an engineer. So naturally I gave him enough wisdom and advice on the subject to last a lifetime. During the conversation, my son piped up with "scientist and engineers run things, right?" I had to correct him.

"We live in a world built by scientists and engineers, but salespeople run it."

Posted by Kevin Murphy at November 16, 2007 9:49 AM | Culture
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I am going got use this one, it's a good one. There is a great observation by Bob Metcalfe on inventing Ethernet to the effect that it was more important that he could sell the idea than invent it. That being said, clearly scientists and engineers are critical (said the recovering engineer).

Posted by: Sean Murphy at November 20, 2007 5:02 PM

Doctor: "I'm afraid your son has the Knack"
Mother: "The Knack?"
Doctor: "The Knack. It's a rare condition characterized by a extreme intuition about all things mechanical and electrical, and utter social ineptitude."
Mother: "Can he lead a normal life?"
Doctor: "No, he'll be an engineer."

Posted by: Sean Murphy at November 20, 2007 5:41 PM