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| A philosophical question - Is lateral thinking a valued trait in engineering? |
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| Nominal Animal:
--- Quote from: Cerebus on March 01, 2022, 03:12:33 pm --- --- Quote from: Nominal Animal on March 01, 2022, 02:54:52 pm ---I do not know of any jobs where a specific personality type was a requirement, or more useful than say personal motivation and interest. --- End quote --- I don't know, I think narcissistic megalomania and psychopathy are pretty much prerequisite personality traits for any actual or 'want to be' totalitarian dictator. --- End quote --- Actually, no. You see, they can be considered personality disorders that develop when a single person is given too much power, and incentives to twist that way. It also explains why the road to hell is paved with good intentions. If you give a human totalitarian powers, there is a very high chance they become a totalitarian dictator and an utter dick, no matter how good their initial intent. |
| Nominal Animal:
In a work environment, you see something similar between bosses who lead from the front, and the bosses who lead from the back. |
| e100:
--- Quote from: Cerebus on March 01, 2022, 03:09:20 pm ---My innate suspicion on encountering the sort of person who starts with telling you "I'm good at lateral thinking" is that they have left out the second half of the sentence "but I'm terrible at logical thinking or actually getting on and doing something". >:D --- End quote --- If you were stuck on a particular engineering problem and such a person offered to help you find a solution, would you automatically reject their offer because of your suspicions? The consequence of rejecting that offer could be that you never find a solution, or it takes much longer to find a solution. I think I've just created a new catch phase, I shall call it "anti-engineering" - the processes by which you fail to achieve an engineering goal because you distrust or dislike someone and therefore you avoid them even though they may be able to help you. On a related theme there seems to be a correlation between people who have achieved guru status in their particular field and a reluctance to have an open mind to new or alternative ways of doing things. Some of that is due to the ageing process, as we get older we become risk adverse but there's more to it than that. I'm a guru of nothing so am happy to listen to anyone. I reserve the right to reject their advice, but at least I make an effort to listen. Is it not better to have an open mind rather than a closed mind? |
| Nominal Animal:
--- Quote from: e100 on March 01, 2022, 04:58:32 pm --- --- Quote from: Cerebus on March 01, 2022, 03:09:20 pm ---My innate suspicion on encountering the sort of person who starts with telling you "I'm good at lateral thinking" is that they have left out the second half of the sentence "but I'm terrible at logical thinking or actually getting on and doing something". >:D --- End quote --- If you were stuck on a particular engineering problem and such a person offered to help you find a solution, would you automatically reject their offer because of your suspicions? The consequence of rejecting that offer could be that you never find a solution, or it takes much longer to find a solution. --- End quote --- You mean, like "Have you tried turning it off and then on again?" Or perhaps "I use crystals to cleanse the vibrations in my body. Perhaps you could do the same here?" --- Quote from: e100 on March 01, 2022, 04:58:32 pm ---On a related theme there seems to be a correlation between people who have achieved guru status in their particular field and a reluctance to have an open mind to new or alternative ways of doing things. --- End quote --- No, that's what social games and confusing popularity with usefulness/experience/correctness leads to. |
| fourfathom:
--- Quote from: e100 on March 01, 2022, 04:58:32 pm ---On a related theme there seems to be a correlation between people who have achieved guru status in their particular field and a reluctance to have an open mind to new or alternative ways of doing things. --- End quote --- Not in my experience. The recognized gurus I've known were smart, curious, creative, and experienced. By their very nature they were open to new ideas. |
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