| General > General Technical Chat |
| Design engineers: Can you shut off your brain during non-work hours? |
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| Siwastaja:
--- Quote from: TimNJ on June 13, 2023, 05:20:12 pm ---I am really talking about being "present" in other aspects of life. You know, I shouldn't be doing a tolerance stack-up in my head at my nephew's 2nd birthday party. That's just crazy. But sometimes that's what the brain wants to do! --- End quote --- It's not crazy, and you definitely should be doing tolerance stack-up if that is what you want to do. You are full-grown adult who can make your own decisions. Your nephew will have his 3rd and 4th birthday party anyway, and you are just one random old guy there, but that tolerance stack-up is a unique and important problem right now and right here, way more important than some made-up social constructs. And I'm serious. It's different if we are talking about your own son, then you are responsible to teaching him too how to do the tolerance stack-up, which is a win-win. See the difference? Would others let you explain your stack-up to your nephew in detail? If not, your presence is not valued as that important, and no one can demand you change yourself into some kind of statue who just sits there acting as a non-playable character. |
| Siwastaja:
--- Quote from: Nominal Animal on June 14, 2023, 05:45:33 am ---For me, woodworking and other tactile and olfactory creative stuff (like cooking) does "relax" the analytical part of my mind. --- End quote --- I find walking in the forests, mushroom/blueberry hunting etc. extremely valuable, not because they would "shut down" that analytical side of mind, not at all, quite the opposite; but such activities have the tendency of shutting the arbitrary limits down. Such limits are, * How long does it take to implement? * How about the deadline? * Do we have a budget for this? * What would customers say? * Do we need this at all? * Does this conform to MISRA, TISAX or whatever BS * Could you please not write this in C? and similar bullcrap everyone has to deal with their work at some point, usually during office hours... But when picking blueberries, your mind is allowed to store an angle in 256/360 degree units to remove all wrapping logic, and the next minute, if that leads your mind into calculating how much thermal energy can you store if you excavate a 10x10x10 meter hole in your backyard and store water in it, then so be it, this is important right now. After letting your engineering mind flow freely for 5 hours straight, usually it results some significantly important idea which is useful and also happens to tick those stupid limit checkboxes. Of course not always, and that's fine too, because you are not responsible to anyone about your own mind. |
| MT:
--- Quote from: TimNJ on June 13, 2023, 03:39:35 am ---I just wonder: Are there those of you out there in “intense” design lead positions who can turn your brains off when you’re not on the clock? Is that something you learned or is that just who you are? --- End quote --- There is not a work related mental issue a "after work beer" cant fix. |
| TimNJ:
--- Quote from: Siwastaja on June 16, 2023, 10:24:04 am --- --- Quote from: TimNJ on June 13, 2023, 05:20:12 pm ---I am really talking about being "present" in other aspects of life. You know, I shouldn't be doing a tolerance stack-up in my head at my nephew's 2nd birthday party. That's just crazy. But sometimes that's what the brain wants to do! --- End quote --- It's not crazy, and you definitely should be doing tolerance stack-up if that is what you want to do. You are full-grown adult who can make your own decisions. Your nephew will have his 3rd and 4th birthday party anyway, and you are just one random old guy there, but that tolerance stack-up is a unique and important problem right now and right here, way more important than some made-up social constructs. And I'm serious. It's different if we are talking about your own son, then you are responsible to teaching him too how to do the tolerance stack-up, which is a win-win. See the difference? Would others let you explain your stack-up to your nephew in detail? If not, your presence is not valued as that important, and no one can demand you change yourself into some kind of statue who just sits there acting as a non-playable character. --- End quote --- Haha. I get your general sentiment. I guess my point is: It’s not that these thought experiments/musings are not important to me. They are, after all, what the brain seeks for some sort of mental satisfaction. But, it can be sort of selfish in certain circumstances. Letting my brain do the things it wants to is easy. Just saying, I *want* to be present for these other moments, and to make sure I am there for family and friends during their important and difficult moments. Not that you were implying the opposite of that.. |
| dietert1:
What did you try to make your life during non-work hours a little more interesting? Can't you find another adult who forces you to be present by talking to each other? Regards, Dieter |
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