January 2019 My pampered life ---------------- Tens of millions of humble, dedicated, productive geniuses have gifted me an enormous array of marvelous textiles, machines and electronic devices for my comfort, delight and amusement. And.. they've provided the health care and the music. Whenever I thumb through the handbooks or textbooks authored by electrical engineers, electronics engineers, materials scientists, computer scientists or biologists -- or whenever I simply look about me -- I'm humbled to see that I'm not 1/100 as accomplished as the truly accomplished, or 1/20 as smart. (I've put a lot of thought into it.) My first overwhelming awareness of what's actually out there didn't happen until I was 35, despite having three years of college math and a year of college physics behind me, having a strong aptitude for every type of engineering, and being a machinist for my first year out of high school. It's been a regular occurence ever since. The complexity and perfectionism throughout the manufacturing sector -- specifically the engineering behind it -- is perpetually shocking to me. I wonder whether I'm the only one who was slow to discover just how complex is the science and engineering behind the products we take for granted. I don't feel I've contributed much to society or met my potential. I mostly just test well. tributes <-- back to no thanks <-- back to archives <-- back to |