tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15350975.post640280159692230992..comments2024-03-27T09:08:50.883-07:00Comments on Bad Mom, Good Mom: Genteel Majorsbadmomgoodmomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11569728075698885020noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15350975.post-88625523866738254632010-09-14T11:14:30.207-07:002010-09-14T11:14:30.207-07:00I can't even begin to comment on all of this. ...I can't even begin to comment on all of this. I don't see how we can be at the intellectual pinnacle of production if we lose the ability to make the things we design. Design is not completely abstract. And yes I read the Akron commenters, including the one who can't find qualified engineers, a problem I was all to familiar with years ago when I was working. I assume it has not gotten any easier, only worse.<br /><br />As to the anecdotal story about genteel society not going into STEM careers, I would say that feeling is echoed here pretty accurately. I can't afford that kind of neighborhood either, but I see it nonetheless among my husbands ex-colleagues and their children, and their more expensive neighborhoods. They strive to get their kids into a lifestyle above their own, and discourage them from science, math, or medicine as too much work for too little payout, even if the children are mathematically inclined.<br /><br />And I know more "well-rounded" STEM people than I do liberal arts majors. This is especially true of the communications majors I know.Mardelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04850551308931710502noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15350975.post-36631952797384731272010-09-12T23:35:14.633-07:002010-09-12T23:35:14.633-07:00I read the Brooks article the other day as well an...I read the Brooks article the other day as well and it rang as true to me as it apparently did to you.<br /><br />I've pondered on similar themes myself, since high tech though my job can be, solving problems often devolves to relearning basic manufacturing principles. But who will make our stuff or innovate new manufacturing practices when we've finally stepped past the critical threshold of lost tribal knowledge? Among subdisciplines in engineering, manufacturing isn't sexy, but it's where the rubber meets the road in terms of applied engineering know how. If you've lost the engineering know how to design a product it may be a long time after that when you also lose the manufacturing know how to build that product. But it will happen - I see it all the time. <br /><br />We all may all be blithely going into a future where our country's manufacturing core is blindly following recipes and when they lose the recipe there may be no one around with know how to redesign the product. This happens now. I've seen it repeatedly and helped many companies recover their design engineering. But what if one day we can't recover? What then?<br /><br />My meandering point seems to be converging on this: that we learn by doing. If we're doing less and less design, then some day the wheels are going to come off the manufacturing wagon and we won't be able to call up a US-born design expert to put them back on because all the experts in making widgets will be in China or Malaysia. The same will happen if there's a sudden national priority that requires design talent. At that point I guess we'll all become purchasing agents and arrange to buy our widgets elsewhere.Brenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11450393891493020636noreply@blogger.com