We engineers have done many, many creative things, and Goethals is a great example (we've got a bridge named after him here in New Jersey)
I did not mean to say that our work is mundane or ordinary, just that it rarely involves discovery. We generally apply other folks discoveries. Engineering is filled with great challenges (and great fun in the application of technology to problems), but rarely involves actual discovery.
It's just my opinion that Nobel intended his (science) prizes to be more related to discovery.
I would, however, be more than willing to accept any prize that paid that well...
Feb 14 2012: It is completely correlation instead of causation, but let's stop and think a minute.
There are so many things we can diregard using this very, very logical armament, that we need to grow beyond the logical argument.
There are SO MANY chemicals we have created and introduced to our environment that we simply cannot discount any one as the cause for any one malady. We need to admit, industry and society wide, that many, many of the things we have created over the last 100 years are horrendously bad, and REFOCUS OUR DEVELOPMENT TOWARD MORE BIOLOGICALLY INNERT PRODUCTS!
If we can shift the focus slightly from financially advantageous products to products that are more and more inert, but still financially viable, we may be allowed to continue on this planet...
Feb 14 2012: We cannot rely on folks in corporate governance to be good people, nor can we rely on them to be concerned with the greater good. We have hundreds of years of history to back this up, and we have only exceptions to prove otherwise...
So, we must ensure that laws and regulations keep the societal good in mind, and the short term goals of corporate governance in check. But, there are ways to do this that are not in conflict with each other.
High tax rates force governance to keep capital within the organization, to reinvest it, to build upon the existing. If we allow folks to do otherwise, we deprive businesses of the opportunity (albeit forced...) to build upon existing technologies and grow for future opportunities.
Feb 12 2012: I cannot identify more deeply with the sentiment of this talk. My godfather pointed out long ago how much the things we do in young peoples lives matter much, much more to them than to us. Simple things. Going to the beach for an hour or two; having a hotdog and 10 minutes of conversation.
I shed a tear as I forwarded this talk to him.
I endeavor every day to have a lollypop moment of influence with someone who needs it, and I encourage you to do the same. The seemingly meaningless, reassuring interactions we have with folks can be so very reassuring and meaningful.
Feb 12 2012: After reading the short Wiki about her, if she would agree to do a TED talk, I would certainly listen with baited breath. Even outside my field, there is nothing more meaningful to me than listening to the teachings of learned elders. There are always so many things to learn!
I hope I reach the age and the wisdom to inspire the same feeling...I doubt both, but I do hope...
Feb 12 2012: I've always been a little dubious about the peace prize... Seems a little presumptuous to award a prize for something that rarely, if ever, lasts very long for any of the folks involved.
And, no, I don't think there should be one for engineering. I am an engineer, and I've won awards within my field. But Nobel had much broader aspirations. Nobody wants to hear about the best way to process or manufacture this or that.
We want Borlaug. if you haven't done anything that important, you don't need a prize...
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A reply on Conversation: Whatâs your favorite (and/or least favorite) Nobel-Prize-winning science?
We engineers have done many, many creative things, and Goethals is a great example (we've got a bridge named after him here in New Jersey)
I did not mean to say that our work is mundane or ordinary, just that it rarely involves discovery. We generally apply other folks discoveries. Engineering is filled with great challenges (and great fun in the application of technology to problems), but rarely involves actual discovery.
It's just my opinion that Nobel intended his (science) prizes to be more related to discovery.
I would, however, be more than willing to accept any prize that paid that well...
A reply on Talk: Tyrone Hayes + Penelope Jagessar Chaffer: The toxic baby?
There are so many things we can diregard using this very, very logical armament, that we need to grow beyond the logical argument.
There are SO MANY chemicals we have created and introduced to our environment that we simply cannot discount any one as the cause for any one malady. We need to admit, industry and society wide, that many, many of the things we have created over the last 100 years are horrendously bad, and REFOCUS OUR DEVELOPMENT TOWARD MORE BIOLOGICALLY INNERT PRODUCTS!
If we can shift the focus slightly from financially advantageous products to products that are more and more inert, but still financially viable, we may be allowed to continue on this planet...
A comment on Conversation: Can corporations really interfere with the health or our world communites? If so how and what should we do about it?
So, we must ensure that laws and regulations keep the societal good in mind, and the short term goals of corporate governance in check. But, there are ways to do this that are not in conflict with each other.
High tax rates force governance to keep capital within the organization, to reinvest it, to build upon the existing. If we allow folks to do otherwise, we deprive businesses of the opportunity (albeit forced...) to build upon existing technologies and grow for future opportunities.
A comment on Talk: Drew Dudley: Everyday leadership
I shed a tear as I forwarded this talk to him.
I endeavor every day to have a lollypop moment of influence with someone who needs it, and I encourage you to do the same. The seemingly meaningless, reassuring interactions we have with folks can be so very reassuring and meaningful.
A reply on Conversation: Whatâs your favorite (and/or least favorite) Nobel-Prize-winning science?
I hope I reach the age and the wisdom to inspire the same feeling...I doubt both, but I do hope...
A comment on Conversation: Whatâs your favorite (and/or least favorite) Nobel-Prize-winning science?
And, no, I don't think there should be one for engineering. I am an engineer, and I've won awards within my field. But Nobel had much broader aspirations. Nobody wants to hear about the best way to process or manufacture this or that.
We want Borlaug. if you haven't done anything that important, you don't need a prize...