Me : Your table is broken.
Friend : I know. Hey, you’re an engineer, right ? Can you fix it for me ?
Pretty much a conversation I used to have with non-engineer friends of mine. Is that what people think engineers do ? fixing furniture and solving exponential equations ? because I would be happy if I could really do those sorta things. That way I don’t have to deal with carpenters or plumbers anymore. Or use calculators.
People say engineers are smart. Engineers are… people with extensive brain development. I personally can’t say that we are, though. Of course, we are applying math, physics, metallurgy, electronics, and so forth. But in reality, aren’t we all ?
Humans are born problem solvers. We have hands, legs, limbs – body parts, that learn. More than minds do.
Hands know how to grab a bottle, open the cap, and tilt the bottle to a certain degree so that the water inside won’t spill. Brains only know how not to be thirsty.
Legs know how to slide when you are rollerblading. How to initiate speed, where to put the centre of your body mass, how to gain momentum, or even make your body spin.
Your body parts are working together as a symphony. Each stroke your arms gave, or how your legs kicked, how your spine bent when you were swimming – basically every movements of your body parts are done with split-second calculation in order to accomplish the goal set by your mind.
See what I mean ? They learn. More than minds do. That’s why people say “Don’t think, just do it !”.
Which is why I believe we are all just as smart.. at different matters. I love the fact that we have these intelligent body parts. I love body parts. They are awesome. Not in a creepy way, though. I ain’t Dexter *lol.
Anyway. What I’m saying is… your body knows how to calculate things, even better than engineers do. All you need is experience, with which you could level up just like how pokemons do. Take a look at your hands, legs, elbows, fingers, etc. They tell stories of your past. Each scar, broken bones, or cracked knuckles, marks a story worth telling.
Us, engineers, are just like everyone else. Just as smart, stupid, clumsy, fun, messy, and so far. We are not Fixing Felix comes to life. Not God of physics, either. Engineers are simply students learning how to translate what your body parts do, or need, into numbers and units.
Witing Tresna 