What is Engineering?

Last week I was quaffing beers with friends at Boat Quay. The night was balmy, beers were cool and crowd non-existent.

Perfect. Except for one little thing…

We got into a heated discussion on what engineering really meant. It was a sight to behold: beer froth spewed, we went at it like dogs chasing their own tails, and threw up a gazillion different scenarios before crawling away for another pint of Guinness.

It was a bizarre yet thought-provoking topic with things like:

1. Would a glass in 2050 be called a glass if it used force fields to hold beer?

2. Have engineering innovations (e.g. cars, iPhones, air-cons) spoiled us?

3. Take a picture of what engineering means to you. What is it?

…being analysed and argued to beery unconsciousness.

That discussion (right fine, it was an argument) got me thinking about the nature of engineering and what’s it about. Is engineering really just making stuff like cars, buildings and mp3 players? Is it a way of improving our lives? Or is it a way to view the world?

Me senses a series of posts delving into the nature of engineering coming up over the next couple of weeks. Just lemme ask around and see what people say.

In the meanwhile, here’s funnyman Louis CK’s side-splitting but oh so true diatribe on technology during his guest spot on the Conan O’Brien show.

Comedian Louis CK on technology (source: IndianOpinion)

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