pete wrote:
>
[snip]
> I've suggested here before, that if the world economy was given as a
> problem for systems engineers to design, they 'd be able to put together
> something which would work so much better than what we've got, it would
> be unbelievable. However, there are obviously problems, the key one
> being that it's not going to happen. As usual, the reason is that
> "those who have the money and power necessary to change the system
> are by that same criterion those with the greatest vested interest in
> keeping things the way they are".
> -Pete Vincent
How many engineers are there with the humanistic wisdom to
be able to design something that is "good", especially in a
society based on injustice, which most engineers (like
most of the citizenry in general) think is "natural",
"obvious", "human nature", etc.? And even for those who have the
wisdom (and there are some), where would they get the funding
and legal support to enforce their construction even
if they could fund it?
Scientists still cannot convince governments that global
warming, or, a fortiori, the population explosion, is something
that needs to be "reengineered", so what hope for such a
far more contentious thing as the economic order?
But let's face it, many engineers are lucky not to have
been assigned to work on Zyklon-B, because they don't see
it as their job to *decide what to build* -- and, if they do,
their only option usually is to build what their
employer wants built (e.g., Zyklon-B) or be fired. I
believe engineering ethics courses are making some constructive
impact here, but I don't know anything about the details, and,
in any case, I have yet to hear of any kind of ethics being
taught in our society's current key technology: computer
"science".
When managers cannot accept the idea that sufficient time
should be allocated so that the technical workers can devote
themselves to doing the job right and taking the time each
problem needs to resolve it, and these managers pride themselves
in this "tough" stance, it is clear that engineers need
to organize into one big union with the power to stop
management's folly in its tracks: "Give us time and resources
to decide what needs to be done, and to do it right, or
we will see to it that you do not have headcount to do
anything." *That* would be a first step. Next step,
to ask: "What is to be done?"
\brad mccormick
--
Mankind is not the master of all the stuff that exists, but
Everyman (woman, child) is a judge of the world.
Brad McCormick, Ed.D. / [EMAIL PROTECTED]
914.238.0788 / 27 Poillon Rd, Chappaqua, NY 10514-3403 USA
-------------------------------------------------------
<![%THINK;[SGML]]> Visit my website: http://www.cloud9.net/~bradmcc/
