Spectral lines: As others see us

Being thing-, not people-, oriented has become a description of engineers so loudly proclaimed that engineers themselves accept it without challenge and even with a degree of pride. However, not everyone perceives the appellation as completely positive. Indeed, it is relatively an easy task to induce a nonengineer acquaintance to reveal his hitherto hidden thoughts about the “technical personality” simply by asking him what he thinks of that time-worn cliché: “engineers are thing-oriented.” Likely he'll say: