[jbandela1]

>As you start to ponder the implied ethos, the stranger it gets. Would you like engineers to be passionate as they design new bridges? Would you like a surgeon to be passionate as she operates on you? Would you like judges to be passionate as they pass sentence on your friend?

The answer is yes. In terms of engineers and passion, I would bet that an engineer who is passionate about designing bridges would be one that would have studied past designs and failures of bridges in great detail, be up on the latest benefits and issues in material science, who was aware of special considerations for weather or location. I would also bet that engineer would be able to design a better bridge than one that was just doing it purely because it paid money.

As for surgeons and passion, when I was in neurosurgery, the best surgeons I knew were passionate about their work. They were constantly reading the latest journals, attending conferences, going to courses to hone and refine their skill. They were also constantly evaluating themselves to see if they could do things better. Then there were others who were just coasting on what they knew worked in the past. I would rather go to a passionate surgeon any day.

As for judges, I would like a judge who is passionate about the law and justice. I want a judge who not only knows what the current law says, but who has researched and knows how it came to be, the various precedents and circumstances that law has been applied. I want one who has contributed review articles to law journals, versus a judge who quickly does a Google or Lexis-Nexus search about the law to supplement their knowledge from 15 years ago in law school before they render their judgement.

[b3kart]

There's "passion" and there's "professionalism". I would categorise many of the activities you mention under the latter. Passion isn't the only reason to try to be good at what you do and get ahead. Pride, ambition, a sense of responsibility, etc. are all good reasons too, and it's easier to associate them with surgeons and judges. "Passion" is just a bit of a weird word to use when it comes to such work, maybe because it's often associated with creative endeavours.