| If engineers are still taught engineering as a discipline then it doesn’t matter what tools they use to achieve their goals. If we are calling software developers who don’t understand how things work, and who can get away with not knowing how things work, engineers, then that’s a separate discussion of profession and professionalism we should be having. As it stands there’s nothing fundamentally rooted in software developers having to understand why or how things work, which is why people can and do use the tools to get whatever output they’re after. I don’t see anything wrong with this. If anyone does, then feel free to change the curriculum so students are graded and tested on knowing how and why things work the way they do. The pearl clutching is boring and tiresome. Where required we have people who have to be licensed to perform certain work. And if they fail to perform it at that level their license is taken away. And if anyone wants to do unlicensed work then they are held accountable and will not receive any insurance coverage due to a lack of license. Meaning, they can be criminally held liable. This is why some countries go to the extent of requiring a license to call yourself an engineer at all. So where engineering, actual engineering, is required, we already have protocols in place that ensure things aren’t done on a “trust me bro” level. But for everyone else, they’re not held accountable whatsoever, and there’s nothing wrong with using whatever tools you need or want to use, right or wrong. If I want to butt splice a connector, I’m probably fine. But if I want to wire in a 3 phase breaker on a commercial property, I’m either looking at getting it done by someone licensed, or I’m looking at jail time if things go south. And engineering or no different. |