Electrical Engineering: The Pinnacle of Man (old)

    It is always a fun, but futile exercise to peg one particular thing as the pinnacle of man, as the human race has many accomplishments under its belt with hopefully many more to come. However, I think it is wise to step back occasionally and ponder these accomplishments, understand their merits, and truly admire the size of the giants we all stand on. Notable candidates can include the moon landing and the space agencies of the ‘60s who pursued it, the vaccines and antibiotics that have steadily extended our lifespans, the airplane which connects us physically or the internet that connects us virtually. That list obviously goes on, and regardless of the current state of the world I think we can all agree that we’ve accomplished an awful lot.


    I am not arguing for any specific event or technology to be considered the pinnacle of man, as they all are important and have profoundly improved our situation. The purpose of this article is to remind us of another entry that might be overlooked, precisely because it is not a specific event or technology.


    This, as the title implies, is the entire field of electrical engineering. Other engineering fields are impressive, but I think this one is special. If you are fortunate enough to be considered an electrical engineer, I want you to ask yourself what exactly you do at work. I’m not talking about your day to day activities or what exactly you are building. I’m asking you to really dig down to the core, to remove all of the meticulously crafted layers of abstraction that allow us to work effectively, and truly revel in what we do. 


    This, of course, is manipulate electrons. Whether you route circuit boards, dope semiconductors, or ponder the next generation of signal processing algorithms; at the end of the day your contributions will be used to guide an electron in a certain direction. Reducing it all to that might make your work sound trivial or stupid, but I beg to differ.


    The electron literally surrounds all matter. While unpredictably jumping around its host nuclei it creates the forces that hold matter together. It is the glue that prevents everything we see and interact with from crumbling into sea of meaningless particles. The term aether carries a mystical connotation, but I definitely think it can be used to describe the unfathomably large number of electrons that makes up the universe as we know it.


    The amazing part is, through application of rigorous science and the genius of many men and women that came before us, we get the privilege of controlling that aether. Humanity can now force this powerful substance to do it’s bidding, literally at the flick of a switch. Phrased like that it is truly mind blowing, and the humble electrical engineer is the one who makes it all happen.


    Additionally, most of those accomplishments I listed earlier in the article stem directly from that ability. It has allowed us to drag ourselves out the dark ages into times of staggering opportunity. All we have to do is to learn how to not kill each other into extinction and we can reap its rewards farther into the future than is comfortable to think about.


    Of course, we can’t hold this power from a place of arrogance. We must wield it carefully, as anyone who has been electrocuted will know that if not treated with respect it will swiftly bite back. But with judicious and intelligent use we can continue to build the truly amazing things that will push humanity to places that no one currently alive can predict. 


    To close my philosophical treatise, I just want us all to remember how far we’ve come. Regardless of how bad the world seems or how boring your job is, you are participating in something truly amazing. All of us who have the ability and means to become engineers are truly blessed, and I ask you to please use your power to push mankind in a positive direction. Continue to be its steward and pass it on to those that follow you. And finally, stand proudly upon the shoulders of the giants that got us here, and maybe even strive to become a giant yourself.


If you liked this comically grand rant, check out some of my other ones:

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