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Engineers Nine Times More Likely Than Expected to Become Terrorists

washingtonpost.com

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Re: Engineers Nine Times More Likely Than Expected to Become Terrorists

#11

Post by CookieMon »

solipsism wrote: post #9

Survey data indicates that engineering faculty at universities are far more likely to be conservative than people with other degrees, and far more likely to be religious. They are seven times as likely to be both religious and conservative as social scientists. That's surprising to me. I'd like to know where they got that data, and look more into it. How likely are they to be conservative and religious than people wi…

> I'd like to know where they got that data

Yes, given that the context seems to be people who go into engineering in Middle Eastern and North African countries which are too dysfunctional to employ engineers, you are left wondering whether the survey data was of those societies, or whether they extended some data to be an international truism. But I'm not paying $30 to find out.

I too would have thought engineers less likely to be religious in the west than people with no degrees, or humanities degrees.

Re: Engineers Nine Times More Likely Than Expected to Become Terrorists

#13

Post by rdancer »

jamesrcole wrote: post #10

If their explanation is correct then it has implications for how engineers should be trained. E.g. that it would be beneficial to provide a more well rounded education that goes beyond the "engineering mindset" and exposes them to "messier" situations and means to deal with those.

Absolutely. My two semesters of a what was an extremely gentle intro to theology allowed me to appreciate that there are intellectual pursuits outside STEM that are worthwhile and challenging.

Re: Engineers Nine Times More Likely Than Expected to Become Terrorists

#14

Post by mikeash »

jamesrcole wrote: post #10

If their explanation is correct then it has implications for how engineers should be trained. E.g. that it would be beneficial to provide a more well rounded education that goes beyond the "engineering mindset" and exposes them to "messier" situations and means to deal with those.

Nine times a really small number is still a really small number.

A well rounded education may well be beneficial for engineers, but if so it's not because of the terrorism potential.

Re: Engineers Nine Times More Likely Than Expected to Become Terrorists

#15

Post by jamesrcole »

mikeash wrote: post #14
jamesrcole wrote: post #10

If their explanation is correct then it has implications for how engineers should be trained. E.g. that it would be beneficial to provide a more well rounded education that goes beyond the "engineering mindset" and exposes them to "messier" situations and means to deal with those.

Nine times a really small number is still a really small number. A well rounded education may well be beneficial for engineers, but if so it's not because of the terrorism potential.

The number isn't itself the important thing, it's the consequences of their actions on the world. I think we can agree that terrorism, and the world's reaction to it, is a pretty big thing.

[EDIT, in response to the two replies I've received so far: I'm making a pragmatic suggestion. In pragmatic terms what matters is whether the benefits, whatever their size, outweigh the costs. I suspect they might, and even incremental benefits are still benefits]

Re: Engineers Nine Times More Likely Than Expected to Become Terrorists

#18

Post by mikeash »

jamesrcole wrote: post #15
mikeash wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nine times a really small number is still a really small number. A well rounded education may well be beneficial for engineers, but if so it's not because of the terrorism potential.

The number isn't itself the important thing, it's the consequences of their actions on the world. I think we can agree that terrorism, and the world's reaction to it, is a pretty big thing. [EDIT, in response to the two replies I've received so far: I'm making a pragmatic suggestion. In pragmatic terms what matters is whether the benefits, whatever their size, outweigh the costs. I suspect they might, and even increm…

Unless engineers make up a huge proportion of terrorists then it wouldn't make any significant difference. The article doesn't quite describe that number. The closest it comes is "Nearly half of those terrorists who had degrees had degrees in engineering." But it doesn't say how many don't have degrees at all. I bet it's a lot.

Re: Engineers Nine Times More Likely Than Expected to Become Terrorists

#19

Post by orik »

jamesrcole wrote: post #15
mikeash wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nine times a really small number is still a really small number. A well rounded education may well be beneficial for engineers, but if so it's not because of the terrorism potential.

The number isn't itself the important thing, it's the consequences of their actions on the world. I think we can agree that terrorism, and the world's reaction to it, is a pretty big thing. [EDIT, in response to the two replies I've received so far: I'm making a pragmatic suggestion. In pragmatic terms what matters is whether the benefits, whatever their size, outweigh the costs. I suspect they might, and even increm…

If you're advocating for a change in how engineers are trained it should be on the grounds that the impact of an engineer becoming a terrorist is that much worse than a non engineer becoming a terrorist, not on the grounds that terrorists in general are really bad.
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