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The dangers of unlicensed engineering

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Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#51

Post by joe_the_user »

notaddicted wrote: post #7
pyre wrote: post #2

> He said there is a potential for violation if DOT > and the public were misled by "engineering-quality > work"- even if the authors did not claim to be > engineers. Isn't this essentially saying that you can be too smart/thorough for your own good, and that the government is going to punish you for not getting a license to use your abilities? What the hell is 'engineering-quality work' anyways? Talk about an amorph…

You're refuting the weakest possible interpretation of his statement. "This" is essentially saying, that it is possible to mislead the public by producing work that has some of the qualities of engineering work, but is not actual engineerng work. The alleged violator clearly started with the conclusion, and put together some official looking research to support it ... one of the many things you learn not to do in eng…

So a convincing argument with "maps, diagrams and traffic projections" and referencing information on official documents, is ipso facto itself "official"?

Amateurs then must be forced to make unconvinced arguments unless licensed by the state?

It may be that there's a danger of ignorant people being fooled by those who can spout seemingly convincing, technical arguments. But in a democracy, the only defense is to argue against them and educate the populace. Any other course clearly invites the "dictatorship of officialdom", something that has prevailed in many places throughout history.

Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#52

Post by te_platt »

bmccormack wrote: post #13
pyre wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Considering the forum, I think that the title is sarcasm.

That's certainly possible, but I personally find sarcasm very difficult to detect on the web. I generally avoid it when communicating online and via text.

Funny how good your comment is if you are being sarcastic. But now I can't tell if it is sarcasm or not.

Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#53

Post by jrockway »

joe_the_user wrote: post #50
jefe78 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Agreed! I shouldn't need an M.D. to stitch you up!

It's more like if someone stitches me up, in an emergency, after warning me they aren't a doctor, they will be sued by the AMA for "doctor-level work".

No, not really. This is more like if you're dying and someone gives you CPR but didn't pay $20 to renew their CPR certification, the CPR certification board goes after them for "practicing lifesaving without a license".

In other words, utter fucking bullshit.

Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#54

Post by jrockway »

notaddicted wrote: post #7
pyre wrote: post #2

> He said there is a potential for violation if DOT > and the public were misled by "engineering-quality > work"- even if the authors did not claim to be > engineers. Isn't this essentially saying that you can be too smart/thorough for your own good, and that the government is going to punish you for not getting a license to use your abilities? What the hell is 'engineering-quality work' anyways? Talk about an amorph…

You're refuting the weakest possible interpretation of his statement. "This" is essentially saying, that it is possible to mislead the public by producing work that has some of the qualities of engineering work, but is not actual engineerng work. The alleged violator clearly started with the conclusion, and put together some official looking research to support it ... one of the many things you learn not to do in eng…

However, it's the first thing you learn in law school. Petitioning the government is law, not engineering.

Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#55

Post by jrockway »

bennysaurus wrote: post #44
benvanderbeek wrote: post #8

The punchline: "If Cox is found to have practiced engineering without a license, Ritter said, the likely action would be a letter telling him not to do it again."

If my brother has a headache and I give him an aspirin, am I practising medicine?

Don't do that again.

Love, The AMA

Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#56

Post by Natsu »

jrockway wrote: post #53
joe_the_user wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's more like if someone stitches me up, in an emergency, after warning me they aren't a doctor, they will be sued by the AMA for "doctor-level work".

No, not really. This is more like if you're dying and someone gives you CPR but didn't pay $20 to renew their CPR certification, the CPR certification board goes after them for "practicing lifesaving without a license". In other words, utter fucking bullshit.

You're right, this is why we have "Good Samaritan" laws to protect people who are trying to help people in an emergency.

That said, it's definitely not a bad idea to keep your CPR training up to date. Mine was renewed last December.

Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#57

Post by pyre »

jrockway wrote: post #54
notaddicted wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You're refuting the weakest possible interpretation of his statement. "This" is essentially saying, that it is possible to mislead the public by producing work that has some of the qualities of engineering work, but is not actual engineerng work. The alleged violator clearly started with the conclusion, and put together some official looking research to support it ... one of the many things you learn not to do in eng…

However, it's the first thing you learn in law school. Petitioning the government is law, not engineering.

Ah. So he was practicing law without a license.

Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#58

Post by [deleted] »

pyre wrote: post #2

> He said there is a potential for violation if DOT > and the public were misled by "engineering-quality > work"- even if the authors did not claim to be > engineers. Isn't this essentially saying that you can be too smart/thorough for your own good, and that the government is going to punish you for not getting a license to use your abilities? What the hell is 'engineering-quality work' anyways? Talk about an amorph…

[deleted]

Re: The dangers of unlicensed engineering

#59

Post by j_baker »

3pt14159 wrote: post #11

Crazy talk. In Canada this computer scientist would be invited to chat with the engineering firm, not brought in front of a licensing board. Writing a report, even a very technical one, that is political in nature should always be protected. What shouldn't be allowed is people passing themselves off as if they had a license then people building things based off of their plans.

Canada has wackos too. If Canada has no engineering managers/administrators who are willing to pull some stunt like this, I guarantee there's one there somewhere who will pull something else equally silly.

Don't compare the US's extreme case to Canada's normal case.

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