She blinded me with logical fallacies

I know this may be hard to believe, but I once got into a silly and unnecessary argument with a former boss over the word "utilize" in a presentation.  I knew it was silly and unnecessary as it was happening, but I only have so much control over my pedantry.  I am only a man.  I ended up giving up, because he was my boss and kind of difficult to work for.  Even though it was silly and unnecessary, I still feel bad about it because the meanings of words matter, and utilize is a frequently abused word.  It shames me to this day.

Even though I caved in the face of middle-whelming opposition, I still feel strongly about use of words, as you can imagine.  I even got into an internet argument in the comments section of The Atlantic once when I was "working from home" (different boss) about inappropriate use of the word socialism.  I do care about that, too, but man, correcting randos on the internet about definitions of political philosophy is an uphill battle.

Another word that has been bugging me for quite some time now is how people say the word "science" but rarely seem to know what it actually means.  This tweet came across my feed recently and it filled me with that same urge to explain why everyone else is wrong all the time again.  The word science has had a sort of quasi-political, semi-chic renaissance.  I do not exactly know when or why it started, but its invocation is typically about smugness.

Science is a process by which an hypothesis is identified, an experiment defined and executed, then tested.  It is important that the hypothesis is stated before the experiment is defined, to try to expose and prevent bias.  The data from the outcome of the experiment is then compared to the hypothesis, and depending on the significance of the experiment, applied in some way, published or just filed away for posterity.  The details of the experiment are also defined, so that it can be replicated to be sure that the information is valid.  Science is not a body of knowledge.  It is a technique to build knowledge.  It is not a world view.

One of the places that exemplifies this smugness, besides Neil deGrasse Tyson's twitter feed, is ieffinglovescience.  I know that is not its name, but I do not like to use the f word. Looking at the website, it has science memes news, which is nice.  Nowhere on the website does the explanation of the Scientific Method appear.  The shop is pretty easy to find -- and it supports real science causes!  Whatever that means.

NdGT recently tweeted "a subject is scientifically controversial when actively debated by legions of scientists, not when actively debated by the public, the press or by politicians."  That is kind of nonsense, because scientists are not priests.  There's no magic cape you get to put on (or Van Allen Belt?) when you graduate with a science degree.  While my degrees are in Mechanical Engineering instead of physics, I am not a scientist either.  But I am at least as qualified as Bill Nye.

This particularly bothers me because it reflects poorly on my profession and associated professions when these people act like insufferable jerks using the logical fallacy Appeal to Authority to support a position they already believed.  Which, is antithetical to what science is supposed to be.

Logistics

Not long ago I discovered a podcast called James Bonding (which, when you search for it delightfully causes this to come up also [note: I do not endorse that service]) which has reawoken my interest in the movie franchise.  So I am rewatching the ones with which I am not as familiar as I used to be and the ones I just like watching.  I've mentioned my fandom of podcasts before, but these are like listening to fans talk about things they like.  I am convinced that every sports broadcast would be improved by simply having two well informed fans of one of the teams that have some chemistry call the game, because like 97% of the announcers are worse than having your county council replaced by an aggressive race of crab people that outlaws butter.  (Brent Musburger, you're in that 3% you magnificent bastard.)

Anyway, there are all kinds of comedians who talk about finding henchmen and talking about how incompetent they are in movies like this, and I have all those same questions.  But mostly, as an engineer, the questions that keep coming up for me as a I watch an army of technicians sit quietly at their workstations helping Stromburg in The Spy Who Loved Me end humanity are more about procurement.  There's a scene late in the movie where the henchmen are all wearing custom made Stromburg navy uniforms.  Where'd they come from?  Somebody had to make those.

Also, the plot of this movie hinges on a lot of big machines -- an underwater lair, the largest cargo ship in the world, and all sorts of vehicles that are blown up -- that have to come from somewhere.  And while they do establish early in the movie that he's one of the richest men in the world, helicopters are still expensive.  Another one of the in jokes is that the Russians know a lot about what the English are doing, and vice versa, but the bad guy has a secret submarine swallowing and underwater mansion including underwater aquarium, which makes sense, I guess.  I just can't believe that there isn't some chatty pipefitter who might mention at the local watering hole that he's working on a project that is just bananas.

Don't get me wrong, though -- I love these movies.  I own all of them (even Die Another Day) and this sort of supervillainous silliness is part of what makes it great.  I just wish I could be in the room when the writers were trying to explain to Cubby Broccoli just how they could fit two missiles plus 007's and XXX's luggage into a Lotus Esprit.  But, to quote Larry Miller in episode 22, "I don't know why Ursula Andress comes out with a knife.  Who cares!  It works."

Not my job

The year 2011 has been a rather transitional one for the Sighted family, both immediate and extended. My wife graduated from medical school, married me, I left the country for the first time (Canada doesn't count), moved back to the Palmetto State, my brother graduated from law school (as did his fiancee), and he's going to get married. (My family is a very professional one -- I want to open a restaurant and call it Doctor, Lawyer, Engine Chief to cover all of our professions.) He, of course, has posted pictures of him in his dapper suit as he intimidates opposing counsel and slaps paralegals on the behind and whatever else attorneys do on the ol' Facebook, and the thing that struck me most is that his hair looked really good.

Not that that's unusual, but I work in a factory and I pretty much just need to arrive fully clothed to look appropriate. Lawyers and doctors deal a lot more with people than we do, so saying things like, "What moron is responsible for this flabby body?" or "Divorces for broken marriages like this are fun!" which would be more than acceptable on the shop floor are frowned upon in an office or hospital. Which is a shame, really.

It has been kind of surprising how much I have learned about the experience of doctors and lawyers, since I have seen pretty much every Scrubs and Law & Order episode that there are. (But I saw it on television! It must be true!) Dr. Sighted has not had sex even once in a closet at the hospital. Why bother even being a doctor in that case?

There aren't a lot of tv shows about engineers, for really all those same reasons. I imagine if there were, the main character would be a lot like House (also not a faithful representation of reality, as it turns out) without being a genius -- he'd just think he was. Antisocial behavior and disheveled appearance is tolerated in the only person on earth who can save your life; not so much in the guy who is really good at math, has mismatched his socks again and insults you in Elvish.

Anyway, it's an exciting time. I am surrounded by talented people in my family. With two newly minted attorneys, I am pushed even further down the list of best dressed -- and that includes the fact that my wife went to work tonight (yes you read that right) in scrubs and my other brother is a deputy sheriff. I included that last one because I have never, not even once, seen him wear the Sgt Slaughter hat.