Originally Posted by
Mark Hennebury
Many creatures on this planet do what could be considered engineering, beavers, weaver birds, termites and most all humans, do at some level what could legitimately be called engineering.
So it would follow that they are engineers by virtue of what they do. Not trained, educated, certified or sophisticated maybe, but at some level they are engineers.
Anyone falsely claiming to have training, education, skills or certification that they don't have, is a cheat and a liar. that's quite simple.
Nobody should be able to apply for or get hired for any job for which they are not qualified. That is also quite simple.
The concept of having training and certification to set acceptable standards for professionals is critical to public safety, no argument there.
Not everybody without professional education and training is an idiot.
Not having certification, does not tell you what the person does have.
They may have studied and they may have not.
They may be brilliant engineers and they may be idiots.
Not everyone conforms to the norms of living and learning, some don't fit the normal mode and operate on the fringe, for whatever reason.
I mentioned Filippo Brunelleschi considered a genius engineer, was trained as a goldsmith, and who could possible have trained him to do what had never been done anyway.
Sometimes formal education limits the imagining of what might be, by instilling an acceptance of the limits of what is known.
Having the fringe dwellers working away alone in their basements, trying things that no one else would ever consider, occasionally produces great discoveries.
As to the OP question; who has the right to the title?
For me the whole point is that, some people by nature study, analyze, experiment, design, innovate and build, and i guess my question is; what would you call that?