The eye of the scientist and the eye of the engineer

I see myself as both a scientist/mathematician and as an engineer, using the perspective that suits the occasion--itself a mark of an engineer.

As a scientist I believe only in the use of the scientific method as a tool to obtain truth. I want to know the right answer, and only the right answer will do. As an engineer I believe also in the use of the scientific method, but here I do not need the right answer; I only one that is good enough for my present purposes.

As a scientist, when I find something that works, I want to know why it works--by relating it to other, more atomic domains of knowledge. And I want to test it to ensure that it truly works. The testing never ends.

As an engineer, when I find something that works, that's good enough. I only would like to know under what conditions (roughly) it works reliably, and to have it work well enough for now.

As a scientist/mathematicians I care about exactnesses, not approximation. Good enough is never good enough. Only the exact, full, right answer will do. As an engineer I care only to have something that meets my current need. I care about efficiency, not exactness. Exactness may be too expensive--either in time or effort.

As a scientist I only hold those beliefs that I know or believe to be true, but as an engineer I am willing to hold beliefs that I find useful--even if I am certain that they are false.

At one time in my life I believed in a God that loved me and cared about me. I was very young then, and I believed it thoroughly. During that time, when good things happened, I thanked God for them. And when bad things happened I believed that God made them happen for a reason, and that the reason was my ultimate well-being.

I no longer believe that this is true. I don't believe God exists, and if s/he happened to exist, I have no reason to believe that s/he would waste time on me. So I no longer hold this belief as true, but I know it is useful, at least could be under certain conditions, because I've used it.

As a scientist I could never hold a belief that I knew to be false. It runs counter to more fundamental beliefs--which are the core of what I believe as a scientist.

But as an engineer, I know this belief was useful in the past and could be useful in the future. I'd have no trouble, if I needed to, taking it out, dusting it off, and trying it on for size again.

My innner scientist would sneer, but I am more an engineer than a scientist, and my inner engineer would simply say: "It works," and call the argument finished.