Critical Engineering

“ The Critical Engineer recognizes that each work of engineering engineers its user, proportional to that user’s dependency upon it.”

A work of technology, machinery, or utility is only as good as its importance and purpose to its user. Just as a piece of equipment serves to aid its user, the full potential of the equipment can only be achieved through the willingness of the user. A device that is often used will display its full power, have an effect on the users, and eventually upgraded or updated to an improved version. However, following this train of thought, also brings up an important and possibly dangerous point, the reliance on a work of engineering. As the Critical Engineer observes, the effect of the work projects a user’s dependency upon it. For example, the cellar phone is one of the most common communication devices of today. As its importance grows, people become more reliant on it,and as more people adopt to it, the more likely it is to be changed for efficiency or convenience. Internet appears on cell phones faster than ever before and the high-speed, high definition video cameras such as the 8-megapixel sensor on the Apple iPhone 5 are proofs that these technologies have driven people to an almost point of insanity to create faster, more efficient machines to fill the appetite of hungry users. The new phones will then in turn attract more customers. It is important for us to recognize the difference between a reliable device and relying on a device so we do not end up becoming machines for our machines.