Critical Engineering 8

8. The Critical Engineer looks to the history of art, architecture, activism, philosophy and invention and finds exemplary works of Critical Engineering. Strategies, ideas and agendas from these disciplines will be adopted, re-purposed and deployed.

Critical Engineering has existed even before the term “Critical Engineer” existed. This point in the manifesto emphasizes that the community should build off each other, and learn from the mistakes of those in the past. The work the Critical Engineer makes should be open source and understandable. More so, there should be recycling of old ideas that were forgotten about or just needed some tweaks. Like every aspect of the critical engineer’s work, he or she must be resourceful and creative, that is what stuck with me about #8 in the manifesto. An example would be if a Critical Engineer sees that the theory of evolution can have influences outside the natural realm, he or she could repurpose the theory to speed up a process, and create computers that can learn. This is seen in the project Evolved Virtual Creatures (1994),  Where the computer was able to learn by a mutating a surviving creature and testing again, just like the theory suggests. This, in turn, can become a springboard for even greater endeavors.