RE: The engineering mind and longevity
I don't know what sort of guidance about their choice of profession young people get today. I do know that my father encouraged me to choose one that I might enjoy and that might do my fellowmen some good. Although quite good in math, I chose the humanities. A number of my colleagues, however, chose various types of engineering. At our 50th high school class reunion this past year, I was surprised that so many of my "engineering" friends had been _very happy_ in their career choices. I'm certain they did not choose their field because they felt a national need for engineers. Whatever self-motivation they might have had, they must have been encouraged, perhaps challenged, by their high school teachers and university faculty. What sort of encouragement, challenge, or other incentives are our students getting now? Then too, our role models were perhaps quite different then.
