V G wrote:

> On Fri, Sep 16, 2011 at 12:12 PM, Gerhard Fiedler wrote:
>=20
>> Engineering is also about being able to draw reasonable boundaries
>> and build on the work of others, and "reasonable" depends a lot on
>> the given situation. [...]=20
>>=20
>> I don't have to acquire blacksmith skills and be able to make my own
>> hammer "from scratch" in order to use a hammer to adequately solve
>> real-world problems... independently of the fact that others may use
>> a hammer where a screwdriver would be more appropriate.=20
>=20
> A hammer is a piece of metal. There's almost nothing that can go
> wrong.=20

This is only because others have made is so simple and safe for you to
"just use" a hammer, and draw a "knowledge boundary" there that is so
strong that you aren't even aware of it -- but it's there, nevertheless,
and you not being aware of it just enforces my point.=20

Like Alan wrote, there's a decent amount of knowledge involved in making
a good hammer from scratch. You take this for granted, just like others
take the EE work involved in an Arduino for granted. Same difference...

> I respectfully believe this model is an over simplification of the
> issue. In contrast, a microcontroller circuit is so much more
> complicated piece of equipment. There are many variables, and using
> such a system without understanding these variables is the problem.

This can be a problem with using a hammer, too. You really helped argue
my point with this response... :)

Which is that we all (including you) do use these boundaries where we
rely on others doing or having done their job properly, and that
everybody has different ones. Take anything you use in the course of
designing and building a simple electronic circuit (or in one of your
day-to-day activities) and try to go back to "from scratch" (which does
_not_ include buying anything from anyone) and you'll get an idea of how
much we all work with these boundaries and rely on others knowing what
they're doing.=20

Gerhard
--=20
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