It is very easy, as engineers, to forget how incredibly important it is to articulate what we work on. Not only to explain to our families, but to bridge the gap between the technical and the non-technical people.
Engineers, specially really good ones, a lot of times feel proud of understanding something no one else does. Proud to the point of not caring whether the audience understand even though you might be in a setting where it is to your advantage to have your audience understand (for example, when you are trying to tell people why your product is better than the competition's).
More people in the technical world should strive to bridge the gap rather than widen it to show their "superior intelligence." (Which isn't all that superior, it's far smarter to be able to communicate, which makes you useful. Inability to communicate makes you merely a curiosity)
It is very easy, as engineers, to forget how incredibly important it is to articulate what we work on. Not only to explain to our families, but to bridge the gap between the technical and the non-technical people.
Engineers, specially really good ones, a lot of times feel proud of understanding something no one else does. Proud to the point of not caring whether the audience understand even though you might be in a setting where it is to your advantage to have your audience understand (for example, when you are trying to tell people why your product is better than the competition's).
More people in the technical world should strive to bridge the gap rather than widen it to show their "superior intelligence." (Which isn't all that superior, it's far smarter to be able to communicate, which makes you useful. Inability to communicate makes you merely a curiosity)