This is one of the most fascinating threads I have read on this forum, ever. I say that for two reaons.
First, it is very diverse technically, and has helped me visualize a number of things I have simply looked at as voodoo over the years.
Second, it is also like sitting in an airport or similar location to "people watch", as the various contributions, as well as reactions to them, disclose a lot about the participants.
I have worked for over 30 years in a field populated by engineers and "hands on" folks. I have made my living for the most part as an engineer who can speak english. I take the technical stuff and translate it for lay people like regulators or legislators. I am a professional witness of sorts.
What I "think" I see going on is a very classic example of design versus build. The engineers and designers here are a little different in that most of them also get hands on. But still, it is essentially a social conflict between the college mind and the builder mind.
The engineer/designer can explain why or predict what will happen, and illustrate data to support these assertions.
The builder guy has experience in putting into real world terms what the designer comes up with. The builder guy does this without the deep technical expertise, but WITH an incredible sense of what looks and feels right. Mechanical genious cannot be taught, it just exists because of a certain set of skills that some seem to be born with.
What occasionally happens over time is that builder guy becomes expert in what he does to a point where he is regarded to be as knowledgable as the designer/engineer. This occurs because of physical results rather than the more academic process of publication.
Builder guy wants to teach what he knows. He develops his own jargon that is used to explain what he does by touch and perception.
The engineer/designer can look at the end result and disect it technically and more accurately than builder guy. And this causes the engineer/designer to take issue with the inaccuracy of builder guy's jargon. To add frustration to this, many engineers cannot duplicate builder guys product, even though they know how and why it works better than builder guy does.
This conflict has no end and no resolution until and unless there comes to pass a masterful builder guy, best in all the land, who is also an engineer/designer. I fear that the existance of such an individual would be like matter and anti-matter and some cataclismic event would occur.
I will now go back to sitting on the fence, as that is where the view is best.
regards,
Dan
(post little and listen a lot)