Engineers and artists generally don't get along; and the main reason for that   
   is that each pursuit requires completely different ways of thinking. If you're   
   an engineer, you serve existing realities. If you're an artist, you are   
   creating and pursuing a    
   vision. If you're an engineer, you have to be very practical. If you're an   
   artist, you have to be inspired. We see two completely different forms of   
   thinking; and people who think in completely different ways will usually not   
   get along.   
      
   But the engineer's greatest area of incompatibility in thinking is not with   
   artists; it is with salesmen. In order to amount to anything as a salesman,   
   you have to be a positive person. You have to think positive. If you're an   
   engineer, you cannot afford    
   to think positive. You think positive, you fail to anticipate problems. An   
   engineer who thinks positive will design equipment that will blow up on use.   
      
   A successful entrepreneur has to be able to think like all three. He will have   
   to think like an engineer in order to realistically assay what the market   
   would demand. He will have to think like a salesman in order to “win friends   
   and influence people.†  
   � He will also have to think like an artist and be a visionary. This is not an   
   easy thing to achieve, and businessmen – rightfully – get a lot of respect.   
      
   There are any number of people who have learned to think in ways that are   
   appropriate to different professions. Probably the most admired engineer in   
   history – Nicolai Tesla – thought both like an engineer and like an   
   artist. He was a visionary, and    
   he also knew his stuff enough to make his visions practical reality.   
      
   Probably the best way to get engineers, artists and salesmen to get along is   
   for them to understand each other's thinking. Different thinking is   
   appropriate to different pursuits. If they understand where one another is   
   coming from, they will be more    
   likely to know how to deal correctly with one another.   
      
   When they do not understand such things, they will likely be hateful to one   
   another. An engineer would see a salesman as a neon balloon, and a salesman   
   will see an engineer as a negative ninny. That is because, once again, the two   
   fields require    
   completely different kinds of thinking. A salesman has to think positive; an   
   engineer has to think critically. If they do not understand such things, they   
   will not get along.   
      
   I have maintained positive friendships with people in all four pursuits. They   
   might not get along with one another, but they all get along with me. This   
   makes it possible for me to understand each party's thinking in order to   
   correctly advocate for them    
   to people who do not understand their perspective or why they think the way   
   that they do.   
      
   Probably the best case for education in arts is that it is useful in other   
   things besides the arts. Creative and visionary thinking has applications in   
   all sorts of pursuits, especially in business. Things such as realist painting   
   and calligraphy also    
   teach attention to detail; and this can be useful in many other things as   
   well, especially in engineering. Artists and engineers may not get along for   
   reasons stated above. However some of the skills that artists learn are useful   
   in engineering, and even    
   engineers stand to benefit from arts education.   
      
   Businessmen, in turn, stand to learn from all of the above. They need to think   
   like engineers, like salesmen and like artists. As for myself, I have studied   
   all of the above; and I recommend that more people do the same in order to   
   understand whom they    
   are dealing with in each field.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)