Tuesday, March 30, 2004
The Corner has a discussion going on about liberals. They think engineers must be liberals. They also think it's bad that liberals don't dwell on their "heritage". I sent this letter to Jonah Goldberg.
I've worked with engineers and scientists for 30 years - the last 15 in a management role. Engineers are often conservative. They solve standard problems with standard techniques. They learn rules that are time tested and apply them. Scientists are often liberal. They are trying to push the edge of knowledge, make a difference. I am a scientist by nature. I live for those special moments of cognitive discontinuity - where a new insight allows me to see the world in a new and more meaningful way. Without people that do this, we would still be in caves shivering in the dark.
As we gain knowledge that changes our inherent capabilities: modern medicine that extends lifespans and greatly reduces infant mortality, the atom bomb, manufacturing, information technology - we cannot continue to have social institutions that are designed for earlier capabilities. That is why I am a social liberal. We must change in response to a changed world. We are adaptable creatures by nature.
I am also a woman and would make any sacrifice necessary to ensure that the clock is not turned back for women when my granddaughter and great granddaughter reach adulthood. If I was born 20 years earlier, my life would be a pale shadow of what it has been. I am a happy wife or a fair and loving husband, the mother or 3 bright, caring, successful children. But in addition, I am a successful scientist and manager. I get great pleasure from both roles.
The critique has been made on the Corner that liberals don't care about their heritage. But you miss the point. Liberals live in the future, not the past. I look to the future. I care deeply about the future. Change has no real heritage. Past change is not a harbinger of future change necessarily. Hopefully, responsible liberals learn from failed changes. I think they have. That is why the do not espouse or defend failed liberal concepts of the past. Change agents must move on. Mistakes are something to learn from - they are someone elses mistakes.
I've worked with engineers and scientists for 30 years - the last 15 in a management role. Engineers are often conservative. They solve standard problems with standard techniques. They learn rules that are time tested and apply them. Scientists are often liberal. They are trying to push the edge of knowledge, make a difference. I am a scientist by nature. I live for those special moments of cognitive discontinuity - where a new insight allows me to see the world in a new and more meaningful way. Without people that do this, we would still be in caves shivering in the dark.
As we gain knowledge that changes our inherent capabilities: modern medicine that extends lifespans and greatly reduces infant mortality, the atom bomb, manufacturing, information technology - we cannot continue to have social institutions that are designed for earlier capabilities. That is why I am a social liberal. We must change in response to a changed world. We are adaptable creatures by nature.
I am also a woman and would make any sacrifice necessary to ensure that the clock is not turned back for women when my granddaughter and great granddaughter reach adulthood. If I was born 20 years earlier, my life would be a pale shadow of what it has been. I am a happy wife or a fair and loving husband, the mother or 3 bright, caring, successful children. But in addition, I am a successful scientist and manager. I get great pleasure from both roles.
The critique has been made on the Corner that liberals don't care about their heritage. But you miss the point. Liberals live in the future, not the past. I look to the future. I care deeply about the future. Change has no real heritage. Past change is not a harbinger of future change necessarily. Hopefully, responsible liberals learn from failed changes. I think they have. That is why the do not espouse or defend failed liberal concepts of the past. Change agents must move on. Mistakes are something to learn from - they are someone elses mistakes.
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