The Little Black Box

In his article "Civil Engineering: A Way of Life" Michael Garrett describes the loss of tradition and care of the profession within engineering due to a thing called progress. He uses a story of an old farmer who was a pillar of his community. This farmer was always taking care of his farm and helping his neighbors in their difficult times to ensure that the community around him thrived. The farmer happened to have a son. Upon the birth of the son, the farmer built a small black box that he would carry with him on his walk around the boundaries of his farm every morning. The son grew up, went to the university to study agriculture, began to resent the traditions of his father, and embrace the new ideals of progress.

The father soon died and with his final breaths asked the son to maintain the tradition of walking the boundaries with the black box each morning. The son put the box on the shelf and forgot the ways of his father. Progress allowed the fences to tater, the cattle to flee, and the weeds to grow. The son also alienated the town which dwindled as it was lost to this thing called progress. Therefore, the once thriving community ceased to exist.

In the engineering community the tradition has long been for the senior engineers to pass along the knowledge of the profession to the younger generation. For centuries this knowledge has been passed along and many problems are solved by the logic of "well this is how we have always done it." Sure new methods have been developed, but the standard remains. In the last few years though, technology has made tremendous strides in the design field. It has opened new doors that were never dreamed of 50 or 100 years ago. This technology has alienated some of the older generation, and caused younger engineers to distance themselves in lieu of progress.

Garrett warns that if we as engineers want to ensure our place in society as the respected individuals within the community system, we must not put the little black box aside, and we must continue the traditions that we have always maintained, particularly our responsibility as the voice to maintain the safety of the community. Though the older generation may have difficulty keeping up with the progress, they are experts in paying attention to the finer details. After all, these are the guys that put a man on the moon, built the Hoover Dam, and any number of other amazing feats long before the additions of AutoCAD and the incredible computing tools of today. As engineers we need to remember to always revert to the basics and never to allow progress to impede our better judgment.