Career advice from senior or retired engineers

Peter Brooks:


 I have read in many articles that the latest generation dislike eye to eye conversation - when I go to a restaurant I see a groups of younger people looking exclusively at their I-phones and not talking to anyone else.

I would have to disagree with you there Peter. It's not just the 'latest generation'...


I went out to dinner with my mother (in her late 60's) and her friends (all in the 60 - 80 age range) and took a photo of them all engrossed in their phones at the dinner table... I even posted it up to my Facebook feed with the caption of "It's not just the young who are obsessed with their phones...."


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Hello Lisa:


Being an engineer (who spent numerous hours waiting in airports for my plane to begin loading), I developed a habit of taking visual surveys of people in the area to see social trends develop over time. Things like number of shaven heads on males.


I still do the same thing in restaurants and fast food joints in my local area.  As regards the use of smart phones at lunch time (which is different from diner time by the way) the number of older people in groups using them, has dropped.


Generally people on their own, are still using them. 


My purpose however was to highlight the recent anti-social aspects of the younger generations.  


Peter Brooks MIET

Palm Bay Florida USA

Peter Brooks:

My purpose however was to highlight the recent anti-social aspects of the younger generations.  

I'm not sure that's fair to say Peter... 


I've met quite a few unsociable people (I prefer using 'unsociable' rather than 'anti-social' which to my mind has a completely different meaning) of all ages and walks of life in my time. I think it's a bit of a cliche to say that the younger generations aren't respectful enough. Hasn't that been said about the 'younger generation' since the dawn of time?


I'm also a bit of a people watcher especially at airports in which I too spent a rather lot of time. I've noticed that people on their own use their phones quite a lot but I would consider that to be for 'company' rather than to be 'unsociable'. One of my favourite past-times at airports and on trains (especially if I'm travelling alone) is to strike up a conversation with a complete stranger to see what their reaction is. Happily 9 times of of 10 I end up having a rather interesting reciprocal conversation. The one in 10 is usually just because they're rather shy or busy. 


If there's one lesson I've learned in life it's that not everyone thinks and behaves in the same way that I do or shares the same values and morals as myself. And neither should I expect them to.


Live and let live as the saying goes.

Hello Lisa:


I have just come in from a 2 hour public lecture on the dangers of Long term Stress on the Human body by a university based Psychologist.


We discussed the possibility that the cigarettes (which has been banned in restaurants and bars) has been replaced with a smart phones within the senior population.


We also considered the increased stress on the senior population of raising the full retirement age in the UK to 75.


The statement "live and let live" may not be valid when a person's actions with drink and drugs comes into conflict with the workplace. Safety comes first!


Peter Brooks MIET

Palm Bay Florida   

Hello Peter


The worst stress by far that I have experienced in my working career was when my company sent me on a one week long residential leadership development course ran by a highly respected company specialising in this sort of thing.  It might benefit some people but I found it awful and I took quite a long time to get over it!  At this time I was a very successful leader of my department, but everyone had to go.  Some years last I drove past the organisation where this took place near Ross-On-Wye in England, and it sent shivers up my spine, brought it all back!

Hello Foffer:


Remember the definition of a consultant is a factory reject.


All I remember of this episode in my life was the first question- what animal do you see yourself as ? Example might be a fox.


By the way as regards the IQ tests I took in the US, the questions were heavily bias towards a US citizen? Example could have been "Who has the best hit/run baseball record?" I don't like baseball, it is worse than cricket!


Peter Brooks MIET

Palm Bay Florida USA

The prevalence of depression, marijuana use, and alcohol abuse among former cigarette smokers in the U.S. have all increased since the mid-2000s, according to data through 2016 from the annual National Survey on Drug Use and Health Good morning

We have apparently substituted cigarette smoking with alcohol and drug use, plus more mental depression.


Peter Brooks MIET

Palm Bay Florida USA

Hello Lisa, 

I will explain after a thorough and research study and he: 

Have you ever wondered what the source of shyness is? 

Have you been born shy or is this a trait or behavior that has evolved over time. The researchers found that shyness was a genetic component. Jerome Kagan, a Harvard psychologist, researched groups of children and categorized the children according to the shy and bold key. Kagan found that even four-month-old babies could be classified by such a key. In a study of two-year-olds, about a quarter of the children were classified as "bold" while a fifth of the children were classified as "shy". As these children grew up, the shy people tended to play alone, compared to the "bold" ones who tended to play in groups. Please note that the results of the research mentioned do not mean that you are shy - a sign that you were born shy. Extroverts and self-confidence in society are learned traits that can be adapted like any other skill. The results of the study also do not mean that if you were an extrovert as a child, you would remain in your adulthood. According to Kagan, only about one-third of children classified as shy could be attributed to a genetic predisposition to shyness.

I don't understand you what you mean. Everywhere is important to have credibility and honesty. You are always honest with your friends or customers

Hello Benyamin:


Definitely the characteristic of being excessively bold (I call them disruptors) is laid down before children start school. These individuals try and cause major disruption in the classroom.


I do not know if these attention getting antics result from a generic component or from their home life.


However I am aware that these excessively bold individuals are most likely to have some sort of criminal record by the end of their teen age years.


Peter Brooks MIET

Palm Bay Florida USA