Comment: Government engineering adviser? Good idea or not?

Our PE comment this week chews over the question of a government chief engineering adviser and whether this is a good idea? What's your view? Have your say in this thread.

Govt isn't interested in engineers only in feathering their own nest. Less engineers have to do with govt the better, I say.

Bardsey Island wrote:Govt isn't interested in engineers only in feathering their own nest. Less engineers have to do with govt the better, I say.

I don't quite see how this would help get engineering more noticed by the government and further up the public agenda.

I think a representation of sound engineering thinking would be a great thing in principle. In practice I think it's just lost in the noise. Who on earth told them that promoting biofuel was a good idea? Why wasn't someone there saying "excuse me, but if you promote it you'll end up clearing lots of rainforest and we don't really want that, do we?" That's just an example by way of illustration. The problem is that for every expert there's a counter-expert and it doesn't move the needle. It's because the pariliamentary model and the legal model are really very similar - they are based on an adversarial mind set rather than an inquisitorial mind set (not to be confused with the Spanish activities of the same name) and the "standards of proof" are pathetic. In any case it's regarded as "politicially autistic" to concern oneself with facts. Lets face it chaps, we have the wrong frame of reference and to believe we can influence government is a bit naieve!

There's a rather good bit in the Hitchikers Guide To The Galaxy which basically says that those people with enough sense to run the place, also have enough sense not to want to. Therefore the people in-charge are usually the people least suited to the job. Ergo chaps, most of us Engineers have too much sense not to get involved. If, however, the country was run by entirely by Engineers, it'd be a damn sight better I reckon. I do however agree with the other comments in that a couple of Engineers helping the government will do absolutely nothing to help. It would indeed be naieve to think that we'd influence them. I would put money on the people they get in to do the job are the people least suited to being Engineers, (probably from the same bag as the people they get in to testify with the scum of society in order to get them off the hook). I've always had a theory: The only way forward would be to get rid of all the politicians and replace them with a Jury service type approach, where regular people would be given 3 months at a time to sit in as an MP and make decisions about the running of the country. It would be an excellent way to get the publics realy view and also to stop the stupidity of the current bunch!!