We Built This City On...

Step class was peaking when that song played. "We built this city on rock and roll," went the harmony, on and on. Of course, it could have been rocket motors, breakfast cereal or sunshine. What is interesting is the possessive tense: We... with the cooperation of many.

I built this body, or is it that we build this body? Even as fiercely independent and proactive as I am, I have had lots of help from trainers, instructors, gyms, bicycles, shoes, God, McDonald's and Taco Bell... you name it. I spend far more time at gym, saddle and trail than waking time at home. I feel pretty needy sometimes. Whenever I need help with that last heavy press in the last set, I think of what my ex-wife did to me... and that takes the barbell home. So, even my ex helps me... if you call it that.  ;-)

- © 2013 by Willy

Are Engineers Autistic?

Well, yeah! Of course. All the good ones.

I have many times stated that I have the recipe to make an engineer, even mass produce them like pies. Just like an apple pie is made with apples on a crust, engineers are a cup each of Autism or Asperger, social awkwardness or extreme shyness, obsessive compulsiveness, attention deficit, hyperactivity, obsession, solitude, logic, causality, math, physics, and science... all mixed well and wrapped tight. Engineers are about machines and code. To an engineer, a strange object is to be understood, has many functions and possibilities, and brings fun.

Engineers always have paper and pen to write down their concepts for contemplation and tasks for execution. Properly channeled, hyperactivity is good. Engineers think in fast-changing concepts and fast moving 3D pictures, not slow words. When they do think of words, the words come in fast strings with numbers attached in correlated sequence and patterns. They crave information, and they observe... noticing not only detail but also the integrated large picture of how things fit and work. Engineers own many machines of varying types and a toolbox of code. Properly channeled, obsession is good. An engineer will obsess about diet and exercise when he sees the need for health and fitness. Engineers make like machines, and they don't miss a workout.

Engineers see solvable technical challenges but impossible people problems.

Engineers do not know how to relate to people other than themselves. They would rather be alone. Their heroes are Spock, Einstein and Asimov, not Hollywood nor NFL. They can't read others' feelings because feelings make no sense and get in the way. Music is for cardio pacing or mood therapy. Young engineers wonder what the heck others did in High School, and how could anybody ever get bored (the answer is that some flks wasted High School just talking). It is difficult for an engineer to start a gym class in step or yoga, or any non-engineering class. Engineers tolerate but don't like to go to movie theaters or anywhere people congregate but instead like the broad-spectrum of machines and their museums. A manager controlling an engineer makes the engineer bust a mental gut. To an engineer, a strange person is suspect, has few functions, negative possibilities, and brings nothing but trouble.

Engineers are mostly born from that recipe at birth, but may flounder until they figure it out. Borderline nerds and geeks have to be revealed to become engineers. What throws them over the edge is typically social in nature... the bullying; boys and girls making fun of them, tricking them and taking advantage; girls breaking their heart; and their families not understanding them nor supporting their views. Engineers ferl the people they love let them down... just the way everybody else feels. 

However, I stand corrected. It may be that the Autism portion of the engineer recipe is a cup and a half. It was pointed out to me that Cambridge's Autism Research Centre had created the Autism-Spectrum Quotient, or AQ, as a measure of the extent of autistic traits in adults... their 50 questions read exactly like what makes a good engineer. How funny is that! The test is at http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/9.12/aqtest.html

And that's my opinion, my observation, and my life.


- © 2013 by Willy

Kindness

Life can be tough and is often broken.

Kindness is welcomed in all parts of life... especially in health and fitness, where by far the most important component is mental. A stress filled life is not a healthy life and kindness is the best there is against stress. There are some stresses in life that are unavoidable... usually people. But this can be mitigated... usually by other people's kindness plus some steadfast thinking (like a resolution to outlast the stressor). That kind word, received or given, makes a huge difference in tolerating stress, sleeping better and being healthier. It's an attitude: Do it with kindness... it's not what you do but how you do it. I thank all those who have been kind to me... maybe somebody in yoga who said a word here and there... and hope I return kindness back.

- © 2013 by Willy