New Zealand Engineering 1999 March

Reflections

Show a little respect!

Growing older, yet bucking the usual trend by becoming more radical instead of more conservative, I begin to wonder about who are our elders? Do westerners really have any idea about eldership, and how to respect knowledge gained over the years?

I was watching a fireworks display last year and some young adolescent males were drinking beer and throwing their empty cans on the ground. They didn’t think - or didn’t care - about this minor act of vandalism. I began to wonder how they could be taught to know early about what are right and wrong acts? About their effect on the common good. Who - if anyone - were their mentors?

The wisdom of the older members of society neither gets passed on to the young, nor do they listen any more. As we became a market of consumers who are charged for everything, we also increasingly let the jobs of being parent, mentor, and caregiver fall on paid professionals like teachers, or the facile entertainers on TV.

It’s also about developing a sense of compassion. If I want youths to care about the environment, they need role models to show how it’s done. Despite the example of a few concerned individuals, the overall ethos of society is away from caring - about each other, the environment, about the long haul towards sustainability beyond a three-year horizon. The idea that the whole could look after the weaker, or more unfortunate few, has vanished with the bathwater that has been thrown out over the last 15 years.

Some parts of our society still have vestiges of care and respect. I said I was getting older, but I’m still not old enough yet to dine with the kaumatua - or elders - at my marae. Maori do respect their elders, simply for being old - for having run the race, been there done that. Sometimes this can stifle debate in the face of an undue deference to the authority of age. But I find it a more appealing stance, to acknowledge that age in itself is an ability, a discernment, something we call wisdom.

One of the problems of the young is that they are far more knowledgeable than we were at their age - sometimes annoyingly so. They are bombarded with facts, choices, and information. They must cope with complex technology, and far faster paced lives than I ever did. But knowledge is not wisdom. The process of getting older, of having one’s knowledge based judgements confirmed or denied is essential. We do learn by experience. As TS Eliot says: "And the end of all our exploring, will be to arrive where we started, and know the place for the first time."

What has this got to do with engineering? The lack of mentorship that pervades all society, particularly male society, is also evident in the profession - a group that should be steeped in the handing down of wisdom from expert practitioners to younger ingenues. We do have some processes in place. Young engineers on the road to membership or registration often have a mentor, or are the responsibility of a more experienced engineer. And at the last Congress it was pleasing to see some of our oldest and highest profile engineers honoured as Distinguished or Honorary Fellows.

But between those two extremes, we don’t seem to have a rightful place for the wise practitioner. Becoming a Fellow can be a milestone, but does IPENZ then use this resource of wisdom to better the world? Do we seed committees with wisdom, or seek the halo of the Honours List for more professional engineers?

Society seems to have a warped idea of who can offer wisdom on its behalf - who its kaumatua are. Much of it emanates from the way the media are viewed. Being an actor on Shortland Street, or fronting a garden show, can automatically qualify you for heading an inquiry into health or any topic under the sun! The process of gaining a high profile in one field, and thereby seeming to become a fount of all wisdom, is circular and self-fulfilling. And it devalues the huge number of others who could more usefully contribute. It is a process that debases real wisdom.

As engineers we have a good role model in our new President, Sir Ron Carter. He has kept engineers’ profile high in corporate and government circles. But we need more. We have the wise people in our ranks. Unfortunately they are hidden - pebbles among the many pebbles on a beach. How can we get the wise ones honoured, and present them to decision makers as a valuable resource?

Gerry Coates, director and manager - Electrical Division, Ian C Smith & Partners