Post by alexwriter on Jun 1, 2007 20:54:22 GMT -5
Engineering Vs Poetry
Emotionally there are changes I would like to see in some of my neighborhood intersections that would make them easier for me to navigate. But whimsy-driven changes can’t be made without careful attention to technical considerations that may not be apparent to poets, heavy metal singers, or rappers.
Perhaps I can explain the danger to civilized society presented by the operation of any intersection using fuzzy logic. I mean, how you would like to fly on an airplane designed by an emotional outburst in a political action committee? It is a widely held conclusion that such an airplane wouldn’t reach the end of the runway before its wheels fell off.
Poems written utilizing pure engineering principles would be devoid of beauty, of love, of emotional appeal, but not truth. None of them would find their way into literary reviews, talking head views on the evening news, the Library of Congress, or as songs on teenagers’ iPods.
Conversely, engineering projects written as poetry wouldn’t be well received at Greenwich Village coffee houses, they wouldn’t make the top ten on pop music charts. They lack the fuzzy logic that gives alternative meaning and wide appeal to words in song lyrics.
Traffic engineering is a balance between a classic solution on the drawing board, and a plan that allows for the variables inert in each intersection—geometry, visibility, right-of-way considerations, and so forth. What? You don’t know what those mean? You don’t care? Then you would probably be surprised when I tell you engineers seek practical resolutions that allow the most traffic to negotiate any given intersection. We, the motoring public, depend on roadways to get us to school, shopping malls, vacations, and the various reasons that compel us to leave our heavily taxed houses, so that we may dispose of the remainder of our disposable income.
The best poems are written with openings for interpretation. They may have rhyme or rhythm, or a mixture of the two. Their first use was to record oral history in times when few people knew how to read or write. Classic song lyrics can and do allow you to access fond memories of your teenage years, when you knew more than your parents. They provide us with an easy means of escaping the responsibilities of adulthood, and enjoying the lack restrictions placed on us by laws, ordinances, edicts, and eviction notices.
Roads were the link that allowed ancient Rome to flourish at a time when uncivilized barbarians threatened the very fabric of society. Romans were quite advanced in areas other than human rights. Many of the principles of Roman engineering are still valid. In modern Italy, some sections of the Via Appia, (a.k.a. the Appian Way) constructed by Appius Claudius in 312 BC, are still trafficked today. They may be a little bumpy, but they don’t get muddy when it rains.
Getting back to retro traffic engineering, existing roadways should be managed with logical engineering practices, with a careful mixture of safety and serviceability in mind. Although they may provide us with escape somewhat the same as poetry, escaping one’s spouse and children shouldn’t eclipse the necessity for practical travel, such as a crucial trip to the Quickie Mart for a $5 pack of coffin nails.
Poetry should be left to people who know more about words than they do about traffic signals, tollbooths, or Houston’s Red Light cameras. Upon further reflection, scratch that last one; Mayor White is reputed to know more about those than either poets or engineers.
Mike 5/20/07
Emotionally there are changes I would like to see in some of my neighborhood intersections that would make them easier for me to navigate. But whimsy-driven changes can’t be made without careful attention to technical considerations that may not be apparent to poets, heavy metal singers, or rappers.
Perhaps I can explain the danger to civilized society presented by the operation of any intersection using fuzzy logic. I mean, how you would like to fly on an airplane designed by an emotional outburst in a political action committee? It is a widely held conclusion that such an airplane wouldn’t reach the end of the runway before its wheels fell off.
Poems written utilizing pure engineering principles would be devoid of beauty, of love, of emotional appeal, but not truth. None of them would find their way into literary reviews, talking head views on the evening news, the Library of Congress, or as songs on teenagers’ iPods.
Conversely, engineering projects written as poetry wouldn’t be well received at Greenwich Village coffee houses, they wouldn’t make the top ten on pop music charts. They lack the fuzzy logic that gives alternative meaning and wide appeal to words in song lyrics.
Traffic engineering is a balance between a classic solution on the drawing board, and a plan that allows for the variables inert in each intersection—geometry, visibility, right-of-way considerations, and so forth. What? You don’t know what those mean? You don’t care? Then you would probably be surprised when I tell you engineers seek practical resolutions that allow the most traffic to negotiate any given intersection. We, the motoring public, depend on roadways to get us to school, shopping malls, vacations, and the various reasons that compel us to leave our heavily taxed houses, so that we may dispose of the remainder of our disposable income.
The best poems are written with openings for interpretation. They may have rhyme or rhythm, or a mixture of the two. Their first use was to record oral history in times when few people knew how to read or write. Classic song lyrics can and do allow you to access fond memories of your teenage years, when you knew more than your parents. They provide us with an easy means of escaping the responsibilities of adulthood, and enjoying the lack restrictions placed on us by laws, ordinances, edicts, and eviction notices.
Roads were the link that allowed ancient Rome to flourish at a time when uncivilized barbarians threatened the very fabric of society. Romans were quite advanced in areas other than human rights. Many of the principles of Roman engineering are still valid. In modern Italy, some sections of the Via Appia, (a.k.a. the Appian Way) constructed by Appius Claudius in 312 BC, are still trafficked today. They may be a little bumpy, but they don’t get muddy when it rains.
Getting back to retro traffic engineering, existing roadways should be managed with logical engineering practices, with a careful mixture of safety and serviceability in mind. Although they may provide us with escape somewhat the same as poetry, escaping one’s spouse and children shouldn’t eclipse the necessity for practical travel, such as a crucial trip to the Quickie Mart for a $5 pack of coffin nails.
Poetry should be left to people who know more about words than they do about traffic signals, tollbooths, or Houston’s Red Light cameras. Upon further reflection, scratch that last one; Mayor White is reputed to know more about those than either poets or engineers.
Mike 5/20/07