<p>I want to be an engineer, but I'm not sure what kind I should be. I'm good at math and am interested many different sciences including physics, astronomy, botany, chemistry, astrophysics, ecology, oceanography, ornithology (I like wings in general), entomology (again with the wings), and some aspects of Biology. (I like learning how the body works, but don't like the gore.) I like to find out how things work, and take things apart and I can almost always put these things back together. I really like to write, especially about things that interest me. I'm not sure if this will affect anything, but I have no interest in history, with the exceptions of Egyptology and ancient South American studies. I think that studying the constitution is somewhat interesting and could be useful some day, but do tend to get bored in con. law. The same gos for economics. I enjoy writing and reading most literature (I don't like poetry because honestly, I really don't get it.) I don't like or dislike Latin, it is easy, but not very interesting. I can play the violin only because I like to experiment with the different sounds. (I want to take it apart REALLY bad, but of course I can't.) I like art in general, but I don't like art class because I prefer drawing houses and star ships to illustrating poetry. I'm not sure how much of this information will help, but I hope at least some of it will. So what do you think? waht kind of engineer should I be?</p>
<p>Well half the things there don’t have a smidge to do with engineering, so based on the fact that you like wings, I’d go with aerospace.</p>
<p>^ But isn’t it great that he or she also likes so many things that are different from engineering? I think it’s pretty cool, and really good. </p>
<p>What is it that you like about wings? Would that relate to engineering, or to something else? </p>
<p>I think one can be drawn to what appear to be very different things on the surface, but if you take them to either a different level of abstraction, or you drill down to the reasons <em>why</em> you like what you do, you find they have a ton in common. Maybe- and I’m just making this up- one is drawn to textiles, bird wings, and learning languages- they might seem different but if you drill down you find the reason one is drawn to them is because they love identifying the underlying complex pattern of something. That would suggest majors ideal for those that love or are good at finding complex patterns. </p>
<p>Likewise, often things that look like they are similar on the surface, are actually very different (and they only simply share something superficial in common). Here’s an example: I know someone that LOVES airplanes- their names, histories, who built them- and everyone says he should be either a pilot or an aerospace engineer. This is probably not a good idea because what he loves about planes has nothing to do with either of these careers. A historian of flight, a pilot, and a designer of airplanes all have ‘airplanes’ in common but have very different cognitive interests.</p>