Engineers: is there anything you CAN'T accomplish?

My wife is in nursing school, and I was helping her with some questions on partial pressures of gasses in the blood (I'm a chemical engineer). I made the comment that I could never be a nurse, and my wife said that while I might not ever WANT to be a nurse I could easily pass the classes and earn an RN. My sister said something similar when she was in law school and I commented that I could never be a lawyer. So my question is this, and it's for the engineers: do you think there's any course of study that you couldn't make it through? Is there any subject that is so difficult to you that you just couldn't get a degree in it if you wanted? Marketing? Elementary Education? Physical Education? Media and Theatre Arts? Do you think there's anything you CAN'T accomplish if you put your mind to it? I'm just curious, as most engineers I know are very confident in their mental abilities.

Edit-
Physical education is a real degree. I know people that got PE degrees in college and went on to become coaches and PE teachers. While some physical ability is required there is no bench press test or minimum number of situps to do. I was just looking for an example as far from engineering as possible.

I believe that there are many people that, if they put their mind to it, could receive any degree that they wanted and it is not limited to engineers. I've also met a few engineers that have absolutely no common sense and could not pass any field of study in which another human being or reasoning was involved.

What I think makes engineers standout when it comes to appearing knowledgeable in many subjects is their problem solving and logical reasoning skills. I'm not saying that only engineers possess these talents, just that engineers typically need these talents to excel in their fields.

Personally, I like to think that I could get any degree that I wanted but there would be limits to the aptitude that I would display in many subjects. I might can get a degree in most engineering majors from almost any major university (note I said almost) but I might just barely pass a degree in music from a community college if musical talent is a requirement.

Engineers rock. I hope my engineer can help me resolve an issue with my jerk neighbor, who stole about 100 yards of soil from my yard and flooded the entire 2 acres!!! I hope engineers could also be detectives if they put their minds to it. BTW I hate civil issues..... I really respect people who are analytical and willing to speak up for us "commoners".

I think it would be Pure Mathematics for me. It's not that engineers cannot deal with it but Math really gives me a hard time. It's just my opinion though.

Well I have an Electro mechanical engineering degree and then a masters in Business administration. the truth is I have done most of the work Of my girl friend Medical Lab Tech, My best friend Radiology, My cousin Pharmacists and My other cousin English/elementary school. I seem to be the person that always is asked for help. the only profession I think I can not complete is the English portion I am a math, numbers and theory person whether history theory or physics. English is something I am not capable of doing.

I think they are generalizing that engineers can be any profession. It's true of anyone. Right now, I don't believe I can be good in any financial type profession. I am always late on paying the bills. Btw, I am an EE.

No... I can pass any university program they can throw at me.

However, remember that getting a degree is just the beginning, not the end. If you don't like what you do, you will never be able to keep up with the guy next to you who loves what he does.

Pardon me if this seems facetious, but none of us can fix stupidity. Besides that, if we want it bad enough, no, I don't think there is anything we can't accomplish if we want to badly enough.

Your question is a bit confusing because you allude to mental prowess and finish your question with a reference to mental abilities, yet you list Physical Education as a challenge. I could not pass the basic training regimen that my son completed four years ago, I can't bench press much over 120 pounds nor could I swim 5 miles as I used to.

I'll answer from the mental capacity perspective only.

As a Professional Engineer, I can't imagine a course of study requiring mental effort that I couldn't at least pass by dint of effort. Having said that, I have been trying my entire adult life (40 years 卤) to master (or even become comfortable with) any musical instrument. Artistic painting and drawing eludes me, although I can produce precise mechanical drawings by hand and on the computer. I can not imagine how sculptors can see what is inside that block of marble, nor do I begin to understand how a novelist can develop multiple characters while keeping their personalities, motives and "voices" consistent throughout the work.

I will tell you that i think you have to be motivated by a passion....or at least an occupation you feel would be a second or third choice.....


...when I was in nursing school,, we had a child developmental phase that made us spend time with kinder garden's. One week....enough to know i did not want to be a teacher..and likewise teachers are probably exposed to bedpans.....so people take what they have to offer + their favor to choose their careers...

Good question. I'm a chemical engineer also and believe that there isn't much I couldn't tackle. I was helping my cousin with trig once and he asked, "What are you, some kind of Einstein or something?" However, I know for a fact that I could not be a financial planner or economist. Just typing the words make my eyes glaze over! :)

That is a very good question. I think I could accomplish any degree. But, do I want to is another question.

I am an Electrical Engineer because that is what I like to do. I chose this profession before I was 12 years old.

I can't think of any degree I couldn't get if I was allowed entrance to the program (for instance getting into medical school is much harder than getting through it). There are certainly a lot of things I wouldn't enjoy doing though (music, english). One reason I went into engineering is that its a lot less political or subjective than many other fields. That is if your design does everything its supposed to do and meets cost and schedule requirements, it is a good design. It doesn't matter what anyone thinks of it. Whereas whether or not your english essay is any good depends solely on the opinion of the person grading it.

I would like to go to medical school ( to become a doctor ), but to remember every symptoms , name of every drugs with their dose, while thinking about patient conditions that will affect it, and read/attend/pursue every latest medical updates while busy with my patients (what a doctor, in my engineer imagination) - I think that's something that I can't accomplish.