I completely agree and will throw in about engineering. Our engineers coming out of school are entirely nursed on computers. A computer is a nice tool but it does not replace common sense and creativity. It should just be a tool to aide engineering.
Just to think back when the US was the world leader in aerospace. We put men on the moon from essentially zero knowledge and experience to success in 9 years. To repeat the same feat today they say 20 years or so? Well, I hope I don’t have to wait for them to re-engineer the pencil.
Boeing may “lose the farm” on the 787 bet. They have rolled the dice before such as the 747 and won. Today may be a different story. Will the Chinese buy the remnants of the greatest aircraft manufacturer has ever seen for a song and a dance?
Actually you are wrong about the zero knowledge part.
Once of the misconceptions about the early space program succcess was that the funding provided during the 60s put folks into college who then graduated and came out and put the Apollo on the moon.
22 year olds didn’t build our space program - 30, 40, and 50 year olds with existing degrees - the vast majority of which payed their own way through college - did. Quite a few were imports from Germany shortly after WWII when the Allies moved in.
In other words - we didn’t go from zero knowledge.
=8-)