This is my original favorite topic at university. Breakwater design. The rock manual gives you all the different types of rock you can use. Your location gives you your impact for which you have to design. The question is, what are the extremes? You can calculate different extremes on different designs. The van der meer formulas (who also was the professor) you use are deterministic. They were created by trial and error in lab environments at the facilities in Delft.
The theorists hated his guts, they wanted to come with theoretical frameworks while he just tested the variables at scales and implemented what actually worked across the globe.
The university I was in was interesting. It was called UNESCO-IHE so it used to be an international sub department of the Delft University of Technology that was aiming to teach engineers from across the planet our water knowledge. Old professors and engineers from contractors/corporations taught the practicalities of water engineering in a broad sense. The original name wasn’t Institue for Hydraulic Engineering for nothing. To be able to apply as a Dutchman you needed to have 3 years of working experience in the specific field, bring a relatively large amount of money and make very clear why you wanted a specific specialization.
My parents are from a poor upbringing and both worked their ass of as a teacher for sick children (mom) and a physiotherapist (dad) to give me this opportunity.
During the study I found out that most students were not enrolled in engineering degrees but in, water law, water governance etc. Mostly funded by the Bill & Melinda gates foundation and the United Nations. The students were getting prepared to become the leaders of their countries. That’s at least what our lector told us at the start and end of our studies. But the strange thing is, who paid determines what happens right? Who are all these people in these positions having to pay back their studies to?
From the start of the institute until today the focus shifted heavily from engineering to bureaucratic studies. And for my graduation project I doubted where I could have most impact. Because on the bureaucratic level the projects and money is divided, while at the engineering level you just engineer. I decided to do a simulation optimization study on the three gorges dam in China. And it was more engineering focused, while I got to see the political decision making that made the outcome obsolete. Rational decisions don’t take place when bureaucrats decide over engineers. I always hated this and understanding bitcoin changes everything.
This is the first time bureaucracy doesn’t govern over the builders with their exploitation through printing and violence. Finally the era of properly engineered money has arrived.
We’ll focus on building again, instead of the dystopian endless bureaucracy. We’ll educate a majority of engineers instead of a majority of bureacrats. The shift from majority focus of extraction of life energy will be beautiful as no force or counterfeiting will help them anymore.
I can’t wait to be in the era of the engineers, the builders.
I need to work harder to achieve our bitcoin future. Preferably rock solid and battle tested.
