Reasonably Intelligent Maker

I love "common knowledge", "common sense", and "rules of thumb!" They are great starting points, as opposed to random, arbitrary values changed periodically based on trial and error until they no longer fail. There is no data like empirical data!!! The problem with "common knowledge", "common sense", and "rules of thumb" are that once something becomes classified as one of these things most people generally no longer question them. Unfortunately for me, I am an engineer, and a gen-x'er. That means I am overly literal, want to understand the big picture, as well as each tiny little detail and all the answers to any question that starts with "why". Even worse, is that my generation didn't want to grow up and be president, and we don't trust authority, and don't have any heroes. Even though we expect to get let down by those we depend on, and lied to by those in power over us, we still feel saddened when