That's why it's a good idea to keep engineers away from customers, romantic interests, and other people who can't handle the truth. If there is one trait that best defines an engineer, it is the ability to concentrate on one subject to the complete exclusion of everything else in the environment. This sometimes causes engineers to be pronounced dead prematurely. Some funeral homes in high-tech areas have started checking resumes before processing the bodies. Anybody with a degree in electrical engineering or experience in computer programming is propped up in the lounge for a few days just to see if he or she snaps out of it.
Engineers often hate risk.
They often try to eliminate it when they can. This is understandable, given that when an engineer makes one little mistake the media will treat it like it's a big deal or something. The fastest way to get an engineer to solve a problem is to declare that the problem is unsolvable. An engineer can not walk away from an unsolvable problem until - it's solved. No illness or distraction is sufficient to get the engineer off the case.