How do you tell the difference between a male goose and a female goose?

Female geese are generally smaller in size than their male counterparts. Male geese will also be noticeably more protective and agressive to unfamiliar animals.

You seem to be taking a very narrow view of engineering, concentrating on mechanics more than anything else. Mechanical engineering is important and a worthwhile profession. So is chemical engineering, software engineering, ergonomics, civil engineering, prosthetics engineering, electronics engineering, computer engineering, acoustic engineering, systems engineering, production engineering, power engineering ... the list is almost endless.

Engineering of all types underpins our way of life and creates new possibilities. It is vital to our way of life. Fantasies like 'Iron Man' are entertaining but silly.

There are few prima donnas is real engineering. No one is master of every engineering skill and all geniuses stand on the shoulders of those that came before them. It is a team effort.

Of course there are people with unique mental abilities that enable them to see the possibilities from among the chaos and you may well be such a person. Underpinning most engineering and innovation are the application of mathematics and of robust scientific methods. It still takes a creative mind to see the possibilities beyond mere incrementalism but I suggest a thorough grounding in mathematics and science would be a good place for you to start.

You put all of that into one sentence. You're not an engineer. You can't make yourself think like one - be an artist.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.