14 Technical Disciplines Summarized in a Single Iconic Phrase
Can you capture a whole field of study in one sentence or less?
Technical and artistic professions are hard! People spend years of their lives — and hundreds of thousands of dollars — learning their chosen profession in great detail.
But after all that study and specialization, can you summarize a profession in a single phrase or quote? Perhaps something that’s often repeated as gospel, taught to everyone entering the field from day one, or shared with a wary smile between long-time practitioners? Or perhaps a fundamental assumption that underlies all the field’s other activities?
Let’s try! Here are 14 disciplines — technical and artistic — summarized in a single quote or phrase.
Neuroscience
“Neurons that fire together wire together”
Data Science
“If you could give me cleaner data…”
Computer Science
“=, ==, if, while, for”
Biology
“The mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell”
Acting
“Live truthfully under imaginary circumstances”
Microbiology
“Fungi have chitin in their cell walls”
Epidemiology
“Lower the carrying capacity of the environment”
Stage Tech
“Actors will trip on spike tape. Dancers will trip on the place where spike tape used to be”
Religion
“Treat others as you’d have them treat you”
Transportation Engineering
“Induced demand”
Sociocultural Anthropology
“Participant observer”
Space Exploration
“Dear Lord, please don’t let me F*** up”
Photography
“F8 and be there”
Civil Engineering
“The solution to pollution is dilution”
