Why do engineers, scientist and many technical people have a hard time working with people in general?

Question

I notice this a lot. They tend to have very difficult time working with people.

Answer 1

Possibly their lives are so filled with the need to concentrate on their professional tasks that they do not see how others can waste time being silly or sociable. If an engineer or scientist messes something up, people could die. If you in general mess something up, you might cause nothing more than a 15 minute delay in a process.

Heavy duty responsibilities for heavy-minded people. Very goal oriented.

Answer 2

Could it be that you are stereotyping a bit? True many engineers,scientists, and techies have a hard time working with people, but so do most others!

In reality nothing is further from the truth. People in technical professions have to communicate their ideas to others in order to be successful. If you worked in the field you would find that the most successful techies are the ones who get their ideas across to others. Engineers, scientists, and techies NEVER work in isolation. It seems this way to many people because that is how they are portrayed on TV and in the movies. In reality it is actually just the opposite.

It is very rare that tech people without communication skills, are successful. A lack of communication in this field can be a career killer.

Answer 3

People are unpredictable. They can't be explained by a formula and the way they respond today might be different from how they responded yesterday. If you spend your working hours dealing with machines and formulas, it might take a little time adjusting to unpredictable people.

Answer 4

Think about this, if you were trying to balance on a tightrope 1,000 feet above the ground, would you want to have bunches of people yell and trying to talk to you? Or someone to say out random numbers when you try to do math?