I think most people would prefer to be an artist, but art rarely pays the bills, hence the cliche "starving artist." My post was not meant to rip on artists, though that's how it comes off now that I read it again. The truth is that society wants more cogs but needs more artists.

If prefer it if the product of my engineering effort were maintainable and clear. I succeed if someone with no context can understand the system I built without help.