Reasoning under uncertainty: philosopher or scientist?

Interesting that you linked to pg's essay, as pg himself has both a humanities and technical background.

Overall I think you're boxing people into categories that need not exist. Plenty of engineers/scientists enjoy studying the "huge ideas" in human history, and plenty such people have also become strategic visionaries.

Your argument may apply to a subset of engineers/scientists who box themselves into their own field, but in my experience that's a pretty small minority (of the best ones at least).

Ultimately ..

don't let schooling get in the way of your education. - Twain