THE BRAINIAC

"Well, it's not exactly rocket science," they tell me.

Rocket science appears to be the default reference point for things that are easy (putting out the bin) compared to things that are not (rocket science). But, is rocket science actually that hard? I mean, you've got your payload of fuel, your aerodynamics and plenty of thrust to get it off the ground - that's it, isn't it? Is there anything I've missed? Is the process that much more complicated? Are there sub levels I've left out?

I get that achieving the rocket scientist's goal may require dedication, determination, some thought. But the principle isn't that much different to me throwing my computer in the air (against the push of gravity, d'you see?) and shouting at my boss (discharging fuel) to stop comparing my job to rocket science already.

And, look - do rocket scientists actually call their occupation "rocket science"? It seems a bit of a dubious name for an occupation to me. "What do you do?" "Oh, I do rocket science." Fer sure!

These people are educated, they've got degrees. I think they probably call it physics, or perhaps a subset like thermodynamics. Don't quote me, but I think saying that something "isn't rocket science" probably just shows how little you know about the various disciplines of science there, effendi.