Randy Pausch describes his cancer as "an engineering problem." How was this helpful way to look at his illness?

This was a helpful way for Randy to deal with his illness because in using an analogy he was familiar with, he was able to distance himself from the illness, and thus, he was able to look at it as a problem to be solved. Randy was an engineer, thus, illustrating his cancer in this way assisted him in understanding and dealing with the diagnosis.