If you give a hacker a new toy, the first thing he'll do is take it apart to figure out how it works.
The key to social engineering is influencing a person to do something that allows the hacker to gain access to information or your network.
A hacker doesn't deliberately destroy data or profit from his activities.
If you go to a coffee shop or at the airport, and you're using open wireless, I would use a VPN service that you could subscribe for 10 bucks a month. Everything is encrypted in an encryption tunnel, so a hacker cannot tamper with your connection.
It's not enough to have a hacker culture anymore. You have to have a design culture, too.