The Boeing 737 is one of the most (maybe the most)
mass-produced airliner ever. A late
version, the “Max 8”, is grounded.
Twice, the aircraft unexpectedly dived into the ground. There are
anecdotal reports that pilots have saved that from happening again and again. (Anecdotal reports, if true, are not
bad. It just means that they aren’t yet
subject to statistics and analysis.)
Supposedly, what causes this is a mix of instrumentation and software.
That’s pretty much all I know about the facts. I’m not a pilot and if you put me alone in
front of an airliner, prepare to meet thy doom.
An airliner that automatically rights itself and doesn’t
depend on human input sounds like a good
idea. Self-driving cars are attractive,
if a little scary because they are unfamiliar.
Didn’t one of the darn things run down a pedestrian? (I believe that’s true, but nevertheless,
it’s anecdotal.)
This ink-stained wretch has railed against rear-viewing
cameras in cars. Now that I have one, I
admit that I use it. Will I forget how
to use mirrors? I hope not, but I don't practice as much. Does the camera make me
a little safer? Yes, probably it does. I can see things with the camera that I cannot with mirrors and hear audible signals
if I’m getting close to things. But does
dependence on technology make me a slave to technology?
Of course.
To the extent we use technology, we do not practice the skills that
technology replaced. This does not mean
that the skills are absent, but that they aren’t used as much. A couple of years ago, two pilots flew an
hour past their destination. The
autopilot was on. They were discussing things that had zero to do flying the
plane. The pilots were fired. But if something had gone wrong with the
plane, I bet they could have dealt with it effectively.
I can start a campfire with flint and steel. It’s been a while since I have done
that. A match is easier; a lighter,
easier still; a fire-starter easiest of all.
To remain put to the Luddite philosophy, should I go for the lowest-tech
approach in all that I do?
This is akin to an argument about socialism. America is socialist as hell. Don’t believe me? When the roads are covered with snow and ice,
who do we DEMAND come? The Socialist
Department of Highways. Hey, I live in walking distance to my
work. Why should MY tax dollars
contribute to pure socialism. (Hey, now,
Medicare is a right – don’t mess with my Medicare.)
It is ALWAYS a trade-off between convenience and ability,
between independence and practicality and, most of all, between our estimate of
who will be harmed and who benefited by one approach and who will be harmed
and who benefited by another approach.
The person mowed down by the self-driving car probably is not or was not
a fan of that technology, even if the self-driving car would save 1,000 lives a
year. We lack the facts and the cold discipline to gather the facts and live with what the facts show. What do immigrants (legal, illegal, blah, blah, blah) take from American society? What do they give? What are the numbers? Does banning certain weapons save more people than might use them for defense? What are the numbers?
The older I get, the dumber I feel. Maybe that’s good. A dangerous creature is the person who “knows
the one true answer.” But we need to have the discipline to throw out our preconceptions and find the numbers, find the facts.
Mizpah.
