There are lots of ways to meet the handling and stability requirements for certification. You could just design the airframe to have the right stick force prof

There are lots of ways to meet the handling and stability requirements for certification. You could just design the airframe to have the right stick force profile, you could have old school mechanical/hydraulic augmentation systems, you could have an electronic augmentation system like MCAS, or you could do what Airbus does and simulate the forces and responses of a virtual airplane, and then have the computer actually do the flying. These all can be done in reasonable and safe ways. Boeing just didn't do it.