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This. It seems that to some degree our knowledge rests on prior experience and passed down knowledge. As we build abstraction layers on top of technology the ba
by S_A_P 5y ago
This. It seems that to some degree our knowledge rests on prior experience and passed down knowledge. As we build abstraction layers on top of technology the bare metal understanding is lost.
I’m going to contradict my original question to some degree by stating that I know that air travel is safer than ever.
My question is more just wondering out loud if there is a point where we rely on “solved” problems so much that we start to lose comprehension of the factors that are involved. It feels like the MCAS was an example.
Agree that you can never “know” how an airframe will age until you build it and doesn’t seem like this is as critical as MCAS issue but it could be that we have to wait 15 years to find out.
- ethbr0 5y agoI think complexity + necessarily large organizations are a huge contributing factor. MCAS would have not been an issue is any one of the layers above engineering had questioned the decision to avoid training requirements (e.g. Boeing management, FAA management). Unfortunately, systems are so complex now that it was possible to summarize the details in a way that hid the necessary information. And when it went up further, even more summarization. It feels like this wouldn't have been as easy with simpler, older systems. I mean, presumably a manager could look at a biplane and say "Hey, that doesn't have enough thrust to weight."