I'm guessing the author is employing reverse psychology here? This article reads like an annoying lost of hyper-cynical arguments against hypersonic travel that

I'm guessing the author is employing reverse psychology here? This article reads like an annoying lost of hyper-cynical arguments against hypersonic travel that any ambitious person would be eager to prove wrong. Sort of like the "we will never have small touchscreen-based mobile devices with the computing power of a desktop computer" argument I used to hear from extremely smart and experienced telecom execs around the time of the first iPhone rumors.