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Just Chat! / Re: Is there a universal moral standard?
« on: Yesterday at 18:13:43 »
It certainly fails my test of morality because if I fitted a gadget that modifies the flight characteristics of a plane I'd certainly tell the other pilots (not quite my nearest and dearest, but you get the point) and I'd be pretty pissed off if somebody tweaked my plane without telling me.
Evil? Not sure. I don't detect any malice. In fact the MCAS addition was well-intended but incompetent, and not including it in the operating manual should fall into the category of criminal negligence.
Funnily enough I just remembered two parallel incidents. Some years ago I fitted an experimental electronic ignition system to my father's car. But it was done with his knowledge and consent, and there was an "override" switch. Massive improvement in performance, but the system died about two years later: no problem because he had read the manual and just flipped the switch! And from my father's recollection: he was issued with a company car in the days when motor vehicles were rare, because he was on call for emergencies. One day he complained to the mechanic that the brakes were noisy. He picked the car up at the end of the day to drive home and found the brakes didn't work at all - not the sort of thing you want to discover in London traffic. Turned out that the mechanic had cured the squealing brakes by lubricating them with graphite. Boeing employee, perhaps?
Truly, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.
Evil? Not sure. I don't detect any malice. In fact the MCAS addition was well-intended but incompetent, and not including it in the operating manual should fall into the category of criminal negligence.
Funnily enough I just remembered two parallel incidents. Some years ago I fitted an experimental electronic ignition system to my father's car. But it was done with his knowledge and consent, and there was an "override" switch. Massive improvement in performance, but the system died about two years later: no problem because he had read the manual and just flipped the switch! And from my father's recollection: he was issued with a company car in the days when motor vehicles were rare, because he was on call for emergencies. One day he complained to the mechanic that the brakes were noisy. He picked the car up at the end of the day to drive home and found the brakes didn't work at all - not the sort of thing you want to discover in London traffic. Turned out that the mechanic had cured the squealing brakes by lubricating them with graphite. Boeing employee, perhaps?
Truly, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.