Les Chambers

Morality is a muscle. In some it never gets a chance to develop – atrophied from birth by spineless role models. In others it develops through childhood and the idealistic days of youth, but withers in the face of the so-called pragmatics of life, leaving us unable to exert any moral force at all when the situation desperately calls for it (refer, Deus Ex Machina and Speaking Truth to Power). We allow immoral things to happen and, in so doing, contribute to evil. We allow the present moment, that instant in time when we can choose to act, to be corrupted by our memory of what has been and our desire for what might be. We allow fear of consequence to cloud our morality. Continue reading…

We have to get off this planet. The last terrestrial extinction event occurred only 66 million years ago with an asteroid strike on the Yucatan Peninsula. It wiped out three-quarters of the plant and animal species on planet Earth. Only the naive believe this will never happen again.
Elon Musk has the right idea. His strategy for space migration to the planet Mars will make humanity a dual planetary species improving the odds on our survival for a while to come.
This is commendable risk management in action. It’s necessary but not sufficient. It ignores the reality that Andromeda (our nearest galaxy) is headed our way. Within 4.5 billion years it will collide with the Milky Way (our home galaxy). Don’t worry, no one will be around for the experience. Within 3.75 billion years the surface of the Earth will have already become far too hot for liquid water to exist, ending all terrestrial life.
Ergo, forget about exiting planet earth, we need to vacate the galaxy.
Don’t laugh. We need to develop a sense of urgency about this because engineering the systems required for intergalactic travel will take that long. Let’s start thinking about vehicles that can house autonomous human communities for multiple generations in intergalactic space.
It’s an interesting thought experiment. The problems are scientific, engineering and human. A while back I visited my daughter Julianne in Barcelona. My trip set me to systems thinking. Continue reading…

Two naked babies amble across a busy freeway. Trotting after them is a guy in a suit. The guy is me. Looking back on that day it’s clear that this was an omen, for within the hour I was to encounter extreme review and understand why, that for systems engineers, public nakedness is sometimes a good thing. Continue reading…

If you comply with a quality standard does this mean you’ve made a quality product? If you comply with a safety standard is your system is safe? Probably not. To produce quality you’ve got to know what people want and that can take a lifetime of experience. To guarantee safety you must have seen a lot of failures and that’s another lifetime of blowing stuff up. Standards are forms not formulas if you want quality and safety you’ll have to add some creativity and experience to the mix. Continue reading…

What to do when people are put in harm’s way because solid, technical advice on designing, deploying and operating complex systems is ignored by decision makers not competent in the target technology? Does the ethical responsibility for the consequences pass to the decision maker somehow absolving the advisor?  Or should engineers forswear company loyalty for their higher duty to preserve human safety? At what point should deference to the boss or the client be replaced by mutiny – action outside the chain of command to prevent an accident? Continue reading…