Brian suggested we watch footage of the first solely machine-operated commercial demo flight, with not a soul on board, as it gracefully flew its route to the commentary of its inventor, came in for a landing, angled itself, and kept on going right into the trees before exploding in an "oh no oh no OH no no no"-soundtracked fireball. A masterpiece of comedic destruction, science and technology gone wrong.
"I don't know if I'd get on board a plane with no human back up," I said cynically. "Even before YouTube footage."
On European airplanes, Corrigan & Lauren explained, a computer actually takes over from the humans in the case of an emergency. On US flights the scenario is opposite: a robot is flying unless there is drama, at which junction a human retakes control.
I questioned the notion of a computer taking the helm in unfamilar emergency circumstances. What if it screws up and we all end in an "oh no no no" fireball?
"That's why there are TWO computers," Corr said. "The emergency back-up, and the super computer for the emergency back-up back-up."
Even dumber, says I. "Why not just build the plane out of the black-box material and pilot it with the super computer to begin with??"
"Yeah," agreed Brian. "If you have a capable super computer, why do you bother to employ dumb computers?"
Which Corrigan duly explained...
"They're non-union."
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tales from life in a co-op
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a glassblowing alternajournalist, a musical storytelling anarcho-baptist, a capoeira-playing engineer, a renaissance physicist, a scrabble champion math teacher, a neurobiologist philosopher, a filmmaker documenting the deadliest man alive, an international flutist biologist, a journalist animator baker, a hiking biking banjo-strumming math teacher, a singing bilingual editing, a backgammon playing sex therapist, a novel-writing psych nurse guitarthlete, a pensive epistilary collage artist & two cats.