On Wednesday, President Trump overruled administrative officials to ground all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft. Trump was reported in the Washington Post to consider himself something of an expert on commercial aircraft, saying modern planes are just too complicated to fly safely.
Apparent loss of pilot control on two Boeing 737 Max 8 airplanes in Indonesia and Ethiopia might justify Trump’s analysis of the cause of these two crashes.
Technology is the wonder of modern humanity, giving us modern civilization since the first days of the Industrial Revolution. Modern science – rational, logical and unyielding in its laws to human values – put technological progress into high gear. Homo sapiens became Homo faber. Homo faber went on to anthropocentralize our little part of the cosmos, remaking it after our own desiring.
Capitalism got its start with investing in practical uses of science and technology. Not only that, capitalism organized and funded the geometric advance of technology as the basis of human life.
But as in the fable of Dr. Frankenstein and the monster (written just 200 years ago), our skills with technology may outrun responsibility and prudence.
The Boeing 737 Max 8 is a commercial product, made by a commercial company to meet consumer demand. Negligence and liability laws have been imposed on free markets in order to promote prudence in the design, manufacture and use of technology.
Are they still enough to put proper restraints on the creation of super complex, computer-driven machines?