I’m a user experience designer. My favourite story is from aviation engineering. I don’t remember the year or all the details, but the US Navy had put stupid amounts of money and time into engineering a new fighter jet. It was worked out on paper and built to exact specifications. Then, during the first human test of it, the pilot ejected on the tarmac before it took off. The plane crashed, obviously, but the pilot couldn’t explain what happened (apparently he had a concussion from his unscheduled landing).

The plane was built again, and shortly after takeoff, the pilot again ejected without explanation.

What the fuck was going on?

In the retelling I heard, someone finally noticed the design of the cockpit was to blame. In trying to cram all the standard controls plus new ones into the smallest amount of space, the designers had moved the eject lever right next to the lever to adjust the seat position – they’d coloured the eject lever red, but the pilot couldn’t see that since it was below and slightly to the right of his ass, and both levers were the same size and shape. Nobody noticed this was a problem until at least two pilots accidentally ejected on takeoff.

This might be apocryphal, I don’t know, but I learnt it as an example of how things might look good on paper, but you can’t really know until a user fucks everything up.

I assume you’ve quit your day job.

I call shenanigans. This comment was a damp fish at best. It felt like haddock.

Once you’re old enough, there’s no difference. My doctor’s admin keeps calling me to schedule a colonoscopy, and we’ve been playing phone tag. That’s the closest I’ve come to foreplay in years.

Some caravanserai had libraries

I’m feeling a major drive to watch Avatar again.

I’m 54. When people ask my opinion of this war, I change the subject. I’m not proud of that, but I’ve seen this war more than once.

I have strong opinions about many things, but I’ve seen what this particular war does and I’ve learnt there’s no winning it. I donate to Gaza, but nothing I can say will change the horror the latest flare up of this war will bring. Im sorry.

Most of us don’t want to till fields and milk cows, and we’d rather trade things like iPhones with people who are cool with shovelling cow shit.

I know, that’s surprising. We’ve only been trading like that for a few hundred thousand years. Fucking millennials.

Less than two steps between that and eugenics, and one step between eugenics and genocide. We’ve seen and documented that. It’s a logical but sociopathic mentality.

Conversely, when we realise that we’re stronger together and act empathetically as a society, every one of us and all of society benefits. When we care for the least of us, crime goes down and we find geniuses who improve life for us all, who would otherwise die in anonymous poverty.

Living like barbarous animals – not rising above the ‘brutality of nature’, as you said – helps sociopaths who take advantage of our better nature to enrich themselves. Indeed, if we structure our society around that, as we have done lately, our society will devolve around the lowest common denominator (people like Musk or Trump).

We can and must do better than that.

Wait, those are gone?

Weirdo here. We needed it for video games (pre-1990 at least).

We had a smokers’ wall in high school: a corner of the break yard next to the cafeteria that was designated by a yellow stripe painted on the ground. It was always full-to-bursting at every break, and if you had even a toe over it whilst smoking, it was immediate detention.

A pop and a puff of smoke meant we were going to miss the rest of our show, but would go on a fun trip to the electronics shop with dad. I loved that shop. So many cool things.

And the Netherlands. More than a dime, though.

Conversely, I remember rivers on fire.

(e: I think that was our biggest clue at the time we were fucking up.)

Fingernails ftw.

Calling in to the radio station to request your song, then sitting with your fingers hovering above the play and record buttons for two hours, waiting for them to play it. Missing the first few seconds because you got distracted, but you were the first one at school on Monday with the new song, so it was worth it.

We’re not old, we’re wise.

TV Guide. Every week, you’d get a little digest in the post with a listing of that week’s shows, trivia, Q&As and interviews with insiders, and puzzles & games. I was very interested in movies and television, and devoured it cover to cover.

e: link

I blame this for my inability to sleep without white noise. I fell asleep to the television throughout my formative years.

Holy shit, this one is depressing.