Recently Wikipedia showed one of its gems, a late 19th century futurist painting of the year 2002. In the picture, style has not changed. Neither has locomotion, paddles are used on the aircraft. But levitation has been achieved. Hmmmm
When we design, we are trying to create something that hasn’t been done, at least by us. Even if it is a chair, we are trying to realize something new. New is wonderful, but at the same time, creating the new and integrating it with our own reality (by definition, the current reality) is difficult for us. We can get confused. And that’s when the magical thinking slips in.
One of my favorite acronyms for this is AMOC, “And then a Miracle OCcurs” (double entendre no doubt intended). AMOCs get dropped into design processes, when it is not clear what to do, but it seems to the participants that it should be doable. Now I, of course, have managed to create many miracles with this kind of thinking.
One of my favorites was a parachute system. I had seen Apollo space capsules return to earth via parachute and land in the sea (quite softly, I thought). I took three trash bags, one for each of the parachutes Apollo capsules had. Taped strings to the the corners of each trash bag. Went to the second story balcony, and jumped. The chutes inflated as the science told me they would, but alas the tape did not hold. I remember slamming into the front lawn, and coming to my senses staring up into the blue Southern California sky watching the trash bags gently fold up and float down.
What is the moral of this story? Beyond the obvious one of don’t let 5 year olds jump off balconies, there is really no moral at all. Design is hard work, and there are no rules for getting it right. It is the creation of the future, and that is tough. I think this is why engineers are often pessimists, afraid of magic. There is no running away from magic, we have to let it be possible or we will not find new things. That said, unless we fearlessly question our assumptions, magic turns straight into stupid. Sigh, back to the drawing board. This time I shall use string tied to sheets, if my Mom will let me…
- Magical Thinking, via Wikipedia
- A Good Example of Walking Stupid, via War is Boring
- Clarke’s Three Laws
