Machines may make people superfluous, but they cannot make then harmless. No matter how many and how ingenious the machines, there will always be people around to mess things up.
— Eric Hoffer, Before the Sabbath
Today at work, I watched a 30-foot steel support column get repaired. I marveled at the technical skill required for a job of that size and importance — ground radar, pouring a new foundation, using a six-foot wrench to maneuver the column, all while it continued to support a section of the roof. The simple fact that there is a tried-and-true process for something like that impresses a layman like me. The thing is, the reason this repair needed to be done was because someone had driven a forklift into the column at high speed while being distracted by his phone screen, shifting it four feet across the floor, dropping the I-beam one foot, and causing a section of the roof to sag. Heavy machinery, dangerous working environment, ooh, shiny object…