Mankind will be the death of Mankind

I know I’ve been here before regarding ‘Mankind’ and how to quote my Dad “Mankind is an a***hole” and to quote my Mum “Mankind will be the death of Mankind”, but the recent fate of the Submersible Titan, got me thinking again about how arrogant mankind is, specifically the rich kind. What we have learned is that the 5 people on-board died due to a ‘catastrophic implosion’ (as vague as you like), which is truly horrific. To back-up a bit, ‘Titan’ is a van sized submersible, which is owned by a Company called OceanGate, who since 2021 have been taking rich folk and researchers to the Titanic wreck located approximately 600km Southeast of Newfoundland, Canada in the North Atlantic Ocean and some 3,800m below sea level (Titan can reach 4,000m). ‘Titan’, which is deployed from a ‘mothership’ is made of carbon fibre and titanium and is 6.7m in length and able to house 5 people. ‘Titan’ disappeared from communications 1-hour and 45-minutes after it was deployed at 6am on Sunday, June 18.

As horrific as this incident is, I question the rich folk on board who spent $250k each for this voyage to ironically go and look at a shipwreck, which itself was boarded by rich folk who were sold on the idea that ‘Titanic’ was unsinkable. Now I know James Cameron’ film from 1997 was dramatized for the appeal of the film (although in reality Titanic was for sure more dramatic) but the scene of the rich folk p******* about listening to the string quartet with their cognac rather than getting to a Lifeboat was (in my head) likely a fair reflection of what actually happened. Unfortunately, many rich folk have a mantra for ‘throwing money at a problem’, whereby regardless of the issue at hand, wealth will bail you out. In fact some feel that just by being rich is in itself a means of being immune to misfortunes, which are (in their opinion) reserved only for the less fortunate and poor. It’s as if their wealthy status will somehow galvanize them from harm, as if they are bulletproof, even to mother nature; ‘If you pay top dollar, you’ll be exempt to risk or failure’. The saying ‘Too Big To Fail’ comes to mind, as was the initial understanding for many Stockbrokers during the 2008 financial crash…

As horrific as the Whakaari (White Island) Volcano eruption was in New Zealand in 2019, who thought it was a good idea to go climbing up a known active stratovolcano thinking there wasn’t a real risk of disaster? This Volcano is no longer accessible (to anyone). The same, although perhaps to a lesser extent can be said for the people who feel the need to go climbing up Mount Everest then are surprised when there’s an avalanche…again, not a cheap ticket! This mindset reminds me of a classic Michael McIntyre sketch when he mocks divers who go looking for sharks and are injured in the process and come out with lines like “the shark just came out of nowhere”. McIntyre then very accurately jokes that had the diver opened up their dishwasher and a shark had appeared then it would have indeed appeared out of nowhere but a shark appearing in the sea (their natural habitat) is actually not surprising and it is in fact the diver who appeared out of nowhere.

I was at an airport recently when travelling for work and was watching a plane ascend into the sky at high speed when I got to thinking about the circa 300 passengers and 8 crew on-board being fired into the air in a metal bullet to put it simply. As you can perhaps imagine, I’m not a keen flyer. Ideally prior to a flight (if I have to fly), I’ll be in a bar trying to consume at least 2-3 pints to calm my nerves before boarding in a tipsy state. Unfortunately, I can’t always do this, as I may be travelling for work, but if I can, I will. Now I know flying by aircraft is not on the same scale as climbing volcano’s, Everest or going 4000m below sea level searching for a ship, which sank more than a century ago, but it did get me thinking about the mentality of mankind and how there is this idea that ‘we’ are in-fact invincible to anything the World or Mother-nature can throw at us. I mean, although we did achieve air travel, who came to the conclusion we could fly at heights of 40,000ft for hours on end? Don’t get me wrong, this technology has enabled me to visit some amazing places; Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Maldives to name a few. I even travelled to Transylvania once of all places with the Airline ‘Whizz Air’, a bright pink plane, which oddly was one of the calmest flights I ever experienced (with a few jars in the belly at 6am for good measure).

However, as great as air travel can be (and is necessary), we are still at the mercy of the rich folk at the top of the Airline business food chain pulling fast ones. We only have to look to the tragedy of the Boeing 737 MAX-8 crashes in 2018 and 2019, which killed 346 people due to Boeing misleading the FAA and their own Pilots for the purpose of avoiding training for the new feature, which would have delayed it’s induction. Ultimately Boeing needed to circumvent FAA approval for this new feature, as they were losing to AirBus in the sales department so needed to up their game. The new feature (in simple terms) levels the plane out should it ascend too steeply, by sending a signal from a sensor on the front of the plane, to a the rear fin flanges, which then rotate to force the plane to reduce its steep incline. However, when the sensor malfunctioned (sending an erroneous signal to the flange) the plane was forced to reduce its incline (which was actually at the right angle), which in-turn made the plane nosedive toward the ground. Due to lack of training, the Pilots were unaware of a device to override this signal, which when activated gives the control back to the Pilot.

Another example is the morons who feel the need to go parasailing and of all places parasailing on a beach in Phuket, Thailand. There was a horrific accident a few years ago whereby a 71-year old rich (of course) Australian businessman who fell 30m to his death moments after his ascent on the back of a rogue boat. There has of course been many more incidents like this in other similar activities, such as ski-diving and base jumping, whereby mankind believes he can actually fly.

This subject also got me thinking about rollercoaster theme parks, which I’m sure most people have frequented. I always swerved Blackpool’ ‘Pleasure Beach’ in England, as it was run by mostly rogues and drunks. I did however, always have confidence in its premium upgrade ‘Alton Towers’, which will have had more safety checks in-place and a legal team with a lot more to lose. My Dad (who has always been a man of caution) never took me or my Sister to such Theme Parks, as it was deemed too risky for his threshold. Going to Alton Towers or it’s slightly inferior competitor ‘Camelot’, were days out other kids in my class did. This isn’t a dig, I see this now as a Dad myself. “Oh we must take our kids and strap them into a harness to be flung around at speeds of 100mph so they can get a whirlwind view of the numerous Theme Park car parks.”

However, peer pressure was and always is a challenge for teenagers. So it was during the Easter break in 1998 that my Dad took me and my mate to Alton Towers for the first time. It was a time before the ‘virtual ticket’ system existed, so you basically had queues of 130-minutes for the main rides (Nemesis and Oblivion). We decided to warm-up on the ‘Runaway Mine Train’, an experience my Dad still recalls to this day, especially the bit where you feel like you’re going to be hurled into the side of the mine wall. That was enough for my Dad. He retired at this point and let me and my mate take it from there. I think from memory we then went on ‘Blackhole’, ‘Log Flume’ and one other. Then came ‘Oblivion-gate’. My mate, (very much the Jay from Inbetweeners in hindsight) started making noises in my ear about going on the ‘Oblivion’. He also wanted to tour the Theme Park chasing tail but logistics with my Dad around weren’t feasible. “Hey Dad, go and get yourself some dreadful coffee from Burger King while we go on the pull. I know you drove us here and paid for the tickets but making yourself scarce would be ideal”. Back to Oblivion (130-minute queue), and as we walk toward the back of a very long queue, my Dad starts in my other ear. “Do you really want to go on that?”. Backing-up, Oblivion is a rollercoaster ride, which has a 20m vertical drop (it feels a lot more!), which you basically stare in the face, as you fall toward it at 110mph. One cart after another plummeted into the hole (Oblivion), at which point a camera took your photo to show the World your most embarrassing expression, as you stare your worst fear in the face. So back to me, mate in one ear, Dad in the other. In reality, I didn’t want to go on, but peer pressure is peer pressure and it’s only now I felt for how my Dad must’ve felt, having to negotiate with me. In the end, between some excuse about the 130-minute wait time and my Dad throwing in a “traffic will be bad on way home if we have to wait this long”, as some last ditch attempt at snatching a victory out of the jaws of defeat, we didn’t go on Oblivion. However, I did visit Alton Towers many times after this and did go on Oblivion, Nemesis and Air, taking in those high-speed sights of the car parks, sometimes without holding on. I also went on ‘Submission’ once, which basically is 2 carts, pivoting back and forth ultimately turning you upside-down to face a concrete pad below, as all rests on that harness to hold you in that seat. All in all though, I always had faith in Alton Towers until ‘Smiler’ crashed in June 2015. Due to a cart being locked in-place, and another coming up behind at high speed, many of the unfortunate riders suffered extreme injuries with some losing their limbs. Can you imagine the fortunes that day of having just got off that ride or being the next in line eitherside of that fateful cart. That was the line for me. I’ve never been on a rollercoaster since.

I know some of these examples are perhaps bordering on living some dry existence and if there was no risk of disaster then they would all be amazing experiences but I do think it speaks to a greater debate on where mankind draws the line. Yes we all love a good thrill, I’ve done ziplining in New Zealand, flown to many different Countries, done a track-day in a Ferrari, been on the rollercoaster at Ferrari World. Also been on a few incredible Cable Car rides, although had they dropped out of the sky I wouldn’t be writing this blog today. These and many others were all amazing experiences and a fair reflection of where ‘my line’ is; except the rollercoasters, I’m done with those.

I’m not everybody though and unfortunately not everybody is me. Some people need to throw themselves from great heights on a bungee or from a plane or go thousands of meters below sea level. Some people want to literally fly or drive a motorbike over 20 trucks. Others need to go to Space and even Mars (Musk). I guess I’m ok with other people doing such stunts, although in the case of tourist excursions to Mars, I do think such money could be better spent. Also, this has disaster written all over it once someone’s theoretical idea is put into practice and implodes on route due to lack of wholesome testing and it being realised that the theory should’ve been as far as it went.

What does make me nervous is where mankind will compromise the risk averse (me and my Dad) into a situation we’re not good with. A.I. and Nuclear Weapons comes to mind and how at some stage in the not too distant future we’re all going to be obsolete and ruled by machines, who’ve figured out how to outthink us and become superior. “How do we deal with Global Warming Mr. Robot?” Be careful how you ask this question, as it could be interpreted many many ways if asked of an entity with Intelligence. “We could reduce carbon-emissions at a higher rate or just kill all humans”. Both answers would be correct, right?

I mean what person thinks A.I. is a good idea. Even A.I. people acknowledge this is a very real risk but, as the horse has already bolted (if we don’t, China, Russia likely we will let Robotic Soldiers descend on our Nations), we’re basically committed now.

As it is right now, Mankind still has control of it’s own fate. We still have the option of choice (in most Countries). We can choose not to do a sub trip to Titanic, we can choose to regulate A.I. (aslong as Mankind in all Countries can do the humane thing and align themselves on what’s ethical) and we can choose to spend our monies more appropriately i.e. on safety, prevention and research and not vanity projects like trips to Mars, trips to Titanic or T-800s strapped with an AK. If we don’t grow up, then ‘Mankind will be the death of Mankind’.