This article gets at the heart of several things inherent in humans. By 'inherent' I mean that it's a built in tragic flaw. This flaw is simply hubris, which simply means pride.
From the get go it's what got Lucifer tossed out of heaven. It's what got Faust in damned to hell. And - as some researchers argue - it's what is responsible for a majority of our technological disasters.
These are different than the Mt. St. Helens disaster or a tornado wiping out a midwestern town or a tsunami. Those are Acts of God.
This report focuses on four different groups that disasters fit in. The main one is simple:
One such group is when an organization simply ignores warning signs through overconfidence and incompetence.
Humans believe that their technology and supposed expertise work so well that warnings are just for the foolish or careless. They believe "that couldn't happen to us" or "that just happens to others." All famous last words.
I think my sister could write a book with enough examples of this category to challenge the length of Stephen King's It.
As one of my favorite college professors once said, "if you are intelligent at all, you know that you will never know it all." That might be the best guard against hubris. I just wish we all could take a huge dose of it.
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