September
2007
Too Much
Information
A young woman went
to her doctor complaining of abdominal
pain. I think its your
gall bladder, said the
doc. That sounds pretty
serious, she replied. I
would like to get a second
opinion. The doctor became
frustrated and said, That IS
a second opinion. At first I thought
it was your appendix.
That particular
doctor was probably over 50, a
first-liner of the Boomer
generation. In his growing up
years, the advice of an expert was taken
at its face value. It was the
final word, gospel, to be believed
without question. But thats
changed. The
post-boomers have evolved
more educated and informed. The
fact is that back as late as 1960, only
15% of Canadians had completed high
school. Today that number is over
85%. Through the 60s and
70s, there was no internet, no cell
phones, few televisions, and cable was
non-existent. Simply put,
information was nowhere near as available
to us as it is today. On the other
hand, people who are under 30 have grown
up with almost unlimited access to
information and knowledge.
Television, with cable and satellite
connections, has been highly instrumental
in the changes. More
recently, the internet has evolved
and compares with electricity as our most
important invention in history.
Were now able
to go on-line and get a second, third,
even sixth opinion, then rightly or
wrongly, make a judgement on a
diagnosis. And not with just a
medical decision, but when we have a
legal, real-estate, plumbing, travel,
vehicle or gardening problem. No
longer do we need to consult the
experts. Our exposure
to all this information has taken the
mystique from doctors, lawyers, plumbers,
teachers, and mechanics.
Second guessing and
individualism go out the window however,
when we get onboard an airliner. No
one challenges the pilot. The
flight deck is still a place where the
captains decisions and actions are
clearly his, and his alone.
Flying the heavy is a concept
so mysterious in the minds of most
people, that it would be inconceivable to
question the pilot. All the
television viewing and internet surfing
in the world wouldnt change that
fact. When was the last time a passenger
approached the flight deck in an A-340 or
a 747 and wanted to check the entries in
the flight computer?
For some reason,
most people seem to feel safe and secure
flying the airlines, but have their
doubts in a single engine Cessna, even in
a light twin. They have many
questions, and in fact may be completely
terrorized by what theyre
seeing. And, perhaps because
theyre sitting so close to the
pilot, they sometimes have no problem
speaking up. have been questioned
when someone in the back seat observes me
looking at a checklist in the operators
manual, or re-setting radio frequencies,
when were scud running, and when I
have a screwdriver in my
hand! Whats with the
tools you ask? Actually, Id
been disconnecting the battery cable on
my car prior to a flight one time, and
being in a hurry, stuffed the screwdriver
and some pliers into my pocket.
The point is that
airline passengers, even post-Boomers who
may be doubtful of the outcome of their
flight, dont actually offer their
opinion on how the captain ought to
proceed with the operation of the
aircraft. These same individuals
however, are not above suggesting to
their lawyer or doctor or banker what
they think he/she should be doing in
their best
interest.
Weve entered
an age where the public, armed with this
huge, easy access to information, demands
input. Companies, organizations,
even governments are responding with
websites and e-mail addresses where we
can contact them with queries, demands
and suggestions. There
arent many sanctuaries remaining
where life and procedures go on
unquestioned. The flight deck of
the airliner seems to be one domain
however, that will survive unchanged,
where responsibility rests with the one
person charged with the job. The
flying public may have doubts, but the
captains are rarely challenged. And
thats the way it has to be.
Back to
main page
|