[SystemSafety] The ethics of dealing with mistakes

[Olwen Morgan]

On 01/07/2020 23:27, Les Chambers wrote:
> The design of the building is irrelevant to the deeper meaning of this story. My
> takeaway is the following:
> When you realise after the fact that you’ve made a mistake That could have
> catastrophic consequences – in this case hundreds of crushed lifeless bodies –
> your best course of action is to fess up and offer a solution even if it could
> destroy your career in the profession that you love . Do it because there are
> worse things than a destroyed career. There are the voices in your head
> blaming you for the tragedy for the rest of your life.

I'm a Buddhist. The deeper meaning was not lost on me and I'm with it 
all the way ...

... but I ought also to point out that the voices in my head tell me all 
sorts of things whose ethical status might be regarded as questionable ...

... nor is this cheap flippancy. I do not have the auditory delusions of 
schizophrenics but I do get periodic esoteric visually-based thoughts 
triggered by dissociative disturbances that, while they do not amount to 
serious mental pathology, can be ... how shall we say ... challenging to 
manage ... not to mention prompting others - here and elsewhere - to 
wonder whether or not I'm a complete basket case ... ;-)


Now, Olwen, do shut up, you demented old bag.

OK. Cheerio,

O