Paper Promises, Heavy Realities: Why Smart People Build Sinking Ships

Key Insights

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• Engineering failures often stem from theoretical hubris where blueprint elegance blinds creators to physical reality
• Sunk costs in defense projects perpetuate flawed systems through institutional inertia
• High-tech optimism can ignore environmental and ethical costs, leading to multi-generational legacies of failure

References

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1. Fawcett, B. (Ed.). (2009). It Looked Good on Paper: Bizarre Inventions, Design Disasters, and Engineering Follies. HarperCollins.