↓ Skip to main content

Engineering Psychology

The Mind of the Maker- Part 4: The Sunk Cost Bridge: Tacoma Narrows and the Engineering Gambler's Fallacy

4 January 2026·1772 words·9 mins

Human Systems and Behavior Tacoma-Narrows Sunk-Cost-Fallacy Confirmation-Bias Bridge-Failure Engineering Psychology Decision-Making Disaster Analysis Decision-Making and Bias

A bridge built to flex. A design so elegant that its fundamental flaw became invisible. How commitment prevents correction.

The Mind of the Maker- Part 2: The Certainty Trap: Challenger and the Deadly Cost of Overconfidence

2 January 2026·1690 words·8 mins

Human Systems and Behavior Challenger Overconfidence-Bias Groupthink Engineering Psychology O-Ring-Erosion Organizational Failure Disaster Analysis Leadership and Crisis

How quantitative risk assessments became divorced from reality. The Challenger disaster reveals how numbers can mask human psychology.

The Mind of the Maker: Psychology of Engineering Failure

1 January 2026·1268 words·6 mins

Human Systems and Behavior Engineering Psychology Cognitive Bias in Design Normalization-of-Deviance Engineering Failure Analysis Human Factors Engineering Organizational Psychology System Design Safety Culture Decision-Making and Bias Disaster Analysis Systems Thinking

How cognitive biases, organizational psychology, and human error transform theoretical designs into real-world disasters.

The Mind of the Maker- Part 1: The Illusion of Invulnerability: How the Titanic's Designers Dismissed the Iceberg Threat

1 January 2026·1297 words·7 mins

Human Systems and Behavior Titanic Normalization-of-Deviance Expert-Blind-Spot Cognitive Bias Engineering Psychology Design-Failures Disaster Analysis Decision-Making and Bias

How psychological overconfidence transformed an advanced design into a death trap. The Titanic's story reveals how expertise can become a blindness.