'By the time we're done testing it, I believe it's pretty much invulnerable,' he said of the ship he was still developing at the time.'
The interviewer then pointed out that people said 'pretty much' the same thing about the Titanic — which famously sank to the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean in 1912 after it hit an iceberg.
'That's right,' Stockton acknowledged, 'and I will go all out and put my money where my mouth is.'
I do not have special knowledge about maritime exploration and travel, nor that of nautical vehicles, so such a standpoint is not where my commentary comes from. (I do, however, like Golden Age of Piracy history, such as the life of Mary Read, but I have a lot to learn there) I have no doubt that Stockton Rush was a bona fide expert of maritime transportation and history, and the Titanic is a part of this knowledge of his. Yet he fell for the very hubris that preempted the Titanic's sinking.
"Not even God himself could sink this ship."
-- Employee of the White Star Line, at the
launch of the Titanic
, May 31, 1911
"Oh-HOAH! It is on. It is definitely on now. Hey guys, watch this."
-- God himself
In this instance, the phrase means at least two things. But at least my commentary is not nearly as tasteless as Blink-182's crappy music.
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Cavalier prose aside, as much as Rush studied the Titanic, how did it not translate in his mind that saying these things about his own Titan submersible would bode poorly?
Also, his comments about not hiring a "50-year-old" "white man" of "military experience" who is "not inspirational enough" was erroneous in thought. I think that any establishment worth its salt would at least hope to hire people with [plenty of] experience relevant to the establishment's intended purpose. What Rush said, without outright saying so, is that he was putting charisma and social popularity over experience and expertise.
One successful way to interpret history or concepts that would otherwise be mysterious in the layman's mind is to use a specific mental device that they will know, and relate the intended concept or point they are trying to make by using said device. Examples: "Lewis and Clark meeting Mandan chief Sheheke would be a smaller version of a United Nations meeting today." "Back when horses were a main source of transportation, feeding them hay or other foods would be these travelers' version of filling up the car with gas." "Have you ever poured yourself a drink, then put ice cubes in the drink afterward? Do you see how the ice behaves afterward? Right, only a fraction of the ice cube is visible above the drink's surface. The same thing happens, on a much larger scale, with icebergs in the oceans." However, Rush, in my opinion, took this type of layman relatability too far by stating that anyone who plays video games will know how to handle his submersible. Okay, sure,
some Navy submarines do this too, so the controller by itself isn't what's wrong. But reducing important nautical missions to something that can be perhaps an interchangeable experience with playing Grand Theft Auto caters to a rudimentary approach toward ability and recreation that ultimately serves to, pardon the phrasing, water down the concept of nautical exploration. The fact that he would rather have on board a 25-year-old gamerguy than a 50-year-old with more nautical experience than that of the former's overall life experience not only goes against the procuring of quality talent and employment, but it also enables the societal scourge of people who do not have sufficient abilities or marketable skills outside of video gaming.
Rush also underestimated the ability for his human archetype to be relatable and inspirational. Some people who may not be inspirational due to social grace and outward verbal support or enthusiasm, may be inspirational because of what their work ethic and productivity naturally says about them. I find more inspiration from a frumpy, frowny, curt, flat handyman who is proudly inaccessible via phone yet has worked for decades putting quality into his landscaping and janitorial duties, and has proven himself invaluable to his community without needing to brag about it; as opposed to someone who is fun to have drinks with and exciting to be around, has more to talk about with a greater amount of people, and has an ability to create lasting memories, yet does not put enough quality into their societal role and even neglects such in a way that sows destruction for themselves and others. Both descriptions vaguely detail two people who have been a part of my community; the former is in his 70s, and I cannot imagine my work and town without the guy, while the latter was ousted from my community nearly three years ago and is forgotten.
Another emphasis for this point is that, in the long run and in the deeper sense, I can relate with and learn more from a drill sergeant-like individual who resorts to yelling and ranting, but always does so from a position of respect and at least a glimmer of hope that I can do better; as opposed to someone who uses flat, regular conversation tone and voice to disparage and degrade and destructively criticize me, and only cares about using a cartoonishly negative bias to to use one variable to illustrate to me how horrible I am while (s)he still does not break politeness. The former more often has a better sense of instilling accountability in others, and a better way of communicating legitimate authority; while the latter is a wrathful vulture who is simply a nicer version of a dime-a-dozen, insecure bully. One person is a superficially mean person yet cares for others and wants the best for them while his own status as a productive member of society almost never has serious doubt; the other is a superficial nice person whose non-ironic value to the world is limited at best due to being addled by a narcissistic victimhood complex. Many people lose sight of the fact that not all yelling, criticism, embarrassing lectures, uncomfortable conversations, or caustic comebacks constitute as abuse (or hate speech). Abuse, yelled or not, comes from a place of the abuser's own insecurity, which manifests by them needing to treat someone as a punching bag who is worth nothing. And that is why, typically, this paragraph's drill sergeant has integrity while this paragraph's civil gentle(wo)man does not.
People of integrity; no matter their personality, expressiveness, nor personal modernity; are better examples to follow in society than people without integrity, and are better people to non-ironically learn from. Therefore, people of integrity are more deeply relatable and more naturally translatable than those void of integrity.
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Even considering the reservations I have about Rush's attitude and the way he built his submersibles, I can admire the adventurous spirit, or at least willingness toward such, of the five men who perished in pursuit of viewing the wreckage of the Titanic. It takes an abundance of courage for these men to know what risks were involved, know of all the things that could go wrong, know that they could not just up and leave their submersible anytime they wanted, know that they could die in there; and still saying, "Yeah, sounds awesome. Sign me up." A true explorer will risk life, limb, and liberty to pursue uncharted or rarely charted territory and experience in a way that will, or at least can, benefit much of humanity and/or the human record. You know who met a similar fate, but in the sky? Those aboard the Challenger space shuttle.
(If you want to just watch the footage of the ill-fated liftoff, skip to 2:45.)
With that said, the Titan's flaws in its engineering and/or architecture inevitably undermined itself, the mission, and the lives of five men. The tragedy absolutely could have been prevented.
Former employee and whistleblower David Lochridge is perhaps experiencing the biggest "I told you so" moment his life will ever know.
Tragedies like these do not change the fact that these types of explorers and adventurers are needed in our world, not just because it's a really cool thing for people to do, but because this is where human progress comes from. James Cook being killed in Hawaii in 1779 does not invalidate the accomplishments of his previous explorations of the Pacific Ocean. Ferdinand Magellan's premature death in the Philippines does not invalidate his reputation as a world explorer who innovatively sailed beneath the southernmost point of South America's land. Amelia Earhart disappearing mid-flight for no clear reason does not invalidate her previous decades of flight innovation of experience including flying over the Atlantic.
And yes, in this case, the submersible imploding does not invalidate Hamish Harding's Guinness World Record of most time spent at the bottom of the Challenger Deep, and also his successful visiting of space. The Titan's destruction does not invalidate Paul-Henri Nargeolet's roughly 37 successful previous deep dives to the Titanic wreckage and being the world's foremost expert on the 1912 ship.
Exploration is a virtuous and admirable risk to oneself, as failure can doom those toward physical and mortal obliteration. But for those who succeed; such as Leif Erikson, Lewis and Clark, Tenzing Norgay and Sir Edmund Hillary, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, to name but a few; just think about how they affected the world we live in today, for reasons aside from the historic permanence of their own names.
And here I am spending hours on an essay-length post on an internet forum, instead of taking a hike at a place like this.
Trolltunga in Norway