more on Brainwave fault explains slip-ups

[Dave Farber <dave () farber net>]

Delivered-To: dfarber+ () ux13 sp cs cmu edu
Date: Tue, 23 Dec 2003 08:15:54 -0500 (EST)
From: bc () clicknation com
Subject: Re: [IP] 2 more on Brainwave fault explains slip-ups
To: dave () farber net
Cc: nelson () crynwr com, norman () nngroup com

Dave,

Much as I love an angry dust-up between people who are reacting to a
single, (probably distorted and "layman"-ized) press account of a
scientific study, I would like to point out that p300 waves have been
shown since the 1980s to be correlated with substance abuse and
heritability.

Specifically, a tendency toward low p300 waves is inherited by the sons
of identified alcoholics, which is in turn correlated with higher
probability that the sons will also abuse alcohol.

Meaning? I'm sure no one knows. It is intriguing to ponder the relations
among sleep, substance abuse, attention issues and, yes, minor
accidents. Which is how I picked up on the p300 reference when Dave
posted it, since it synched with some work I'm doing.

I think if Prof. Norman weren't being quite so inflammatory, he might
have acknowledged that human individuals are "systems" with their own
capacities and points of failure, especially when they interact with other
systems, human and mechanical and social.

Absolving humans of all blame for their actions (including physical
maintenance issues as adequate sleep and control of substance intake) by
blaming the other systems hardly helps to create flexible and safe
environments.

The Cambridge scientist used the word "implicated", he didn't say
"caused". Perhaps Professor Norman wasn't paying attention by that point;
his dudgeon was raised and his mind wandered just at the point when that
crucial word went by. Luckily, no one was harmed by his slip-up.

Bruce Campbell

http://www.clicknation.com/snoof/


> "angry-economist" (his self-description) Russell Nelson takes me to
> task for my rhetoric -- I argued that many so-called "human errors"
> are really the result of a misguided corporate culture that pushes
> immediate profits over safety (and therefore, over long-term profits
> and
> stability).  Nelson chides me by stating:
>
>  > Someone who is going to accuse other people of promulgating
>  > silly nonsense should refrain from it himself.  "A
>  > profit-driven culture" is the cause of accidents?  What is
>  > the alternative?  A loss-driven culture?

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