Flight 370: A Comment

This story has such an impact on people, because we have become
domesticated through technology. We believe that technology can do
absolutely everything, and nothing can go off-the-grid. We rely on
technology to be perfectly functioning. This is what most people have
become accustomed to.

Tech is getting better faster all the time. But
somewhere in the middle, while in front of our screens, with all our
apps and webpages, some have forgotten what human spirit brought art
and technology into existence - it is the spirit of hard work, in
pursuit of happiness, meaning and hence, freedom.

But art and technology can lead to lock-in. When people are locked in
and don't see other choices,
there is a tendency to "Stockholm Syndrome". When some feel that they
are trapped long enough (for good or bad), they will grow within the
system and begin to love it. When something happens which crashes into
this worldview, it is as if one has been shocked out of a beautiful
dream. Like when a person is furiously playing an app game and the app
suddenly crashes - that person will quickly give your app a rating of
1 out of 5. Or if you are happily making money off the stock market
bubble and it crashes overnight. This is chaos.

What I'm trying to say is that we have to accept these things, in the
same spirit as they were made. Realize that nothing is perfect,
Murphy's Law is right, though we are always improving. Only then can
we start thinking rationally - if I let myself throw tantrums
everytime my apps crash or a bug is spotted, I would become frustrated
and get nothing done.

Now, assuming this is a socio-psychological experiment...

This whole incident serves two purposes. For those of us who are not 

political-socio-economic powers, it is a wake-up call - there is a reality beyond
the digital world, beyond the screens. We must find the human spirit
to make art, tech and all the other human achievements work for us.
The technocratic overlords work for us, not the other way around.

For the political powers-that-be, it has been a valuable test
result. On one hand, people become scared and feel helpless when
nothing turns up. They need an international force 40 ships from at
least 12 governments to seal the rift in their reality, that big
government and tech may fail. And God forbid, if it were a hijacking,
people may find themselves supporting more intrusive surveillance,
security.

On the other hand, there are many interesting/plausible "theories"
being considered. The inability for the many governments to address
the issue properly is making people impatient. We also find it difficult
to believe that all the military radars and equipment cannot track a single
airliner. For the first time, people are openly doubting if they are being told
the truth. To the backdrop of Wikileaks, NSA revelations, TSA violations and
mistrust, it's only appropriate that we hit this nail with the same hammer.

Besides the theories, suppose someone/something was able to take a
plane off the grid - that would be a great concern to a controlling elite.

Anyway, it's not impossible that a plane could disappear entirely and never be
found in a lifetime, at least for most people. Why not? The world is
an enormous place.

Me, well, I always thought it was a hijacking. 

At the moment of writing, I think we're just not sure if they succeeded 

or not.

Whatever the story is, the whole incident is an exercise in humility -
we can't know everything. 

Flight 370 has shown us how big the world really is.