Month: March 2026

A recent review of Project Hyperion makes me wonder whether IQs have fallen lately.  I understand design competitions – they are often good ways to get intellectuals to think outside of the conventional boxes.  But this one just makes me wonder whether anyone on the design team truly understands sustainability and engineering fundamentals.

“Project Hyperion posed a challenge that most space agencies have sidestepped: how to design not just a vehicle but a self-sustaining human community capable of surviving a multi-decade journey between stars. The competition, run by the Initiative for Interstellar Studies (i4is) under the leadership of Dr. Andreas Hein, asked teams to produce blueprints for generation ships, vessels large enough to support entire populations from launch to arrival. The destination in most proposals was Proxima Centauri b, an exoplanet orbiting the closest star to our solar system and already a staple of speculative mission studies.

What set Hyperion apart from typical aerospace design exercises was its insistence on human factors. Entrants had to address governance, food production, psychological resilience, and reproductive planning alongside structural engineering. The competition’s published 2025 results reflected that priority: the winning entry did not promise the fastest engine or the lightest hull. It promised the most livable ship, treating social stability as a mission-critical system on par with life support or radiation shielding rather than an afterthought to be improvised once a vessel is already in flight.

So, Proxima Centauri b is about 4 light-years away … therefore, the journey time makes sense.  And the design teams rightfully worked through some of the logistical questions of reproduction and culture in a multigenerational experience like this.  That was all well and good.

But what was conspicuously missing was any sense of engineering, energy, and cost questions that this raise.  You have to get a vessel of this size built and moving at the speeds necessary to make the voyage and then solve the inverse problem as the vessel begins to approach its destination.  Plus, why would you do any of this to go somewhere to start a new planetary existence?

Star Wars fans would be thrilled with the 3D renderings and the seemingly feasible premise of doing this if money were unlimited and the raw materials for a project of this size were available.  The winning proposal for a 36-mile-long vessel makes people like me wonder how it could be built in near-orbit around our planet and then brought up to a realistic speed to achieve the stated goal.

The competition evaluators did have some concept of the problem:

“Most interstellar concepts lead with their engine, whether fusion drives, laser sails, or antimatter reactors. Chrysalis inverts that priority. The implicit argument is that propulsion technology will eventually catch up, but the harder problem, the one with fewer obvious solutions, is keeping a sealed human community functional across generations. Antarctic research stations, nuclear submarines, and long-duration spaceflight aboard the International Space Station all offer partial analogs, but none approach the scale or permanence that a generation ship demands.”

Yeah … and if you can solve these problems for Project Hyperion, why wouldn’t it be better to just build model communities here on earth now to make life here sustainable?

Why aren’t we doing the math?  Oh … I keep forgetting … 97% of the world’s scientists agree with what their funders tell them is a problem.  The real problem here is that we are not asking the right questions in the first place.

Educators are in a tizzy, just like back when calculators first entered the classroom.  The need to memorize the multiplication tables has been marginalized.  I noticed that my colleagues in engineering could no longer estimate solutions because they no longer used a slide rule.  For those who never used one, it only gives you the first 2 or possibly 3 digits to the answer … you have to know where the decimal point goes.

Now that AI is essentially free and widely available, people are asking it all kinds of questions and, unfortunately, just assuming the answers are reliably correct.  They fail to recognize that AI is simply parroting what the public sources offer as consensus opinions, and these opinions depend upon how you phrase the question.

I have warned all my friends to ask questions with opposing implied points of view.  For example, instead of asking a seemingly simple question: Is Jesus the only way to God? Ask the more general one: “what do the major world religions view as necessary beliefs to find peace with their concepts of God.”

I hope you can see the foundational difference between a curious person and one who is simply looking for the talking points to support their point of view.  With all this as context, please consider this Wall Street Journal article on how AI helps or thwarts teamwork:

https://www.wsj.com/opinion/how-i-killedand-revivedteamwork-with-ai-5a5722cf?st=mMMFLX&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink

Now, back the blog title question.  Does AI make us lazy?  The answer is no.  We can be lazy as we go through life, and AI can make that addictively easy.  Or we can decide to be curious and helpful to ourselves and our communities by becoming more aware of the diversity of opinions and perspectives around us.

We don’t have to, and shouldn’t, decide we are right and they are wrong.  The tensions between these potential conclusions should serve as a basis for a humble search for wisdom and wellness in our relationships.

It is tempting, and all too easy, to use AI to just build bigger walls around our worldviews, smugly concluding that others are simply less well-informed or stupid in our minds.

Calculators enabled us to do more difficult math more accurately and more quickly than ever before.  Failure to think critically before we enter numbers into these calculators remains our responsibility if we want the best answers.

Go back to the basics of all human interactions:  people don’t make you mad … what you believe about them and the situation is what you are allowing to make you mad.  They probably have no idea what you are thinking because they, too, are just being lazy about your interaction.

Break the bad habit of being lazy … be curious … ask questions … listen … and ponder.  It’s OK to say a situation is complicated and you are trying to understand all perspectives.  Stop being intellectually lazy … AI doesn’t do that to you.

The recent war with Iran has clearly rattled markets, especially crude oil.  But let’s put this in perspective and keep it there. The total cost to transport oil by tanker is less than $5 per barrel, so why the hell is there such a kerfuffle about the Strait of Hormuz?  If war persists or the risks remain high, other providers will supply the needs.

But, the press (trying to damage Donald Trump) beat a dismal drum of fear.  How about these quotes from the New York Times:  “Nearly two weeks into the conflict, the war in Iran has triggered “the largest supply disruption in the history of the global oil market,” the International Energy Agency said on Thursday. That comes despite an agreement among world leaders on Wednesday to release some 400 million barrels of oil from their strategic reserves. Here’s what else to know:  A spokesperson for Iran’s military command warned on Wednesday that oil could reach $200 barrel, far exceeding previous records. The U.S. energy secretary, Chris Wright, said that’s unlikely.

Those mentioned in this New York Times article apparently have a very short memory.  They forgot about the energy embargoes of the early 1970s and the big one in 1978/1979 that reshaped energy policy for decades. Some of you must remember that our country rationed gasoline.

The graphic at the top of this blog is a screenshot from my boat tracking software, which tracks ships at sea.  The current Iranian situation is a fart in a windstorm … you can only smell it if you are close to it.  Yes, there will be a short-term disruption.  They attacked their neighbors and thereby destroyed the oil cartel they were a part of.  Plus, as this article in the WSJ points out, the constant threat of Iranian ship disruption has already been priced into everything.

So, the fundamental laws of supply and demand will correct that, and they do not support prices above $100 a barrel for more than a week or so.  Their threats to hobble the world should be a wakeup call to finish this job and restore some level of peace and security for everyone else in that region and the world.

Iran can put all the mines they want in their backyard and think they have cornered the world, but they will come up short in the long run, having destroyed their credibility on the world stage to ever be considered a trustworthy partner on anything with any of their neighbors.  Then, those who have been supporting Iran (China and Russia) will be tainted by their support and suffer long-term trust issues … and they both have little left to lose.

The situation reminds me of the final confrontation in the Disney PIXAR movie A Bug’s Life where Hopper (a grasshopper), the ant’s adversary, has Flik (the unlikely bumbling ant innovator) publicly beaten and proclaims the ants are lowly life forms who live only to serve the grasshoppers as slaves. Flik asserts Hopper actually fears the ant colony, because he has always known what they are capable of if they work together against the grasshoppers. This inspires the ants to take control, freeing them from their masters. 

The laws of supply and demand do create price volatility in free markets.  Volatility is precisely what traders love, because it causes both suppliers and users to protect themselves.  So, they are delighted and applaud the press for amplifying fears.

Smart people don’t flinch … they simply hedge where they can and choose options. One of them will be to stop buying from those who are behind these disruptions, and that market discipline will be unrelenting over time.

Principled people make tough decisions about relationships.  I still remember when I was pitching a demand response trading platform to a large energy retailer.  Things looked positive until he told me that if I succeeded in recruiting the large demand response opportunities in his region, he would pay us our up-front fee but not a penny for operations because he was not going to message them when markets went into constraint.

Appalled, I closed my notepad, told him I would not be a part of anything that restrained free trade, which is a federal crime, and walked out of his office. That contemptible conversation still plays in my head.

Remember this when you face volatile markets.  There are all too many people in free markets who are delighted with the world situation.  There are all too many in our country searching for anything bad they can pin on our president … even if it causes harm to Americans when they do so.  TDS is absolutely real.

It is always darkest just before the dawn.  Don’t flinch.  Don’t get mad … just get even.  Tough situations offer us an unvarnished look at who are truly our friends and partners, and who is simply out for their own good.

Knee jerk reactions in the short run are just what Iran wants us to feel and do.  I know this is scary to many … but also remember that this fear has hobbled our past efforts to bring long term peace to the region and the world.

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear”

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Perhaps you recognize the blog title as one of Tina Turner’s songs.  The rumor is that she never liked singing it because it sounded so cynical.  Perhaps we have all become cynical.

If we are mature, critical thinkers, we are taught that love is not a feeling … it is a decision.  We do it because of a genuine desire to be there for someone else expecting nothing in return. If we’re not careful, it’s easier to think “what’s in it for me?” rather than considering what we can offer to share with others.

Acting with love extends beyond romantic relationships. It encompasses how we show up for others, how we do business, how we treat strangers and even our enemies. Acting with love represents the choice to demonstrate care, attention, and sensitivity in what we do.

Most of the major religions of the world insist that we are to love our enemies.  Jesus insisted that if we don’t we are not forgiven ourselves.  This is hard to hear.

So, how do we reconcile this with the situation in Iran, where the radical religious element declares death to America, even though the Koran emphasizes love as noted above?  Ironic isn’t it … religious leaders emphasizing hate.

Let’s just suppose that we do see Iran give up in the next few weeks … it is likely. Let’s assume they attempt to reinvent their relationships to America and Israel.  Can we relax?

My observation is that you can outlaw the outlaw, but you don’t eliminate them.  They simply move underground, waiting to get revenge.  You haven’t changed the heart-attitude of people who profess hate for anyone or anything.

We can attempt to educate and deprogram the brainwashed, but it took decades and even centuries to get the masses to accept the hate they cling to.  So, correcting these situations takes a lot of time and consistent education over generations.  Few governments or leaders are willing to embrace these agendas because their term of influence is so much shorter than the time frames needed for correction.

So, is it futile?  After all, the hatred between the Muslim and Jewish perspectives in the holy land is so deep and broad, so how can we expect anything to change?

There is only one long-term answer here: we have to break the chain of bad influence.  We have to start somewhere to do that, and the most logical thing is in the education of children.  We also must let kids from all perspectives learn and play together to see that this is possible. They in turn influence their parents.

Transformation of this kind is a long game that goes far beyond “regime change” or even peace treaties.  It starts small and has to be nourished and guided over decades … the same way hate was taught.

Our role must be analogous to a small child walking on the beach, seeing thousands of starfish washing up to their certain death.  The child is seen throwing starfish back into deeper water … one at a time.  An adult passing by admonishes the child, saying, “You are wasting your time, you can’t make a difference … it just doesn’t matter.”

As the child throws yet one more starfish into deeper water he replies: “It mattered to this one!”  

So, maybe we each can’t solve the world’s problems.  We can show love to those in our sphere of influence … especially to those we see as different or make us uncomfortable by their differences … if we are willing to see them and show them our love through better understanding dialogues.

So … what’s love got to do with it?  Perhaps everything!

 

This picture was taken during the recent announcement about the Trump administration’s drug-price reduction efforts … a noble and overdue objective to be sure.  While I applaud the effort, I am concerned about how the savings are presented and why few are objecting.  My only conclusion is that the average American is not mathematically able to understand what is wrong.  Go figure!

I remember when the Truth in Lending Act was passed in 1968 promoting the informed use of consumer credit by requiring standardized disclosures of credit cost and terms.  A major driver at the time was that consumers were signing up for credit cards with very high, compounded annual interest rates that many could not clearly see.

Noble as it was, and as common as it is in our lives, I really wonder whether the average American knows how important it is to pay off these loans, even when the cumulative interest is clearly indicated in those disclosures.  I have written about this in recent blogs.

Perhaps you have also noticed that almost all restaurants now print the suggested tip range near the tip line.  As the picture here indicates, it irritates me that this range typically starts at 18%, well above my comfort level at 12-15%, and that range doesn’t even appear among the computed suggestions.

I get the problem they face … many customers simply can’t do the math in their heads or are too lazy to grab their phones to use a calculator.

One of my daughters had difficulties with math, and I can still remember working with her on her homework in grade school.  She just couldn’t get it, no matter how hard I tried to tell her stories and situations to bring it to life.

The picture above should give us all pause.  How can you get discounts of more than 100%?  Remember, a 100% discount means it is free.

If your math skills are challenged, go to the website shown here, take the diabetes claim, and enter some sample values. 

If you normally paid $100 for your prescription and you had a 230% discount, you would have been paid $130 to take it! 

The answer is in the fine print right above the numbers in the picture at the beginning of this blog.  The discount is calculated as the percentage savings compared to the FINAL PRICE, not the original price.

You were never taught percentages this way, and for good reason … it is terribly misleading.  Fortunately, there is an easy correction.  You simply divide 100% by these discount statements to get the conventional way of expressing it.  So, a 230% discount is really about 44%.  You would save about $56.50 for the prescription, paying $43.50 instead of $100.  Divide $100 by $43.50, and … voilà… you get 230%.

Doing the math with 654% the right way, your original prescription cost of $100 would now cost you $15.30 … about an 85% reduction in costs.  Nice.  Very impressive.  Just misleading as presented.

Another more correct way to express this price reduction is that this program avoids these percentage markups over what the government has negotiated as a fair price.  There are lots of good ways to explain things like this … the method used is just not one of them.

And for complete contextual relevance, we all know that an optimist declares the glass half full, while a pessimist defines it as half empty.  The engineer most accurately explains that you appear to have twice as much glass as you really need.

This is why you should invite engineers to your parties. They will come because they have nothing else going on. Don’t worry, they won’t interact with your other guests and make cleanup a snap because they will eat whatever you serve.  And if they’ve had a good time, they will fix your garage door opener and phase-align your speakers 😊.