Redundancy.

It's a strange word.  Usually in Engineering terms it's a good thing... Redundancy of systems generally means that you have two (or in some cases more) parallel systems that are capable of carrying out the same function, meaning that you can cope with complete failure of one system and have the process in question continue.

Aircraft are a good example of this.  Most commercial airliners have three, or sometimes four independent hydraulic systems for moving control surfaces.  You can hence lose complete systems (be that through fluid loss, pump failure or some other catastrophic fault) and the aircraft as a whole still be flyable.  It's even theoretically possible now with computer control of engine thrust for the entire hydraulics system to be redundant, as after lessons learned where a few airliners have lost all of their hydraulic systems, basic flight control can still be maintained, certainly enough to get the aircraft on the ground at least.

However, when referring to people, or in particular, job roles, the word has a slighly more unpleasant meaning:  The job role is no longer needed and by inference, the person is no longer needed.  It's a shitty situation to find yourself in and leads to a significant increase in uncertainty for the future.  Now, don't get me wrong; the future is not certain in the first place.  Risk exists in all aspects of our lives.  A common statement being "you could be hit by a bus tomorrow".  Equally you could be squashed by an airliner falling from the sky, possibly due to the failure of all it's redundant systems.  However, announcement of personal redundancy really does make the future very much unknown and leaves people feeling very vulnerable.

 It's happened to me once before.  That time was of no real issue, as I had every intention of leaving the company in question anyway, had no responsibilities, no financial ties and quite frankly could not care less.  I was somewhat frustrated not to have worked for the company long enough to qualify for a decent settlement, but nevertheless it didn't really affect me.

This one will.

The rise of stupidity.

I hadn't really noticed just how prevalent this issue had become until recently, but it really is quite concerning how the last few years appears to be the rise of the idiots.  I suspect very much that the internet, although not "to blame" for this, is definitely an enabling technology.

You only have to look at YouTube for a few minutes to see what I mean.  Videos of idiocy on the road, idiocy in the building trade, political idiocy, engineering idiocy, and factual deniers are all over that particular site.  My personal favourite of these are flat-earthers.  Otherwise seemingly sensible people who deny that the the planet is a sphere(ish) shape.  Seriously?  The aincient greeks knew that the planet was round.  There are photos of the planet from space.  People orbit the planet daily.  People have flown due east continuously until they get back to where they started.  No-one with any sense whatsoever would even remotely question that we are on a round planet.  The most amusing thing about this is that flat earthers accept that EVERY other celestial object in the solar system is round, just not our planet.  How do you even begin to argue with that level of stupidity?

This seems to be part of the progression of people finding other like-minded people over the internet.  Just a few short decades ago, it was very difficult to find anyone else who shared somewhat more extreme/rare views or somewhat more extreme/rare interests.  Because in many cases the extreme views, opinions and interests that a person might have would be somewhat socially unacceptable, they kept them to themselves.  This kept extreme viewpoints and opinions out of mainstream society, and everyone just generally got on with life.

Enter the internet.  Now, anyone with half-a-clue what they are doing can fairly-anonymously publish their viewpoint online, and have it read by anyone with a browser.  This then leads to people finding others with a similar viewpoint, and forming groups of people, all with the same opinion or similar interests.  Sometimes this is a good thing, and allows people who would otherwise live their life thinking they are the only person with a specific interest or opinion to meet likeminded people.  The internet is full of forums and discussion groups like this, mainly harmless.  Unfortunately, it can also bring together people with somewhat more idiotic (or possibly also illegal) thoughts and views, but that is somewhat the nature of the beast.

The worst aspect, imo, is that it gives a level playing field for opinion, despite the level of expertise in a subject area.  On the internet, there is no difference between the platform offered to a PHD scientist, very experienced in their field, or joe bloggs, complete numpty with no experience whatsoever and hasn't got the first clue about what's being discussed.  So you end up with a few utter morons who believe something absurd (like, for instance, that the earth is flat) getting together and publishing material.  When the incredulous scientist then comes along to give clear and good evidence as to why this is obviously absurd, they are only given the same platform as the next moron who comes along and agrees with the first morons, thus allowing the initial absurdity to perpetuate.

Does it need to be addressed?  Can this issue be addressed?   What would possibly be done to address it?  I can only answer one of these questions:  The first one.  Does this need to be addressed?  Yes it absolutely does need to be addressed.  Recent global political events have proven that if stupidity is advertised hard enough, and obviously absurd statements are made forcefully enough and repeated sufficiently, then people will believe that stupidity and accept it as reasonable.

Giving a platform to morons is a very dangerous thing.  It perpetuates moronic behavior.  However, it is very very difficult to remove that platform without removing it from everyone, without inhibiting free speech, without removing personal rights and without becoming the orwellian society that would be unacceptable to everyone.

So just be careful when you read an opinion.  It's only that, an opinion, and the holder of that opinion could be an utter moron.  Granted, they could also be heavily skilled, experienced and qualified in the particular area being discussed.  On the internet, you just don't know.
 

But they're usually just a moron.

Downward

To coin the phrase made famous by Brittany Spears, and then turned into a folk song by Richard Thompson:  Oops, I did it again!  Only 2-ish years this time instead of 4.  You never know, this might be the beginning of an ever-reducing series, which will eventually end up with a post on a regular basis.

Or maybe not.

Reading over my old posts is an interesting thing to do, as not only does it refresh memories of how things were, it also serves as a reminder as to how I got to where I am now, which in general is not a good place.

Having been bought out, moved, moved again and generally forced into trying to integrate the workings of an independent British SME into a large American multinational, our numbers have been so heavily reduced (through natural progression, no actual lay-offs) that we are now four people.  Four, where fourteen once were is utterly unsustainable.  It is often heard that companies have to "do more with less", but this level of cutback is just absurd.  There's no way you can be a £3M turnover branch of a company with Four people, especially when you're in manufacuring.  Specialist manufacturing, yes, but still manufacturing.  That would be revenue generation of £750k per person.  I know of no industry that can do that!

So of course we're not generating that.  We're barely generating £300k a year, which is pathetic compared to where we were 3/4 years ago.  I have been desperately waiting for the redundancy to come, but it hasn't and I don't think it ever will.

Asked to describe the effect of being adsorbed by a large multinational that hasn't the first clue about how to operate the company it's just bought, I would have to agree with the comment that it is like a Cancer.  Now, that is not to belittle anyone suffering with Cancer; it's a horrid illness which I would not wish on anyone, but as a description of a disease slowly works through a system and destroys it bit-by-bit, it's a very good analogy of where we find ourselves today.