Quote:
Originally Posted by nutella virus
That illusion of control parts nails it. Those of us running good are mainly just fish on heaters
When the French took the initial stab at the Panama Canal - they all truly believed that a virtuous lifestyle was the key to not getting yellow fever, malaria and all the other crap that could kill you down there. These were graduates of the French Polytechnic school - the most advanced bastion of scientific learning in the world at the time.
One guy who was in charge brought his wife and kids, then watched them die of disease one by one.
They legit believed they had some agency in who got sick and who didn't. It's such a powerful human need, it clouds out reason.
Tom Wolfe describes the same thing at the beginning of The Right Stuff when the experimental test pilots were dying at about 1 per month. The pilots had to believe that their comrades did something wrong. They couldn't accept it was random chance. But of course in their case it makes sense as you can't lose your confidence.