The Corrective Set-back, or
"How to profit from Titanic's Legendary Loss"
"Full-steam ahead" is certainly exhilirating, but the consequences of collision at high speed are exponentially increased. For having piloted a craft or two at irresponsibly rapid rates, at times in "races" in the company of other boats, I've seen some spectacular disintegrations on the Seas. Funny thing is, I'd say they were all preventable, and unnecessary in the extreme -- but for the one disconsolate, unsung necessity that tragedy and death serve well -- providing an example of what NOT to do for those who watch.
But experience, potentially, inflates itself, and arrogance sets in, there too. It is the feeling of invulnerability that whispers doom, and makes the "tactile" driver toe his brakes and squint his eyes for signs of solid things afloat in fog, ahead.
I tried to help a friend tonight, a captain in his own right, to appreciate the satisfaction of a moment's caution well-applied. But, slowing down is really not his trip. I fear frustration, and a sense of losing time, have taken root, and pressure on the throttle is a drug.
I hate to preach. But logic, on the other hand, is inescapable and always there. One is free to invoke it, agnostically, in support of common sense, without betrayal, feeding jealousy or taking sides. It is objective, syllogistic, and, defensibly -- the "truth".
And so, to my friend I say, take heed. Contrariance, especially the type that make us rage, becomes an instrument of friendliness, when one is speeding towards a cliff --
2HP