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OP-ED:

By Park Burroughs 5 min read

Not all new ideas are good ideas. Brilliant concepts are often snuffed out by thought and reason. Here are a few examples:

Build your own boat

One of the first things I did when I retired was to order a sailboat kit. It arrived in a 12-foot-long box weighing about 150 pounds. I spent the winter building it in my garage. When finished I realized the 11-foot boat was far too heavy to simply throw onto the top of my car, which at the time was a Mini Cooper; I needed a trailer. I built the trailer from a kit, also. Next, a trailer hitch had to be installed on my car. Then all I needed was some water to sail it on.

Friends recommended Lake Arthur, but I soon learned that it was quite a long drive away, and that launching the boat and rigging it to sail took quite a long time, as did getting it back onto the trailer. Little time was left to actually sail.

Then I had another brilliant idea: Why not take the boat to the lake at Cross Creek County Park? No one else was attempting to sail there, and the reason, I learned – after several futile attempts – was because of the lake’s topography. No matter which direction the wind came from, it would always fall on the water in a kind of lazy swirl. In order to sail, you need wind, usually coming from the same direction.

Today, the boat sits covered in a shed. I no longer have a vehicle with a trailer hitch, so even hauling it somewhere is not an option. Spiders and vermin find it cozy.

If you don’t live near a large body of water, don’t build a sailboat; you’ll just end up with a mouse motel.

The metaverse

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg had an epiphany. He saw what would be the next big thing. He named it “the metaverse” and renamed his company Meta. (That’s a Greek word that means after or beyond.) Thousands of people were hired to bring virtual reality to the masses.

As it turns out, the masses were not all that excited. Maybe putting on goofy goggles and dancing with cartoon penguins was not all that stimulating. Maybe, just maybe, people are more interested in real-life experiences. Like spending time with another human being with whom you share some interests. Like experiencing the wonders of nature.

So, a few days ago, with advertising revenue tanking and expenses going through the roof, Zuckerberg laid off 11,000 employees.

“I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that,” he said in a message to his workers.

Cryptocurrency

For all those who invested their savings in cryptocurrency and lost it, why did you think you could get rich without doing any work?

Sam Bankman-Fried, the 30-year-old founder of FTX, has gone from multi-billionaire to pauper almost overnight as his virtual currency has tanked. Others, including Bitcoin, appear to be following.

This reminds me of chain letters. Back when people actually communicated through the U.S. mail, you might receive a letter from a friend with a long list of names and addresses. Your friend would ask you to send money to the name at the top of the list, add your own name to the bottom and send copies of your letter to 12 of your friends. Eventually, you were told, you would receive thousands of dollars in the mail, so long as you did not ignore the letter and break the chain.

If you mailed away your money, someone would indeed receive it. You, on the other hand, would not.

Cryptocurrency is ephemeral and unregulated. By comparison, taking your life’s savings to the blackjack table at the casino seems like a prudent investment.

Driverless vehicles

My father started teaching me to drive when I was 14 years old. The more experience I had, he believed, the better. He stressed defensive driving. “Whenever a car is approaching from the opposite direction, assume that it could cross into your lane,” he would say. “Assume the boy on the bicycle might dart into the road in front of you.” The human brain will then dictate slight adjustments based not on what is visible at the moment but on what could happen.

The computers in driverless cars and trucks might very well be able to steer, brake and maintain safe speeds; their electronic eyes can detect pavement markings and road signs. But can they anticipate, can they read the expressions and gestures of other drivers? How can they – without the vast store of experience that human drivers accumulate – react to unusual and dangerous traffic situations and road conditions we so frequently encounter?

After so much time, money and effort has been spent on self-driving technology, some companies, like Pittsburgh’s Argo AI recently, are calling it quits. Others, like the gambling addict, are doubling down.

Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are fascinating concepts, but I’m putting my money (actual money, cash) on the human brain and real-life adventure.

Park Burroughs is retired executive editor of the Observer-Reporter and lives in South Franklin Township.

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