What Can and Can’t Be Fixed

But reflecting on these events, it occurred to me that the guys and I live in different realities. Jim and Jay, attuned to machines, believe that there are logical causes for things and that they can find those causes and fix things. I, on the other hand, believe that there are mysterious forces at work beyond my comprehension, that machines are inhabited by evil or beneficent spirits that need to be placated, and that no matter how well you build something, it will inevitably break down. I’m thinking about that as I read posts about the ongoing melt-downs at Fukushima in Japan and as my friends organize to protest the Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant’s application for relicensing. […]