Maybe I’m Not Going Crazy

I keep following issues in which I see fundamental flaws of logic or connection to reality which no one else seems to see, and at times I wonder if maybe I am the one who has gone nuts. It’s true, of course, that you can’t “go nuts” if you started out that way, which undoubtedly I did, but I have always maintained some contact with the real world, a quality which seems to be in rare supply these days.

Take, for instance, the Formula 1 race cars of the “hybrid era,” and especially the model being developed for 2026. The current car develops 70% of its power from an internal combustion engine (V6) and 30% from battery power. So there are times during a race, in theory, that the race car only has some 40% of its motive power available when the V6 is recharging the battery. Actually, it never becomes that dire, but still… This is a race car?

Then I found out why this “hybrid” standard was developed, when I read an article discussing the F1 management conference at which it was adopted, specifically that, “some form of electrification would have to be included to provide synergies with road car technologies.”

Road car technologies. Really. Take a look at a Formula 1 race car and at, say, a 2011 Ford Fairlane and tell me how much “synergy” you can see between those two vehicles. The car’s profile? Windshield? Tires?

Next year, 2026, the power will be 50% from the V6 and 50% from the battery, and from the day that was announced I have asked how that would work on a race circuit where the cars are at full throttle for 75% or more of the circuit. When will they be able to charge the battery?

Again, reading an article of F1 management discussion, I read that the specs have had to, “embrace adaptive aerodynamic devices to mitigate potential power shortfalls on the straights.” Potential power loss? Well, that’s going to delight both the drivers and the fans, isn’t it.

The discussion went on to say that, “It’s understood that the solution envisioned by the FIA is to move to an 80:20 ratio in favor of the ICU, or even 90:10.” But that will require three years of development, so we are stuck with the 50:50 ratio until at least 2030.

Then there’s the mania for trashing health insurance companies. A recent article started off, “The six largest health insurers reported more than $1 trillion in revenue and more than $31 billion in net income,” and went on at some length about how horrible it was for a company to make $31 billion in profit.

First of all, it wasn’t one company, it was the total profit made by six companies. Secondly, that number represents a 3.1% profit margin, 3 cents on every dollar. On what planet is that not acceptable?

But more important, insurance companies do not create health care costs. Insurance companies pay health care costs. Admittedly, they don’t pay all of them. If they tried to do that there would be no more insurance companies, and nobody but consumers would be paying any health care costs.

Tyson on Cats

Not always a fan of Neal deGreaase Tyson’s style, he comes across at times as pedantic and arrogant. But he usually knows what he’s talking about. And he likes cats.

He tells us that “Evolutionary biology reveals cats are near-perfect hunters whose design has barely changed for millions of years. From lions to housecats, felines have evolved into a nearly flawless design—at least, according to evolutionary biologist Anjali Goswami.

Cats, she argues, are “evolutionarily perfect” because of their consistency: while other animals diversify and adapt in myriad ways, cats have mastered one ecological role—being sleek, solitary, hyper-efficient predators—and stuck to it. Whether it's a Bengal kitten or a Bengal tiger, the differences are mostly in size, not function or form. Even their skulls are virtually indistinguishable across species, signaling just how little cats have needed to change over millions of years.

This evolutionary stasis isn’t a sign of limitation—it’s a sign of success. In contrast to animals like bears, which have splintered into niche lifestyles from panda to polar bear, cats simply refine one model that works astonishingly well. Despite global habitat shifts and the emergence of rivals, few creatures can match their effectiveness. 

Evolution, Goswami says, doesn’t always reward variety. Sometimes, perfection is just doing one thing better than anyone else—for millions of years.”

Modern Techno Crap

There is, I think, a general acceptance that modern times involves technology which, despite making products more expensive, improves their position in our lives overall. One would have to be something of a Luddite to think otherwise. Between the technology itself, however, and the way business implements it, we seem to be reaching a point which might make an old man like myself begin to wish for the good old days. To give you a couple of examples.

My wife took her car in the other day to be “smog tested.” It passed, for the most part, and does not need any repairs to correct any issue, but it cannot be given a certificate allowing it’s license to be renewed for another year. To correct the problem, the car must be driven for approximately 3 hours per day for two days at 55 mph to “reset the catalytic converter.” 55 mph. No slower, and no faster. Precisely 55 mph, after which it will pass and may be licensed for another year.

Driving 55 mph on California freeways, by the way, where average speed is 75 mph, is scary as hell, and quite dangerous. One can get run over doing that. 

Anyway, the next day our water heater failed. Not leaking or anything, just not producing hot water. There is a light on the gas valve which is blinking red instead of blue. The water heater was installed just under 5 years ago, and when I saw the blinking light on the gas valve, I had a sinking feeling that thing was going to be a problem somehow. Yes, it certainly is. Turns out the valve cannot be replaced because it is no longer available. For a water heater manufactured five years ago. Parts for the valve are available, but they have to be shipped from afar and it takes two weeks or more to get them.

So we are replacing a water heater today, some ten years before the end of it’s design lifetime, because the gas valve on it failed and cannot feasibly be repaired. If the valve could be replaced the cost would be about $500. The new water heater is costing us about $1200 more than that.

This is becoming ridiculous.

Why?

Why does Goodyear spend a whole bunch of money to send its blimp to fly around and provide "aerial coverage" of a football game which is played in a domed stadium? The "aerial coverage" is not actually of the football game, which cannot be seen from outside the stadium, it is of the inanimate stadium itself, and could be provided at any time of day on any day of the tear.