Ed Ames
Member
Yes. That's not a bad discourse on one aspect of requirements derivation--at its worst..
We always try to be as objective as possible The decision to not require super cruise in the F-35 was based on objective analysis, and not on what someone thought to be important.
LOL yeah no. Airplanes are mechanical embodiments of subjective values held in the air by physics. Seriously, they are studies in compromise, with every aspect balanced to forward one subjective standard: “Intended mission.” And yes, the mission is a subjective standard. Even within a mission, values play a big part. Designing a jet? Do you commit to FOD walks or use FOD guards? That’s a values question, with a subjective answer.
That’s why you can’t say that an F-35 is better than a Diamond DA-40, or that either is better than a Citation X, without sounding clueless. They are all excellent when viewed through the subjective filter of their particular mission, and awful when viewed through the subjective filter of each other’s missions. To try and view them objectively is either a study in self delusion (being objective within a subjective context is being subjective) or an example of insanity.
I’m not disparaging your values, by the way. I share many of them. I’m just pointing out that this thing you think is an objective truth, isn’t, and there are always different ways of looking at the same problems that will yield different results. Those results may seem ludicrous to you through the filter of your subjective values, but to the people with different values, your choices seem ludicrous too.