We Built It with Slide Rules. Then We Forgot How (unmitigatedrisk.com) AI

The post argues that spaceflight know-how—once built through hands-on experimentation and then preserved in documents like NASA SP-287—has been eroding as organizations grow too complex and stop asking basic operational questions. It recounts the author’s father learning rocket chemistry and working on satellite attitude control, then contrasts that transferable “keep it in your head” approach with modern Artemis planning, which the author says reflects hidden constraints and insufficient familiarity among leaders. The author extends the warning to software and AI, suggesting capability can be outsourced before judgment and underlying understanding are transmitted, leaving teams “renting” complexity without owning the decisions.