> He acknowledged that my way reduced the chance of failure without making the technical consequences of failure worse, but it was more important that we not be embarrassed. Now that I've been working for a decade, I have a better understanding of how and why people play this game, but I still find it absurd.
If OP's embarrassment comment and the topic of normalization of deviance interest you then you might find this soft (Social) Science Fiction short story to be amusingly enlightening...
"The trouble with you Earth people" by Katherine MacLean (1968)
> He acknowledged that my way reduced the chance of failure without making the technical consequences of failure worse, but it was more important that we not be embarrassed. Now that I've been working for a decade, I have a better understanding of how and why people play this game, but I still find it absurd.
If OP's embarrassment comment and the topic of normalization of deviance interest you then you might find this soft (Social) Science Fiction short story to be amusingly enlightening...
"The trouble with you Earth people" by Katherine MacLean (1968)
https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Trouble_With_You_Ea...
^ link is to google books and their preview includes the entirety of the titular short story from the collection.
If ^ that short story is tl;dnr for you, Spoiler Alert:
Well meaning Alien POV discovery that Humankind is a self important and superstitious lot, and not mostly harmless.