What are Children of the Magenta?

Welcome to my collection of notes on automation, agency, and the human future.

The phrase comes from a classic 1997 training session by legendary American Airlines Captain Warren “Van” Vanderburgh, who warned that pilots were becoming “children of the magenta” - so dependent on following the magenta line (the programmed flight path displayed in magenta on navigation screens, as in the example below) that they’d neglect to or, wors…