This is the third and final post in a mini-series on the Sci on the Fly blog that explores questions about feedback. Earlier posts are here and here. This post asks: How does feedback influence the safety of autonomous vehicles?

This is the second post in a mini-series on the AAAS Sci on the Fly blog that will explore questions about feedback. The first post on real-time feedback can be read here. This post asks: How could feedback from five-star-style reviews and public comments improve the government? 

This is the first post in a mini-series on Sci on the Fly that will explore questions about feedback. This post asks: How can real-time feedback fail us and what makes it potent?

The hit television show, The Office, has a laughable scene that reveals a potential limitation of real-time feedback. In it, Michael is driving Dwight across the state to drum up business. He comes to an intersection, and his Global Positioning System (GPS) unit instructs him in real-time to make a right turn. Michael then proceeds, and the following dialogue ensues:

For centuries, we’ve survived with wristwatches that kept time accurate to within a few minutes per year. Yet early in 2016, a timing signal broadcast an error of only 13 microseconds, which in turn disrupted telecommunications and other networked computers around the globe. How could such a small error, an amount of time equivalent to 1/25,000 of an eye blink, cause such problems?