When baking a cake, if one simple ingredient is left out, it can change the entire outcome. A leavening agent is the ingredient that lightens and softens the cake. If the baking soda, baking powder, or eggs are removed or reduced in a recipe, the result will be a flat, dense product. If the sugar and flavorings are omitted or changed, the chocolate cake may no longer be “Perfectly Chocolate.” Changing the liquid amounts, or lessening the baking time may cause the cake to end up as “Perfectly Chocolate” soup.
Monetary
value is usually determined by details. While purchasing a diamond, there are four
Cs to consider: Cut, Color, Clarity,
and Carat. The actual cut denotes
the proportions given to the diamond. Sacrificing the size to enhance the
brilliance is a sign of quality. Color
tinting of a diamond is evaluated by a lettering system: D to Z. Colorless
diamonds (D, E, and F) usually maintain the highest value. Clarity is
determined by the “flawlessness” of the diamond. A usual definition of flawless
is if under a 10-power magnification, no flaws are visible. Carat
refers to the weight of the diamond. One carat is equal to 0.200 grams. The
small details, the cut, color or clarity, play as large a role in the quality
and value of the diamond as the carat size.
Attention to detail is essential in safety. In 2008, Dieter Uchtdorf, a former senior vice president of flight operations and chief pilot of Lufthansa German Airlines, recounted why such a small detail as two degrees in navigation can tragically affect the lives of hundreds of people. Uchtdorf summarized the accident saying,
Attention to detail is essential in safety. In 2008, Dieter Uchtdorf, a former senior vice president of flight operations and chief pilot of Lufthansa German Airlines, recounted why such a small detail as two degrees in navigation can tragically affect the lives of hundreds of people. Uchtdorf summarized the accident saying,
“In 1979, a large passenger jet with 257
people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and
back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight
coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (45
km) to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached
Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a
better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither
had made this particular flight before, and they had no way of knowing that the
incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an
active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than
12,000 feet (3,700 m).
"As the pilots flew onward, the white of
the snow and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds
above, making it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the
time the instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward
them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano,
killing everyone on board.
"It was a terrible tragedy brought on by
a minor error—a matter of only a few degrees.”3
Details are important.
Everything in the world has some degree of detail, as these examples (cooking,
nature, and safety practices) have shown. Paying attention to detail is more
than just focusing on visual factors or creating a higher level of
comfort. It is imperative to pay
attention to details all around us. Details truly make the difference between dissatisfaction
and quality, and in some cases, the difference between life and death.
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1. Hershey Foods Corporation, HERSHEY’S Best-Loved Recipes (Lincolnwood, Ill.), 2000, p. 9-10.
2.“A Tiffany Diamond,” http://www.tiffany.com/Expertise/Diamond/
Good point with the recipe. I sometimes skip some parts of my cooking when following a recipe and it turns out to be an important part. You should have added more of your personal telling on the safety aspect following the story of the flight.
ReplyDeleteI love your theme.
--Sara Tovar