And technically, weight and balance calculations are required before each flight.
Absolutely. Aircraft weight and balance is very important. These calculations also determine how much fuel to carry. Sometimes while in flight pilots will report unexpected fuel burn, difficulty climbing, that the plane is nose or tail heavy, and request an audit of what was loaded onto the plane (baggage/cargo). Also, if you've ever been on a plane that's relatively empty, you may notice flight attendants spreading out the passengers so that they all aren't in the front, or wherever.
For those considering it. Fargo is a caricature. Beware.
I've lived in the Minneapolis/St Paul area my entire life and have rarely ever heard anyone talk like that. Weather wise, around minneapolis (where the vast majority of the tech workers will be found) the temperature varies from a windy around -20 F in the deepest part of winter to around 100 F & high humidity in the hottest days of summer.
It is confidently asserting that because you don't understand nature's ways that you are observing a suboptimal solution.
Ha! What in the world suggests to you that we're an optimal solution? Evolution only makes an organism fit enough to reproduce and rear the next generation. Things that cause problems rarely, or create health in old age are poorly selected for. If we're optimized for anything, it would be as tribal hunter-gatherers, not modern civilization. Science is not magic. I am confident that we can do better, if we choose to do so.
IF I HAD A MINE SHAFT, I don't think I would just abandon it. There's got to be a better way. -- Jack Handley, The New Mexican, 1988.