each dot will be between 2 and 500+ passengers, and if I screw up they die.
Forgive my ignorance as a non-ATC'er, but is that somewhat of an exaggeration, or the actual truth? Could it really be that if an ATCO makes a mistake at work, it could ultimately mean the worst case possible, as quoted above? Presumably there are multiple additional safeguards in place (TCAS etc) to ensure that it is not down to the error of one single ATCO, should the worst happen? And when it does, is it usually due to a chain of failures, or a single mistake by ATC?
I don't know if the above was meant light heartedly or not, but just wondered if it is the actual truth? If so, that is some amazing responsibility!
