You could always brute force comparisons between different mods

It's obvious but blew my mind when I was told that

Probably for spray paint or other damage. Or maybe for identifying when it fails

These also look like the ones rishi uses which they claim is silk

You should read what's done in an annual. For GA, aopa had a good article recently talking about doing the right maintenance because doing everything your AP suggests may be more intrusive and less healthy for the plane. It's not as aggressive you're claiming.

Also as others note, age matters in determining where the issue came from. Eg this almost certainly isn't a Boeing issue.

As a new pilot I really recommend watching the show Mayday Aircraft Investigations, it's very informative. The accidents are for commercial aircraft, but still I think seeing all the details and the root causes and breakdown in process is enlightening even as a private pilot.

Their manufacturing is suspect on anything new, but also the max line has several fundamental problems outside of this that have not truly been addressed.

The FAA already grounded their fleets.

Look up documentaries about Boeing and their culture after the MD merger.

I've been avoiding the max like the plague, but my first flight on one was today after reading about the Alaskan flight. I wasn't near where the plug is afaict, and it was a good flight, but I did have a firm grip on the seat in front of me for the first 20k feet

Watch the documentaries, the former MD board basically took over Boeing, moved leadership out of WA to Chicago, set up separate plants (one in Georgia not sure if there are more) to counter union/worker demands in WA, etc. This has been a long process resulting in the rotting of the company from the inside out. The 787 was the first example of their garbage - - even though I like the plane, it had a lot of issues.

That's mainly for their blue collar jobs afaik

The average person is going to be overwhelmed by his size and even likely his energy, they're not going to be able to punch him and do anything other than injure themselves and/or aggravate him.