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ronpaulitician
08-03-2007, 03:04 PM
I'm sure I'm not the first to think of this, but I couldn't find any articles on the following (not exactly sure what to look for):

I've often thought that our behavior on the road fairly accurately reflects our behavior off the road.

We've put a couple of rules in place (green = go, red = stop) which most of us abide by, but there are some rules that we sometimes choose to ignore (full second stop = slow down to almost a full stop; speed limit X = I can go X+10).

There are some unwritten rules (leftmost lane is the fast lane; if two lanes merge into one, we merge on a one-by-one basis) that most of us follow. You get the occasional jerks that think they're the most important than everyone else, that'll push their way around you when you're merging, or jerks that will zip through traffic from lane to lane as if it's a computer game, but mostly, I find that drivers follow most of the unwritten rules.

I'm thinking traffic is a good metaphor for human society as a whole, highlighting the ineffectiveness of government (traffic jams, potholes, dubiously constructed intersections), and highlighting that people are more than willing to do the right thing even when there aren't any specific rules laid out for them.

Any comments/suggestions?

Keith
08-03-2007, 03:47 PM
I could not agree more with this assessment. I don't know how many times I have seem someone directing traffic and thought that the traffic would flow so much better if there was no one there trying to tell everyone what to do.

ronpaulitician
08-03-2007, 06:08 PM
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Magic_Roundabout_Schild_db.jpg/800px-Magic_Roundabout_Schild_db.jpg

http://www.swindonweb.com/life/lifemagi1.jpg

So what does it feel like to drive through this Magic Roundabout? Play me. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrfdQIg4ap0)

ShaneC
08-03-2007, 07:01 PM
I'm assuming the "Magic Roundabout" is a public roadway, which tells me too things.

1. European Roads are the work of Satan.
2. I now see a reason for privatized roads.

Kuldebar
08-03-2007, 07:48 PM
Well, driving is a good analogy all around. People do it largely unsupervised and do it rather well. Considering that a car can be far more dangerous than a gun, I think it speaks volumes.

Also, look at the railroads, some idiot bureaucrat long ago decided that the width of all railroads should be based off the width of a standard horse drawn carriage of the day...and here we are 150+ years later constrained by that lack of foresight and rejection of allowing the free market to sort it out..