Patchwork Thoughts

Supposedly the vast majority of people believe they are good drivers. “But I really am a good driver,” you’re now saying to yourself. Apparently that’s because we tend to think that it’s the abilities we possess that make someone a good driver. For example, some people can drive fast and not die. They think that is what makes them a good driver, whereas someone else always obeys all traffic laws and thinks that is what a good driver does. Personally, I think you’re a good driver if the other cars on the road don’t have to make any adjustments because you’re there. They shouldn’t have to hit the brakes at all if you turn out in front of them, they shouldn’t have to go around you when you’re turning, and they shouldn’t have to speed up because you’re riding their tail.

What qualities do you think make a good driver?

Okay, that brings to mind another issue: the inability of most of us to comprehend that we might be wrong about something, especially deeply-held beliefs. Take a political issue such as immigration. Someone might believe that we should shut our borders completely and never accept any more immigrants. If that person is unwilling to accept that he or she might actually be wrong, you will never be able to convince them otherwise. You can show statistics on birth rates or any other indicator that shows their opinion to be incorrect, but it won’t work. That’s why we are urged to keep an open mind about things. If you can’t adapt, you quickly become obsolete and end up hosting a daytime talk show or something.

(Tangent alert: The U.S. birth rate is below the rate needed to sustain the population, as is now the case for most of the developed world. What keeps our population growing is immigration. It’s the working-age immigrants who keep our economy going. The population of Russia is decreasing by about a million people every year, and similar decline is happening in Japan, Spain, and other developed countries. It’s also why Japan is developing robotics so heavily. Eventually it will be up to the robots to care for the last generation of the Japanese. Contrast this with the high birthrate in predominantly Muslim nations, and you begin to see the shifting trend in demographics that will unfold over the coming century. Sorry, I just think it’s interesting.)

Boy, sometimes it’s surprising where my mind ends up when I let it wander. I just hope it comes back.