Post 110

This post may seem a bit hypocritical coming from one who gives his post numbers instead of names, but no matter.

What's the deal with humanity's fixation to numbers? Why is it that we humans feel the need to quantify everything? I mean, I walk outside and, regardless of the hotness or coldness of the weather as I perceive it, I wanna see a thermometer to tell me just how hot or cold it is--and what the thermometer says may totally change my opinion on the matter, eg "Huh. Guess it isn't as cold as I thought it was. Must be a trifle bit humid today. And, come to think of it, there is a slight breeze...."

Perhaps this makes me seem quantificationally driven in a more than usual way, but I think that most people are just as numberocentric but lack the self awareness to see it.

Don't believe me? Okay. Let's talk about speedometers for a minute. What the heck do we need speedometers for? "So we can know how fast we're driving," you say. Why do we need to know that? "So we can drive at a safe speed."

*BUZZ* Logical fallacy! I object.

Who can determine a safe speed better than an individual driver? If your engine is screaming and you're afraid you're going to lose control, you probably oughtta slow down; if you live in the constant fear of getting run over, you probably need to speed up a bit. I'm willing to bet (or, rather, I would be willing to bet if it didn't go against my moral credos and religious convictions to do so) that, if all speedometers and speed limits were removed, our highways, as a whole, would be safer. For one thing, you'd eliminate all the whackjobs who wanna see just how fast their rides can go. Also, you'd get rid of the teenage speed-limit-plus-10 or speed-limit-plus-15 mentalities. Furthermore, nobody would feel the obligation to go any particular speed, so they would drive at a speed that they found comfortable, and I bet your average joe's most comfortable speed is probably more in the 50-70 mph range than in the 75-100 mph range.

I suppose you might feel inclined to point to I-15 in and out of Vegas as a counterexample because it has posted speed limits of 65, but flow of traffic is usually up above 80 somewhere. I reject your counterexample as fairly contrived. Last time I drove home (Christmastime), I was sort of in a hurry, so I abandoned my general conviction to trying to obey the speed limit and, after weighing my options in the scales of immorality, I decided that, so long as I was never 20mph above the posted speed limit, I was probably okay, so 80-84mph I went. I had no regard for what was safe, what I was actually comfortable with, only what I thought I could do without getting in trouble--and I totally nailed it; efficient travel and no citations. Had I only had my gut instinct as to how fast I was going to dictate my speed, I don't imagine I would have ventured much higher than 65 or 70 because I'm a fairly mellow guy that way.

Granted, if we removed speedometers and speed limits, we'd have to figure out something to do with all those highway patrollers, but I'm sure we'll think of something. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that this isn't the sort of problem that can't be remedied, only prevented. Had speedometers and speed limits never been invented, I think we would be better off, but I think it's a practical impossibility to remove them now that we're all so accustomed to them; it would be a very hard transition.

I wish I could think of more examples of arbitrary quantifications that rule our lives unnecessarily, but that's all I've got for now.