Humanity is overrated

in #life5 years ago

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A few months ago I stumbled upon an article called "As a Pro Driver, I Refuse to Even Sit in a Self-Driving Car" on Medium, written by a person named "The Real Janine". I wanted to talk about it a little bit here, because I have a different way of looking at self driving cars than her. Besides, here I have a bigger following than on Medium, so more people can see what I have to say.

I'm not sure if you can read the article unless you have a Medium account, but if you can, read it. For those who aren't interested, I'm gonna make a short summary of what Janine is saying in the article.

Basically, she's a pro driver, and from the way she talks about driving, I believe her. She explains a few unpleasant situations that were avoided because she was driving, because of her reflexes and because she was able to make split-second choices that saved her and maybe even her family.

Good for her. I'm glad there are people like her who are driving on the street, who are careful and who have the ability to focus on the thing they are doing for more than a few minutes. If all the drivers in the world would be like her, I would actually be happy to drive a car myself.

However, one thing she does, one thing A LOT of people do, maybe too many, is forget about one factor, the most important factor, the one responsible for most car crashes and accidents out there - human beings.

I see this habit more and more, the habit of automatically believing that technology is evil, and that somehow, human beings are above it, above technology, above what technology can do. Too many people live under the impression that other humans are just as good, just as well intended and just as smart as them, and they will always make the right choices to make the world a better place.

In this case, Janine probably thinks that most drivers can be as good and as careful as her, which is simply wrong.

The main thing she doesn't mention in this article is how most accidents that happen on the road, happen because of the stupidity of other people. She talks about one time when a six-foot roll of wire fencing fell off the truck in front of her in the middle of the road, and how she, using her fast reflexes, managed to avoid it. She also talks about a situation when a car in front of her lost a wheel (not the tire, but the wheel), and she had to avoid that wheel that was bouncing towards her.

I'm glad she was capable of handling those situations. However, she's only mentioning accidents that can happen regardless of whether a person is careful or not. She has another example, talking about what would happen if a kid, a dog and a ball would jump in front of a self driving car, and if the car would be capable of stopping at the right time, or choose whether to hit the kid and the dog, or hit another car. Good example, although why wasn't the parent careful enough to not let the kid play close to the street?

Anyway, what about drivers who are drunk? What about drivers who use their phones while driving? What about drivers who don't pay attention to the road, and instead kiss their girlfriends or boyfriends, or are talking to their friends in the back? What about those who drive after they smoked weed, or took any other type of drug?

Those aren't rare examples that you happen to hear about on the news once in a while. There are A LOT of drunk people who drive cars, there are A LOT of people who use their phones while driving, A LOT of people who pay attention to their friends instead of the road, and so on.

All those accidents that happen are because of those people. Why blame external factors like technology, or a phone, for the fact that the idiot who's driving decided it was a better idea to look at the phone instead of focusing on the road? When I drive, even if I rarely do it, and my phone is ringing, I either don't answer, or I find a place to park my car and only then I look at the phone.

Sadly, most people don't do that. Most people don't give a shit about other drivers. Most people care about themselves, and their comfort. If they can use their phones while driving, then fuck other people. If a drunk person can drive, then fuck other people.

People are selfish and, most importantly, stupid. Humanity is overrated in so many ways, and for whatever reason, we assume that most people will do the right thing. That's wrong. SOME people will do the right thing, and in a lot of situations, those people will suffer a lot of consequences because of the mistakes of idiots who don't give a shit about what's right.

To be honest, I would rather live in a world where self driving cars are the only cars available to the majority of people, a world where only those who are skilled and responsible, like Janine, are allowed to drive cars that are not self driving.

Why?

Because I'd rather know that there's a system that detects whether you're drunk or not, and will not allow you to drive if you are. Instead, the car will.

I'd rather know that a self driving car will NOT go over the speed limit, especially near schools and hospitals, because that's how they are programmed, than to rely on a 20 years old to be responsible and careful.

I'd rather know that a person who cannot for some reason put that stupid phone down is not in control of a car. I'd feel safer on the street if a self driving car would drive such a stupid person instead of trusting that guy or girl to pay attention.

Humanity is overrated.

If you are one of those responsible, skilled and good people, great, I admire you, but it doesn't mean other people are as well. It would be great, but that's not how the world is.

The world is full of selfish, stupid and ignorant people, who don't give a crap about you or any other person. That's why you see accidents happening because one driver was drunk, or because one driver was not paying attention.

I'm not saying we should replace normal cars with self driving cars right now. The technology is not good enough. We should wait a lot longer to do that.

However, assuming everyone is responsible just because you are, or just because they should be, is bad. I'm not driving even though I have a license not because I think I couldn't be responsible, but because I don't believe others can be, and I'd rather not risk dying on the road because an idiot decided it's cool to drink and drive.

The simple fact that you think humans should be great and careful and responsible doesn't mean they actually are. Being an optimist and seeing the "good" in people doesn't help with anything. It won't reduce car accidents and deaths on the road. Facts help a lot better than optimism in this kind of situation.

Start taking stupid people into consideration when trying to make humanity responsible for all kind of things, be it cars, guns, drugs, and so on. It's not the stupid people we should be afraid for. We should be afraid of what could happen to innocent and good people who will have to deal with all kind of consequences because of the actions of those who are simply stupid.

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ǝɹǝɥ sɐʍ ɹoʇɐɹnƆ pɐW ǝɥ┴

Thank you for the support!

I love driving my car and I would be very sad if I couldn't drive it anymore. I can say that I am a responsible driver and I always drive careful especially in the city. But I must admit that the things that I've seen on the road amaze me and makes me angry at the same time. Some people really drive like stupid and very often I wonder how these kind of drivers could get their drivers license. In such cases I would welcome if these people would have to return their licenses and would have to drive in the self-driving cars only. I am certain that there would be less accidents and that the roads would become safer.

I think this is a topic that will always be part of different discussions as people feel like they are losing control with such technology..

Some people deserve to lose control, at least if their actions could endanger other people.

People who are really responsible when they drive, should be allowed to drive. Those who aren't, shouldn't be allowed to.

I got my driver's license a few years ago, but I didn't drive a lot after that, unless necessary. I cannot deal with people who aren't as careful as I am, especially when it comes to something as dangerous as driving, and I would hate to get in some kind of trouble because of a mistake someone else made.

It's really sad to see how many people drink and drive, how many people use their phones while driving and how many people simply pay attention to something else on the road, yet how many people on TV are eager to blame self driving cars for literally anything.

Too many people are too stupid to realize that the world is the way it is because of us. I have a hard time thinking about a popular problem that is affecting our life, one that wasn't created by us.

Still, we're quick to blame anything that isn't human, anything that could do what we do a lot better.

Self driving cars would not let drunk people drive. Self driving cars would not let people who use their phones drive. Self driving cars would not let people who cannot focus drive.

The technology isn't evolved enough to replace humans on the roads, at least yet, but I hope that one day it will. Until then, there will still be hundreds if not thousands of car crashes all around the world, with God knows how many people dying, because of idiots who cannot be responsible enough.

I do agree with you. Roads are become more and more dangerous. Sometimes I'm really afraid to end up in an accident due to someone else's stupidity. But I just love driving too much and it's the best kind of relax for me. When I drive, I focus only on driving and I forget all my problems and concerns. This is how I clear my head.

But I wish too that there would be technology that would decide if you're suitable to drive or not. I know people driving after drinking a beer or two.. I personally could not do it, never. I am too responsible and I would probably not fall asleep ever again if I would ever cause an accident..

If only more people would be so careful, self driving cars would be nothing but a commodity, not something that we may actually need to reduce accidents on the road.

yeah I have to admit I kind of chuckle whenever a news story covers a self-driving car that got in a wreck. ummm... there are countless regular human driven car wrecks every day, every minute probably, that don't even register because it is just so commonplace. I would be fine with eliminating all human driving, although actually I hope we move farther and farther away from automobiles for personal transport anyway.

It's been... 11 hours when I'm writing this reply, since you wrote the comment (sorry it took me so long to respond).

Since you left the comment, probably hundreds of car crashes happened around the world, and God knows how many people died.

How many of them will be mentioned on the news? Not all, I'm sure of that.

However, if only one single self driving car would've been involved in any possible way in a car crash, the news in the entire world will be talking about it.

It's just the world we live in. We put our trust in humans despite the fact that most things that are wrong in this world, are the way they are because of humans.

I don't know if I'd be okay with removing automobiles completely, since they are useful for some people, especially those who live far away from work and may need to drive there, or for those who have kids with far away schools.

But I think there's a problem in allowing absolutely everyone to get a car nowadays. Why would a 20 years old with no responsibilities need a car, especially if he/she can't be responsible?

I get why people who go to work and need to get there fast and safe may need a car, but not everyone is in that kind of situation. Still, everyone can buy a vehicle, no matter how irresponsible they are, and they will, at some point, endanger other people.

I'd rather see the world be filled with self driving cars that will not allow the driver to take control, this way making sure that the driver will not break ANY rule, than to trust people that they will do the right thing.

Until that happens, I guess I'm gonna stay as far away from driving as possible. I'll do it only in case of an emergency. I'd rather not risk being involved in a car crash because of some idiot who decided it's cool to drive fast in a place where that's illegal.

People that think their posts deserve $$$ pay out for sharing content that they like and never created themselves are one of those examples. They get defensive when you take a few cents over an overvalued post. :>

Exactly, those kind of people are everywhere, and it kinda annoys me when decent people think that by having a positive "everyone is awesome!" attitude they will solve anything.

Whatever we do, and whatever we decide to do in the future, related to pretty much anything, we always need to take stupid people into consideration. Otherwise, we can easily get trapped in situations we'd rather avoid.

For example, as you said, creating a platform like Steemit while not considering the fact that stupid people may try to abuse it to make some money with crap content.

Or, creating a platform like Tumblr without assuming that people may just use it for porn instead of sharing cute little photos of cats playing.

Or, assuming that self driving cars are evil just because there are not humans driving them, when those same humans some people consider to be "good and with great intentions" are the ones causing almost all the accidents.

I guess this is just the nature of most human beings - it's a lot easier to blame everything else, no matter what, than to think for even a second that we are where we are because of our mistakes.

Nailed it. I am a pretty careful drivers myself but it isn't even about the me me me, I think I sometimes think about the elderlies or the disabled and the self-driving cars offer a whole new world to them, and so bring it on.

Thanks for a very thoughtful article :) You are right that humans are selfish and stupid and we should not really regard ourselves so high as to think that all technology is inferior to us somehow.

There are a lot of careful drivers in this world, and I'm happy because of that. However, the ones who are not, are the problem, and they are the reasons accidents happen.

Self driving cars won't only help those you mentioned, people with disabilities or old people who cannot drive well because of some disease or because they simply cannot see properly any more, but they will also prevent accidents from happening, especially if the driver will not be able to take control.

I'm not suggesting we should replace everything with technology. However, why let people who cannot be responsible enough do things that will endanger others, when you can simply put technology in charge and maybe avoid future problems?

There may still be accidents and all kind of problems, sure, but if half of those who would normally drive drunk wouldn't be able to, because of a self driving car who wouldn't allow him to do it, then hundreds or even thousands of accidents could avoided.

I'm dreaming of the day that self-driving cars are more of a thing. I'm hoping there will be provisional licenses for people that may traditionally be denied the right to drive. I can drive, but it wouldn't be responsible or right.

I'm really dreaming of when there are self-driving RVs. It'd be so cool to set course for a destination & have life continue on in the home until I arrive at a new adventure. That could be an agoraphobic fantasy though & not for the masses. 😊

As out there as it seems, I thought we'd have personalized space ships by now or be living in the clouds...

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Technology will probably advance that far in the future, but it will take some time for us to get there. It may be in 30 or 40 years, but we'll eventually have all those things. Hopefully going out will be a lot safer than it is today, at least when it comes to driving.


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Thank you very much, I really appreciate it! :)

See this everywhere.

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