1 00:00:03,120 --> 00:00:06,000 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind from how Stuff 2 00:00:06,000 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: Works dot com. Hey, welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind. 3 00:00:13,320 --> 00:00:16,279 Speaker 1: My name is Robert Lamb and Julie Douglas. Julie, you 4 00:00:16,440 --> 00:00:18,560 Speaker 1: drive a car, right I do? Do you drive one 5 00:00:18,600 --> 00:00:21,440 Speaker 1: here today? I did? I drove one as well? Did you? 6 00:00:22,079 --> 00:00:25,520 Speaker 1: Did you cut anybody off? That's all over the place, 7 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:30,400 Speaker 1: Hankins throwing up that middle finger. Um, you know, just 8 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,839 Speaker 1: generally creating mayhem where I could. Yeah, I mean, it's 9 00:00:33,880 --> 00:00:35,800 Speaker 1: what you gotta do. I only ran two people off 10 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 1: the road this morning. I'm limited myself, saving my my 11 00:00:40,240 --> 00:00:45,200 Speaker 1: energy for the podcast, you know. But yeah, of course 12 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:50,640 Speaker 1: we're talking about road rage today and really other indignities 13 00:00:50,680 --> 00:00:53,040 Speaker 1: of the road. Yeah, and there are no shortage of 14 00:00:53,080 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: them all getting aside. I mean, any any given drive 15 00:00:56,760 --> 00:01:00,279 Speaker 1: to work or to visit family, to run an air end. 16 00:01:00,720 --> 00:01:05,160 Speaker 1: You know, we all encounter aggressive drivers, We encounter people 17 00:01:05,200 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 1: who are maybe a little playing a littless attention to 18 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:09,360 Speaker 1: what's going on around them. There are no shortage of 19 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:13,119 Speaker 1: annoyances out there on America's road. Yeah. And the other 20 00:01:13,200 --> 00:01:15,679 Speaker 1: aspect of that is that cars give this this kind 21 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: of autonomy, right that we've talked about this before. Sometimes 22 00:01:18,720 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 1: it makes it seem as though just because we're encased 23 00:01:22,840 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 1: in this metal box, were invisible to others. I e. 24 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:28,360 Speaker 1: We see a lot of picking of the noses. I 25 00:01:28,400 --> 00:01:33,280 Speaker 1: saw that this morning, did vaping, right, That's I've seen 26 00:01:33,319 --> 00:01:35,440 Speaker 1: done a couple of times. Or I I can see 27 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:37,360 Speaker 1: you with your with your vapories are there? Well, I 28 00:01:37,360 --> 00:01:41,160 Speaker 1: mean that could be legal vaping materials or not. But 29 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 1: but I have not I have not seen that myself. Well. 30 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:47,480 Speaker 1: I wanted to throw out this statistic from John Cesana's 31 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 1: writing Forwards Auto. He said that the number of vehicles 32 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:54,840 Speaker 1: in operation worldwide surpassed the one billion unit mark in 33 00:01:54,880 --> 00:01:58,080 Speaker 1: two thousand and ten for the first time ever. We 34 00:01:58,200 --> 00:02:02,280 Speaker 1: also know that the volume of vehicles has increased by 35 00:02:02,320 --> 00:02:07,280 Speaker 1: thirty five percent since n and yet the actual networks 36 00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:10,760 Speaker 1: road networks to support those cars has increased by only 37 00:02:10,800 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: one So more people on the roads, uh, more cars? 38 00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,920 Speaker 1: What could go wrong? Yeah? What could possibly go wrong 39 00:02:18,960 --> 00:02:22,839 Speaker 1: with the scenario with nice, level headed people driving there, 40 00:02:23,840 --> 00:02:27,960 Speaker 1: gigantic killing machines down there down the highway in mass Well, 41 00:02:28,000 --> 00:02:32,160 Speaker 1: a little something called road rage. Um, it just happens 42 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,480 Speaker 1: to be one of the responses in a group of 43 00:02:34,560 --> 00:02:41,160 Speaker 1: outbursts known as intermittent explosive disorder, which almost sounds like device, 44 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:45,640 Speaker 1: right yeah, um, And it's very similar to that because 45 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:49,520 Speaker 1: in with this kind of disorder you have repeated episodes 46 00:02:49,600 --> 00:02:54,880 Speaker 1: of impulsive, aggressive, violent behavior or angry verbal outbursts in 47 00:02:54,919 --> 00:02:59,480 Speaker 1: which you react really grossly out of proportion to the 48 00:02:59,520 --> 00:03:02,799 Speaker 1: situation and at hand. So it's not just road rage. 49 00:03:02,840 --> 00:03:07,880 Speaker 1: You have examples of domestic abuse, um, throwing or breaking objects, 50 00:03:08,440 --> 00:03:12,200 Speaker 1: essentially the sort of adult temper cantrum, but more in 51 00:03:12,280 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: a disorder fashion, meaning there's some really very real conditions 52 00:03:17,400 --> 00:03:20,440 Speaker 1: at play here when the person is engaging in this behavior. 53 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:25,000 Speaker 1: And according to Randy and Laurie Sansone in their article 54 00:03:25,320 --> 00:03:28,880 Speaker 1: road Rage, What's Driving It, which was published in the 55 00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:31,679 Speaker 1: two thousand and ten July edition of the Journal Psychiatry, 56 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:37,720 Speaker 1: Quote road rage may be described as a constellation of thoughts, emotions, 57 00:03:37,760 --> 00:03:41,680 Speaker 1: and behaviors that occur in response to a perceived unjustified 58 00:03:42,040 --> 00:03:46,240 Speaker 1: provocation while driving. And road rage may also be defined 59 00:03:46,280 --> 00:03:50,520 Speaker 1: as those driving behaviors that endanger or potentially endanger others 60 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,280 Speaker 1: and are accompanied by intentional acts of aggression toward others, 61 00:03:54,760 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: negative emotions while driving, and risk taking. So road rage 62 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:01,480 Speaker 1: just those things that's been out there in the media 63 00:04:01,520 --> 00:04:04,119 Speaker 1: for a long time, and not everybody has this very 64 00:04:04,240 --> 00:04:07,200 Speaker 1: clear cut definition about what it is. But I thought 65 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:09,840 Speaker 1: the sense Owns did a great job of defining it 66 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:13,600 Speaker 1: in that context. Yeah, it's it's easy to sort is 67 00:04:13,680 --> 00:04:16,839 Speaker 1: you're driving and dealing with difficult drivers, it's easy to 68 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:19,760 Speaker 1: just sort of throw road rage out there as a 69 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:24,000 Speaker 1: as as an accusation against any perceived slight. Um. I 70 00:04:24,040 --> 00:04:26,200 Speaker 1: think I've I've in my own experience, I think I've 71 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:29,160 Speaker 1: thought in terms of road rage when someone has just 72 00:04:29,200 --> 00:04:33,480 Speaker 1: been clearly driving angrily. Uh. But that's a rather different 73 00:04:33,480 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: thing than say, the time a guy got out of 74 00:04:35,760 --> 00:04:38,159 Speaker 1: his truck and a standstill and like walked up to 75 00:04:38,240 --> 00:04:42,680 Speaker 1: my windshield and was it was gesturing at me like 76 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:43,760 Speaker 1: he wanted me to get out of a car and 77 00:04:43,800 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 1: fight him or something. You know, did you no, no, no, 78 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:49,800 Speaker 1: But the interesting thing was like just kidding, like what 79 00:04:50,040 --> 00:04:53,800 Speaker 1: you didn't? Yeah, we we've got out our sabers. And 80 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: when I know it was it was like a really 81 00:04:55,760 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: crazy situation because he like stands in front my wind 82 00:04:58,760 --> 00:04:59,960 Speaker 1: shot and I look up and of course I've just 83 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:04,000 Speaker 1: like wide eyed and appalled, I guess, and like that 84 00:05:04,160 --> 00:05:06,960 Speaker 1: kind of took like that, that took him down like that, 85 00:05:07,040 --> 00:05:09,240 Speaker 1: just the anger sort of washed out of his face 86 00:05:09,279 --> 00:05:12,120 Speaker 1: and he walked back to his giant truck. There you go, 87 00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:16,239 Speaker 1: little advice, inadvertent advice from you. Yeah, you don't fight 88 00:05:16,440 --> 00:05:20,960 Speaker 1: the road ranger, um, if at all possible. So road rage, yes, 89 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:22,760 Speaker 1: you're right, has become a catch all term, and we'll 90 00:05:22,760 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 1: talk more specifically about that. But when we talk about 91 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:30,919 Speaker 1: this idea of road rage, or maybe road aggression is 92 00:05:30,960 --> 00:05:35,280 Speaker 1: the better term, what are the conditions that are set forth? Well, 93 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:37,400 Speaker 1: obviously there's plenty of stuff out there on the road 94 00:05:37,440 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: to ignite you. Right, you have old people that are 95 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:42,240 Speaker 1: driving too slow, young people driving too fast. You've got 96 00:05:42,279 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 1: cops lurking like sharks to prey upon our our school 97 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:47,440 Speaker 1: of metal fish as we go down the highway. That's 98 00:05:47,480 --> 00:05:48,839 Speaker 1: what I always feel like. I feel like I'm an 99 00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:51,240 Speaker 1: animal in a herd, or school fish in a school 100 00:05:51,240 --> 00:05:53,560 Speaker 1: of fish. Yeah, shooting fish in a barrel. Right, Yeah, 101 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:55,560 Speaker 1: there's safety in the herd. But that shark is going 102 00:05:55,640 --> 00:05:57,320 Speaker 1: to eat some of us. I just know it is. 103 00:05:57,440 --> 00:06:00,440 Speaker 1: Then you've got sudden stops installed due to traffic, wreck death, 104 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: rubber necking pets, wild animals running across the road, the weather, 105 00:06:04,680 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: solar issues, the sun shining in your eyes, goes on 106 00:06:07,800 --> 00:06:10,839 Speaker 1: and on. But the classic example, the big one, right 107 00:06:11,240 --> 00:06:13,599 Speaker 1: is the cut off. Somebody cuts you off, or you 108 00:06:13,600 --> 00:06:16,719 Speaker 1: cut off somebody else, and then you it's like in 109 00:06:16,720 --> 00:06:20,120 Speaker 1: a direct affront to some people, Right, you have invaded 110 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:22,320 Speaker 1: my space. You're trying to take me down a notch 111 00:06:22,760 --> 00:06:27,159 Speaker 1: in society. People get super mad about this. Uh people, 112 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:29,120 Speaker 1: I mean this, this is this is one of the 113 00:06:29,160 --> 00:06:32,280 Speaker 1: scenarios more than any that seems to result in violence. Well, 114 00:06:32,440 --> 00:06:35,159 Speaker 1: especially the cutting off, Like that's the number one infraction 115 00:06:35,279 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: that people have a problem with. The honking. Yeah, we 116 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:39,680 Speaker 1: can all sort of deal with that, but if someone 117 00:06:39,960 --> 00:06:43,080 Speaker 1: actually cuts you off, then they're getting into your personal 118 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:47,320 Speaker 1: space and that's risky behavior, right, They're involving you in 119 00:06:47,320 --> 00:06:50,560 Speaker 1: a potential accident. So what happens in the brain when 120 00:06:50,560 --> 00:06:54,760 Speaker 1: this happens? When when when an individual does become enraged 121 00:06:54,800 --> 00:06:57,839 Speaker 1: after being cut off, Well, first of all, stress hormone 122 00:06:57,880 --> 00:07:02,960 Speaker 1: cortisol rushes through your blood stream, upping your blood pressure. Okay, Next, 123 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:06,320 Speaker 1: adrenaline kicks in to heighten your aggression. While the feel 124 00:07:06,360 --> 00:07:11,560 Speaker 1: good serotonin drops and dopamine increases, so your emotional intelligence 125 00:07:11,760 --> 00:07:15,680 Speaker 1: decreases in your body is now posed for flight or fight. 126 00:07:16,120 --> 00:07:18,200 Speaker 1: But of course you're in this metal vehicle. You're locked 127 00:07:18,240 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: away this this individual will just pulled in front of you. 128 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: Flying away fleeing is not really an option, so your 129 00:07:24,840 --> 00:07:27,560 Speaker 1: body ends up going into war mode. Right And on 130 00:07:27,600 --> 00:07:30,800 Speaker 1: top of that, we may be actually hardwired as humans 131 00:07:30,800 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: to act more aggressively in crowds, which translates to that 132 00:07:34,680 --> 00:07:37,920 Speaker 1: metal herd that we find ourselves locked inside. Off. Now, again, 133 00:07:37,920 --> 00:07:40,680 Speaker 1: this isn't everybody. Not everybody's having this response to being 134 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:44,320 Speaker 1: cut off or any other infraction out there on the road. Uh, 135 00:07:44,720 --> 00:07:47,120 Speaker 1: but it may lead you to ask who's actually perpetrating 136 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,680 Speaker 1: all of this. According to a two thousand ten study 137 00:07:50,920 --> 00:07:54,640 Speaker 1: road Rage, What's Driving It published in the journal Psychiatry, 138 00:07:54,760 --> 00:07:58,720 Speaker 1: we're mostly looking at young males as the primary perpetrators here, 139 00:07:58,760 --> 00:08:01,400 Speaker 1: but there are a number of additional variables that play 140 00:08:01,480 --> 00:08:04,800 Speaker 1: into all of this. Okay, First of all, their environmental, 141 00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:08,400 Speaker 1: non psychological factors. So you have to ask questions about 142 00:08:08,400 --> 00:08:11,320 Speaker 1: your potential road ranger. Are they driving an excessive number 143 00:08:11,360 --> 00:08:13,720 Speaker 1: of miles per day? You know, is it their job 144 00:08:13,760 --> 00:08:16,240 Speaker 1: to drive across country all the time? Are they driving 145 00:08:16,280 --> 00:08:19,200 Speaker 1: busy roads? Are they driving crowded roads? Are they packing 146 00:08:19,240 --> 00:08:22,560 Speaker 1: a firearm? Do they feel anonymous in their vehicle and 147 00:08:22,560 --> 00:08:26,640 Speaker 1: therefore cut off from any kind of judgment or perceptions 148 00:08:26,640 --> 00:08:31,400 Speaker 1: about what they're doing? Um? Is their aggressive environmental stimuli 149 00:08:31,560 --> 00:08:33,880 Speaker 1: in the form of billboards or other sciences. That's another 150 00:08:33,880 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: factor that was mentioned here. And I can't help but 151 00:08:36,080 --> 00:08:41,040 Speaker 1: think that music falls into this area as well. Uh, which, 152 00:08:41,040 --> 00:08:44,000 Speaker 1: of course we're talking about the Flight of the Valkyries, right, 153 00:08:44,080 --> 00:08:47,839 Speaker 1: the most dangerous song in the world. Yeah, just starting 154 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:50,120 Speaker 1: to science. Yeah, it just gets you revved up. You 155 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:53,840 Speaker 1: start thinking about flying valkyries and your love for for Wagner. 156 00:08:54,480 --> 00:08:56,560 Speaker 1: But yeah, just another bit of environmental stimula that can 157 00:08:56,640 --> 00:08:59,000 Speaker 1: sort of tip the scales. Right On top of that, 158 00:08:59,160 --> 00:09:02,120 Speaker 1: you also have psych i logical factors that contribute to 159 00:09:02,160 --> 00:09:06,160 Speaker 1: a general tendency to displace anger and blame others. They 160 00:09:06,160 --> 00:09:10,240 Speaker 1: also factored in unrewarding or stressful employment situations as well 161 00:09:10,280 --> 00:09:13,720 Speaker 1: as just the overall stress of modern urban living. And 162 00:09:13,760 --> 00:09:17,680 Speaker 1: then finally, you have bona fide psychiatric disorders to consider here, 163 00:09:17,760 --> 00:09:22,920 Speaker 1: especially alcohol and drug addiction. Anxiety, depression, and anti social 164 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:28,640 Speaker 1: personality disorder. Okay, so the statistical reality of this is 165 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:34,280 Speaker 1: very different from what the perception I think is. So 166 00:09:34,400 --> 00:09:36,320 Speaker 1: let's delve into that a little bit. Again. This is 167 00:09:36,320 --> 00:09:40,360 Speaker 1: from sense own study road rage, what's driving it. According 168 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,560 Speaker 1: to the findings of a Canadian telephone survey of more 169 00:09:43,720 --> 00:09:49,640 Speaker 1: than people, thirty one seven percent reported shouting or cursing 170 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:54,400 Speaker 1: at another driver and two point one percent reported threatening 171 00:09:54,440 --> 00:09:57,520 Speaker 1: to hurt someone or damage a vehicle. Now, again two 172 00:09:57,679 --> 00:10:00,679 Speaker 1: very different reactions. One is an imp I threatened, one 173 00:10:00,760 --> 00:10:04,400 Speaker 1: is an actual threat. And then in another Canadian study 174 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:08,760 Speaker 1: of more than twenty adults, the twelvemonth prevalence rate for 175 00:10:08,920 --> 00:10:13,360 Speaker 1: admittedly shouting at another driver was thirty two and then 176 00:10:13,440 --> 00:10:16,720 Speaker 1: threatening another driver was one point seven percent, and attempting 177 00:10:16,800 --> 00:10:21,560 Speaker 1: to damage or actually uh damage someone's vehicle was one 178 00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,720 Speaker 1: point zero percent. So again you're seeing some of these 179 00:10:24,720 --> 00:10:27,720 Speaker 1: statistics begin to line up. And what I'm talking about 180 00:10:27,760 --> 00:10:34,160 Speaker 1: here is the actual road rage behavior is hovering about 181 00:10:34,280 --> 00:10:38,200 Speaker 1: two percent um. Another study that the Sinsons looked at 182 00:10:38,520 --> 00:10:43,240 Speaker 1: was of dred adults, and they found out about one 183 00:10:43,280 --> 00:10:46,760 Speaker 1: third of community drivers engaged in aggressive behavior toward another 184 00:10:46,880 --> 00:10:49,719 Speaker 1: driver while on the road, but far fewer. Again we're 185 00:10:49,720 --> 00:10:53,800 Speaker 1: talking about less than or at two percent actually reported 186 00:10:54,120 --> 00:10:57,800 Speaker 1: serious threatening behavior or damage to another person or vehicle. 187 00:10:57,960 --> 00:11:01,040 Speaker 1: So what does this data tell us. It tells us 188 00:11:01,120 --> 00:11:04,200 Speaker 1: that what most of us experience on the road is 189 00:11:04,280 --> 00:11:09,520 Speaker 1: really road aggression or road anger. It's not true road 190 00:11:09,600 --> 00:11:13,319 Speaker 1: rage where actual violence is involved, which again is hovering 191 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,520 Speaker 1: more at to just about two percent of the cases. 192 00:11:16,200 --> 00:11:18,640 Speaker 1: And so this sort of boils down to semantics and 193 00:11:18,679 --> 00:11:21,240 Speaker 1: this whole idea that we introduced earlier that it could 194 00:11:21,240 --> 00:11:24,959 Speaker 1: be a catch all phrase. So if someone's um flicking 195 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:27,199 Speaker 1: you off, that's mount road rage, but it could be 196 00:11:27,280 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: characterized as such by someone to whom the middle finger 197 00:11:31,320 --> 00:11:33,840 Speaker 1: was thrown at, right, yes, and it and it could 198 00:11:33,840 --> 00:11:36,560 Speaker 1: also easily set somebody off to say, get out of 199 00:11:36,559 --> 00:11:38,920 Speaker 1: their vehicle and stand by your car and challenge you 200 00:11:38,960 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: to a fight for the other person who actually is 201 00:11:41,160 --> 00:11:48,480 Speaker 1: about to have an intermittent explosive moment there. So the 202 00:11:48,520 --> 00:11:51,880 Speaker 1: reason I bring this up, the statistics or the reality 203 00:11:52,160 --> 00:11:55,760 Speaker 1: of it, is because you would think anybody who is 204 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:58,680 Speaker 1: living in the nineties would think that road rage was 205 00:11:58,720 --> 00:12:01,400 Speaker 1: happening all of the time, because this is what we 206 00:12:01,440 --> 00:12:05,079 Speaker 1: saw in the media. Yeah, it was quite the media sensation. 207 00:12:05,200 --> 00:12:08,280 Speaker 1: It was the new uh, the new just wonderful scare 208 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:14,319 Speaker 1: tactic headline, right, because of course, aggressive driving predates automobiles. 209 00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,120 Speaker 1: Even Britain's first speedway laws were enacted in the early 210 00:12:17,200 --> 00:12:20,160 Speaker 1: nineteenth century, in fact, to stop horse drawn carriages from 211 00:12:20,240 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: quote furious driving. You can be furious with just about anything. 212 00:12:24,280 --> 00:12:27,600 Speaker 1: I gonna give humans credit, right. But the phrase itself 213 00:12:28,040 --> 00:12:30,880 Speaker 1: road rage was actually coined in the late nineteen eighties 214 00:12:30,920 --> 00:12:33,840 Speaker 1: by newscasters at kt L A in Los Angeles, following 215 00:12:33,840 --> 00:12:37,719 Speaker 1: a series of very real freeway shootings. But it was 216 00:12:38,880 --> 00:12:41,800 Speaker 1: before road raide really picked up steam as a headline 217 00:12:41,920 --> 00:12:45,240 Speaker 1: stealing scare story. And it has, i mean has all 218 00:12:45,280 --> 00:12:47,960 Speaker 1: the elements, right, because it's this idea you're out there, 219 00:12:48,360 --> 00:12:50,839 Speaker 1: you're you're packed in with all these strangers, and then 220 00:12:50,920 --> 00:12:53,959 Speaker 1: somebody snaps, right, or somebody who just has its explosion 221 00:12:54,320 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: of anger with violent consequences. Yeah. And what's interesting about 222 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,679 Speaker 1: this is that you can go through a good analytics 223 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,320 Speaker 1: and you can do a search for road rage over 224 00:13:03,360 --> 00:13:06,400 Speaker 1: the past twenty years, you know, past fifteen years, and 225 00:13:07,280 --> 00:13:11,320 Speaker 1: get a good sense of how that that curve on 226 00:13:11,360 --> 00:13:14,920 Speaker 1: the graph going up really corresponds well to the mid 227 00:13:15,040 --> 00:13:19,400 Speaker 1: nineties when it was reaching it's apex right being reported, 228 00:13:19,440 --> 00:13:21,320 Speaker 1: and then you kind of see now where it's not 229 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:24,520 Speaker 1: as much of a concern, and yet the idea of 230 00:13:24,600 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: road rage, that it's pervasive is still in our minds. Yeah, 231 00:13:28,480 --> 00:13:32,160 Speaker 1: I mean it's it was almost a viral consistency to it. Uh. 232 00:13:32,280 --> 00:13:35,079 Speaker 1: And and the people were on the media talking about, Oh, well, 233 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:36,960 Speaker 1: what's what's causing it. Some people were saying, Oh, it's 234 00:13:36,960 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 1: political correctness, that's it's causing these explosions on the roadways, 235 00:13:40,360 --> 00:13:43,319 Speaker 1: or it's it's Hollywood car chases, or it's mad Max. 236 00:13:43,400 --> 00:13:47,840 Speaker 1: To the road Warrior specifically, that's making people drive like manias. 237 00:13:47,880 --> 00:13:50,200 Speaker 1: That though I've never heard of anyone throwing a grappling 238 00:13:50,240 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: hook out of the vehicle in l A traffic, but 239 00:13:53,920 --> 00:13:55,440 Speaker 1: but you think they would if they were inspired by 240 00:13:55,480 --> 00:13:59,280 Speaker 1: road wars uh. In article for The Atlantic titled road 241 00:13:59,400 --> 00:14:02,120 Speaker 1: Rage Versus Reality um, and this is a key a 242 00:14:02,200 --> 00:14:04,840 Speaker 1: key article that came out in the whole debate over 243 00:14:04,960 --> 00:14:09,440 Speaker 1: over road rage, Michael of Fimento debunked handful of studies 244 00:14:09,440 --> 00:14:12,120 Speaker 1: and polls they were really supporting the notion of road 245 00:14:12,200 --> 00:14:14,760 Speaker 1: rage at the time, and he argued that road rage 246 00:14:15,040 --> 00:14:17,760 Speaker 1: was just an excessively broad term that was applied to 247 00:14:17,800 --> 00:14:21,600 Speaker 1: a variety of violent situations, and it was ultimately detrimental 248 00:14:21,640 --> 00:14:25,400 Speaker 1: because it also allowed us to ignore behaviors, actual behaviors, 249 00:14:25,400 --> 00:14:29,280 Speaker 1: and actual situations that were causing accidents, such as one 250 00:14:29,280 --> 00:14:31,960 Speaker 1: example that he brings up is people running red lights. 251 00:14:32,400 --> 00:14:35,480 Speaker 1: That's a dangerous scenario that can result in and crashes 252 00:14:35,520 --> 00:14:38,400 Speaker 1: and fatalities. But it's also a problem that has been 253 00:14:38,400 --> 00:14:41,840 Speaker 1: successfully treated with with stoplight cameras in many areas. But 254 00:14:41,920 --> 00:14:46,120 Speaker 1: that's not nearly as sensational a concept as you know, 255 00:14:46,160 --> 00:14:48,920 Speaker 1: the be steel nature of of the human rising up 256 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:51,680 Speaker 1: in your little car out there on the highway. It does. 257 00:14:51,800 --> 00:14:55,160 Speaker 1: It doesn't sell papers, No, it doesn't write the human 258 00:14:55,200 --> 00:14:59,440 Speaker 1: barbarian and tattered clothing speeding towards you. The reality of 259 00:14:59,480 --> 00:15:02,920 Speaker 1: it is that when road rage does happen, or even 260 00:15:02,960 --> 00:15:06,640 Speaker 1: aggressive driving, when it does happen, it happens in some 261 00:15:06,960 --> 00:15:13,440 Speaker 1: really like boring grid lack traffic scenarios when someone has 262 00:15:13,480 --> 00:15:17,200 Speaker 1: been marinating and say like a two hour long traffic 263 00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:21,320 Speaker 1: gridlock situation, that's when you see tempers flare. Yeah, and 264 00:15:21,360 --> 00:15:24,200 Speaker 1: I do want to mention, there's not a single traffic 265 00:15:24,280 --> 00:15:28,280 Speaker 1: jam scene in Road Warior. It's all it's all constant motion. 266 00:15:28,640 --> 00:15:31,560 Speaker 1: There's no bumper to bupper traffic in that film. Yeah, 267 00:15:31,560 --> 00:15:34,600 Speaker 1: because if it, if it were, that would be an 268 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:39,040 Speaker 1: entirely different movie, right, but the sort of post apocalyptic 269 00:15:39,120 --> 00:15:41,960 Speaker 1: circumstances would not have occurred. Yeah. I would like to 270 00:15:41,960 --> 00:15:44,560 Speaker 1: see a post apocalyptic traffic jam film. That would be good. 271 00:15:45,080 --> 00:15:48,040 Speaker 1: All right, someone's working on it. All right. We're going 272 00:15:48,120 --> 00:15:52,800 Speaker 1: to talk about the territorial markings that we make with 273 00:15:52,840 --> 00:15:54,880 Speaker 1: our cars and what we do to our cars and 274 00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,440 Speaker 1: what that says about us when we have, say a 275 00:15:57,440 --> 00:16:01,280 Speaker 1: bumper sticker. Indeed, you do see a bupper sticker scenario 276 00:16:01,320 --> 00:16:03,640 Speaker 1: out on the road. Is rather interesting because you see 277 00:16:03,640 --> 00:16:06,800 Speaker 1: that the cars without completely just completely devoid of stickers, 278 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,680 Speaker 1: and you have the ones with a sprinkling and then 279 00:16:08,680 --> 00:16:13,720 Speaker 1: they're the ones where every political or social or music 280 00:16:13,800 --> 00:16:16,520 Speaker 1: related interest that I have will be represented on the 281 00:16:16,520 --> 00:16:20,640 Speaker 1: rear of my vehicle. Yeah, And I just want to 282 00:16:20,680 --> 00:16:24,440 Speaker 1: mention this. In passing, one of the strangest personalized license 283 00:16:24,560 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: plates I've ever seen was on like r X seven, 284 00:16:27,920 --> 00:16:30,280 Speaker 1: you know, kind of a sporty car driven by a guy, 285 00:16:30,760 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: and it said whacking it, whacking it, whack it like 286 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,400 Speaker 1: like whackamobile. I will leave the interpretation up to you guys. 287 00:16:38,480 --> 00:16:40,360 Speaker 1: Maybe he was the inventor of whackamole and that's how 288 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:43,960 Speaker 1: he made his fortune and purchase that automobile. Maybe, but 289 00:16:44,040 --> 00:16:46,360 Speaker 1: the fact that he had a personalized license plate tells 290 00:16:46,440 --> 00:16:48,520 Speaker 1: us a little bit something about him. And the reason 291 00:16:48,560 --> 00:16:50,000 Speaker 1: we know this is because we were looking at a 292 00:16:50,040 --> 00:16:53,520 Speaker 1: two thousand and eight Colorado State University study by social 293 00:16:53,640 --> 00:16:57,800 Speaker 1: psychologist William Salimco, who wanted to see if drivers of 294 00:16:57,880 --> 00:17:02,840 Speaker 1: cars with these kind of ornament right bumper stickers, window decals, 295 00:17:02,880 --> 00:17:07,040 Speaker 1: personalized license plates, and other sort of territorial markers, if 296 00:17:07,040 --> 00:17:09,320 Speaker 1: they not only get mad when someone cuts in their 297 00:17:09,400 --> 00:17:12,920 Speaker 1: lane or is slow to respond to a change traffic light, 298 00:17:13,200 --> 00:17:15,520 Speaker 1: if these people are more likely than those who do 299 00:17:15,640 --> 00:17:20,040 Speaker 1: not personalize their cars to use their vehicles to express 300 00:17:20,119 --> 00:17:27,560 Speaker 1: aggressive driving behavior. So again, aggressive driving behavior could be tailgating, honking, 301 00:17:28,200 --> 00:17:30,800 Speaker 1: you know, just the other random stuff, you know, flicking 302 00:17:30,840 --> 00:17:35,840 Speaker 1: someone off. So participants were asked to describe the value 303 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 1: and condition of their cars, as well as whether they 304 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:42,440 Speaker 1: had personalized them in any way, and the researchers would record, 305 00:17:42,880 --> 00:17:45,520 Speaker 1: you know, if they had seat covers, bumper stickers, special 306 00:17:45,720 --> 00:17:51,919 Speaker 1: special paint jobs, stereos, or even plastic dashboard toys, and 307 00:17:51,960 --> 00:17:55,680 Speaker 1: then they asked them a bunch of questions about their 308 00:17:55,760 --> 00:17:59,600 Speaker 1: driving and so to keep the participants from realizing what 309 00:17:59,640 --> 00:18:02,239 Speaker 1: the team was getting it, they put in some you know, 310 00:18:02,320 --> 00:18:04,760 Speaker 1: fake questions like hey, what kind of music do you 311 00:18:04,840 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 1: listen to in the car, along with questions like if 312 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:10,679 Speaker 1: someone is driving slow in the fast lane, how angry 313 00:18:10,720 --> 00:18:13,919 Speaker 1: does this make you? And they used a pre existing 314 00:18:14,080 --> 00:18:19,240 Speaker 1: scale called use a vehicle to express anger to ferret 315 00:18:19,280 --> 00:18:24,720 Speaker 1: out those participants who might use aggression while driving. So, 316 00:18:25,560 --> 00:18:28,520 Speaker 1: of course, people who had a larger number of personalized 317 00:18:28,520 --> 00:18:32,600 Speaker 1: items on or in their car were six more likely 318 00:18:32,640 --> 00:18:36,320 Speaker 1: to engage in anger fueled road behavior. That's not huge, 319 00:18:36,359 --> 00:18:40,600 Speaker 1: but that's significant. And so the other finding they had 320 00:18:40,720 --> 00:18:44,199 Speaker 1: is that when it came to bumper stickers, it didn't 321 00:18:44,240 --> 00:18:48,720 Speaker 1: matter if you had bumper sticker that said coexist or 322 00:18:48,840 --> 00:18:53,080 Speaker 1: world peace, or if you had I love guns. You 323 00:18:53,119 --> 00:18:56,520 Speaker 1: know it did the sentiment didn't matter. Just the fact 324 00:18:56,560 --> 00:19:00,639 Speaker 1: that you personalize your car mattered. Now it sounds like 325 00:19:00,680 --> 00:19:05,160 Speaker 1: the study came before putting testicles on your truck became 326 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:07,120 Speaker 1: a thing. So I guess we we sadly don't see 327 00:19:07,160 --> 00:19:10,080 Speaker 1: that represented in the data, although that would be in 328 00:19:10,440 --> 00:19:13,440 Speaker 1: that that would be under the umbrella of personalizing the car. Right, 329 00:19:13,600 --> 00:19:15,679 Speaker 1: So if you decide to hang a pair of metal 330 00:19:15,880 --> 00:19:20,040 Speaker 1: testicles on your car, you possibly could be in this 331 00:19:20,200 --> 00:19:25,719 Speaker 1: category of a higher degree of aggressive car behavior. So 332 00:19:25,760 --> 00:19:29,520 Speaker 1: the question then becomes why, why if you personalize your car, 333 00:19:29,600 --> 00:19:33,200 Speaker 1: why might you have drift more aggressively. Well, the idea 334 00:19:33,320 --> 00:19:36,760 Speaker 1: is that people carry around three kinds of territorial spaces 335 00:19:36,800 --> 00:19:42,119 Speaker 1: in their heads. One is personal territory like home or 336 00:19:42,160 --> 00:19:48,040 Speaker 1: your bedroom. The second involved space that's temporarily yours, say, 337 00:19:48,119 --> 00:19:51,920 Speaker 1: like an office cubicle or a gym locker, and then 338 00:19:51,960 --> 00:19:56,080 Speaker 1: the third is a kind of public territory, so park benches, 339 00:19:56,160 --> 00:20:00,959 Speaker 1: walking trails, and of course roads. So the idea is 340 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:04,240 Speaker 1: that you the more you personalize your car, the more 341 00:20:04,359 --> 00:20:08,240 Speaker 1: it's becoming this sort of territory that you're wielding in 342 00:20:08,280 --> 00:20:11,480 Speaker 1: these different spaces. Okay, yeah, and you can see that 343 00:20:11,560 --> 00:20:15,160 Speaker 1: sort of transform onto on the road into a situation 344 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,320 Speaker 1: of like, my space is this position on the road 345 00:20:18,680 --> 00:20:21,400 Speaker 1: that with a certain maintained space between vehicles a certain 346 00:20:21,440 --> 00:20:24,680 Speaker 1: maintained speed that I get to to keep on the road, 347 00:20:24,840 --> 00:20:27,320 Speaker 1: and if you infringe on any of those, you're infringing 348 00:20:27,359 --> 00:20:29,879 Speaker 1: on this space exactly. And of course it doesn't mean 349 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:31,399 Speaker 1: that if you have a bumper sticker or something or 350 00:20:31,520 --> 00:20:35,040 Speaker 1: dashboard that you're driving around recklessly. It's just this one 351 00:20:35,080 --> 00:20:38,360 Speaker 1: study just tells us a little bit of a statistic here, 352 00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:43,480 Speaker 1: sixteen percent more likely to engage in anger fueled antics. Now, 353 00:20:43,480 --> 00:20:47,600 Speaker 1: of course, another area in which we invest ourselves personally 354 00:20:47,760 --> 00:20:50,359 Speaker 1: in our in our automobiles and can get rather possessive 355 00:20:50,840 --> 00:20:54,199 Speaker 1: comes to parking spaces. And we've all encountered this, right. 356 00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:58,199 Speaker 1: What you're you're you're dropping by the by the grocery 357 00:20:58,200 --> 00:21:00,320 Speaker 1: store to pick up some things, right or uh, you 358 00:21:00,359 --> 00:21:02,520 Speaker 1: know coming in and out of work. Uh, the parking 359 00:21:02,520 --> 00:21:04,879 Speaker 1: lot is busy. Uh. You go in, you get what 360 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:06,800 Speaker 1: you need to do, you come out, you're going to leave. 361 00:21:06,840 --> 00:21:08,760 Speaker 1: You're pulling out of your parking place and there's somebody 362 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:13,520 Speaker 1: waiting on the parking place already, and this weird territorial 363 00:21:13,960 --> 00:21:16,400 Speaker 1: nature kicks in and it doesn't make any sense, right 364 00:21:16,440 --> 00:21:19,080 Speaker 1: because you're done with this place, You're about to go 365 00:21:19,160 --> 00:21:22,080 Speaker 1: home or go on to the next point on your timeline. 366 00:21:22,359 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 1: But instead, what do you do? You maybe linger a 367 00:21:24,560 --> 00:21:28,200 Speaker 1: little bit, maybe you you make some some evil eyes 368 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:30,480 Speaker 1: at the person that's waiting or even hawking for you 369 00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:36,840 Speaker 1: to move. Well. Study actually looked into this titled Territorial 370 00:21:37,000 --> 00:21:41,119 Speaker 1: defense in Parking Lots Retaliation against waiting Drivers, and they 371 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:44,080 Speaker 1: were just how possessive we get about those parking places, 372 00:21:44,280 --> 00:21:48,200 Speaker 1: demonstrating that drivers are territorial even when it runs completely 373 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,480 Speaker 1: contrary to the goal of leaving the flipping parking lot. 374 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:55,200 Speaker 1: So they conducted three studies here. In the first one 375 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:58,639 Speaker 1: that they observed two hundred departing cars, and they found 376 00:21:58,760 --> 00:22:01,760 Speaker 1: that intruded upon draw rivers took longer to leave a 377 00:22:01,840 --> 00:22:06,480 Speaker 1: space than non intruded upon drivers. So again, somebody's making 378 00:22:06,480 --> 00:22:08,760 Speaker 1: a visual sign of waiting and being a little grumpy 379 00:22:08,760 --> 00:22:11,840 Speaker 1: about you taking your time versus somebody that you don't 380 00:22:11,840 --> 00:22:15,879 Speaker 1: even notice. Right. Study to involved two forty drivers with 381 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:19,640 Speaker 1: a manipulated level of intrusion and status of intruding car, 382 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:22,080 Speaker 1: meaning is it a clunker that's waiting on you to 383 00:22:22,119 --> 00:22:24,800 Speaker 1: leave or is it, you know, somebody in a fancy 384 00:22:24,800 --> 00:22:28,720 Speaker 1: sports car. And they found that drivers took longer to 385 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:32,399 Speaker 1: leave when another car was present and when the intruder hanked. 386 00:22:32,840 --> 00:22:35,000 Speaker 1: So the hank is the kiss of death if you 387 00:22:35,080 --> 00:22:38,080 Speaker 1: really want them to give up that that that's parking space. 388 00:22:38,240 --> 00:22:41,800 Speaker 1: In short order, they also found that males left significantly 389 00:22:41,840 --> 00:22:45,000 Speaker 1: sooner when intruded upon by a higher rather than a 390 00:22:45,040 --> 00:22:49,040 Speaker 1: lower status car, but females departure time didn't differ as 391 00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:51,440 Speaker 1: a function of the status of the car. So to 392 00:22:51,560 --> 00:22:53,639 Speaker 1: the males it mattered, Oh, this is a big important 393 00:22:53,640 --> 00:22:56,439 Speaker 1: sports car waiting on me. I had better move, But 394 00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,959 Speaker 1: the females in this study didn't care. And finally, they 395 00:23:00,119 --> 00:23:03,520 Speaker 1: simply pulled individuals at them all uh and asked what 396 00:23:03,560 --> 00:23:05,199 Speaker 1: would they do if if they were pulling out and 397 00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,560 Speaker 1: somebody honked at them? And they found in the vast 398 00:23:07,600 --> 00:23:09,840 Speaker 1: majority of them said that they would take longer to 399 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:12,720 Speaker 1: leave if the driver of the car halked. I have 400 00:23:12,880 --> 00:23:15,880 Speaker 1: to say, the honking is sort of terrible, and um, 401 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:18,840 Speaker 1: I've done it before. I had to ask myself, like, 402 00:23:19,560 --> 00:23:23,119 Speaker 1: have I kind of uh waited around in my parking 403 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:26,679 Speaker 1: space before pulling out because someone was really impatient and 404 00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:29,120 Speaker 1: did that? And yes, because I think of myself as 405 00:23:29,240 --> 00:23:33,879 Speaker 1: an efficient egressor and enter of the car, and and 406 00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:37,119 Speaker 1: that this is something that I'm not usually, you know, 407 00:23:37,520 --> 00:23:40,680 Speaker 1: hanging out in my car and doing stuff. So it feels, 408 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:45,040 Speaker 1: you know, when someone does that, like terribly impatient. And 409 00:23:45,080 --> 00:23:47,560 Speaker 1: I remember once that I got in my car and 410 00:23:47,680 --> 00:23:50,879 Speaker 1: just sort of unwrapped a piece of Wriggley's gum for 411 00:23:50,960 --> 00:23:54,600 Speaker 1: a very long time before putting the car and reverts 412 00:23:55,320 --> 00:23:58,359 Speaker 1: because you do, it's like you're trying to exact some 413 00:23:58,480 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 1: sort of punishment or just just this is still my space. 414 00:24:02,040 --> 00:24:03,919 Speaker 1: This space is still mine for as long as I 415 00:24:04,000 --> 00:24:06,720 Speaker 1: want it, and you will wait your turn, Honker. It's right, 416 00:24:06,840 --> 00:24:12,320 Speaker 1: ten more seconds of luxuriously unwrapping this gum, you know. 417 00:24:12,359 --> 00:24:14,960 Speaker 1: And we have a weird relationship with the hank in 418 00:24:14,960 --> 00:24:18,280 Speaker 1: in America, it seems because you go to other places, 419 00:24:18,840 --> 00:24:23,040 Speaker 1: uh specifically I'm guess I'm thinking of of of Mexico 420 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:27,000 Speaker 1: and some parts of Latin America, where like the hank 421 00:24:27,119 --> 00:24:29,359 Speaker 1: is a signal to say, hey, I am here, or 422 00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:31,920 Speaker 1: it's or it's it more about just this letting other 423 00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,080 Speaker 1: drivers know that you were present or that some sort 424 00:24:34,080 --> 00:24:37,600 Speaker 1: of accident situation might happen. But in the in the States, 425 00:24:37,640 --> 00:24:39,880 Speaker 1: it seems like to blow the horn is to say 426 00:24:39,920 --> 00:24:44,200 Speaker 1: you were out of line and possibly potentially killing people. Well, 427 00:24:44,240 --> 00:24:46,600 Speaker 1: I think it's the duration of the signal. So if 428 00:24:46,600 --> 00:24:48,760 Speaker 1: it's a quick beat, you know, or a quick honk, 429 00:24:48,800 --> 00:24:50,600 Speaker 1: it's kind of like, hey, come on, what I'm here 430 00:24:51,680 --> 00:24:54,119 Speaker 1: to lay on? The horn is the problem. And this 431 00:24:54,200 --> 00:24:58,480 Speaker 1: reminds me too of the politeness episode that we just did, 432 00:24:58,520 --> 00:25:00,879 Speaker 1: and we were talking about communication and in directness and 433 00:25:00,920 --> 00:25:04,040 Speaker 1: how in Russia, the more direct the better, and how 434 00:25:04,080 --> 00:25:06,680 Speaker 1: people don't lose face, you know, because they don't have 435 00:25:06,720 --> 00:25:11,520 Speaker 1: a problem with that sort of negative feedback. But perhaps 436 00:25:11,560 --> 00:25:13,520 Speaker 1: here in the United States were a little bit more 437 00:25:13,720 --> 00:25:17,639 Speaker 1: sensitive to that, to the honk, And that may be 438 00:25:17,640 --> 00:25:21,240 Speaker 1: because we see the car as an extension of ourselves. 439 00:25:21,240 --> 00:25:23,639 Speaker 1: We've already put out this idea that it could be 440 00:25:23,720 --> 00:25:26,320 Speaker 1: a sort of territory for us, the third home for us, 441 00:25:26,359 --> 00:25:29,879 Speaker 1: for a second home of sorts um. But there's this 442 00:25:29,960 --> 00:25:33,480 Speaker 1: idea that it could actually like physically embody us. And 443 00:25:33,520 --> 00:25:35,440 Speaker 1: that is not a new concept that we have introduced 444 00:25:35,440 --> 00:25:37,880 Speaker 1: on this podcast before, because we talked about tool use 445 00:25:37,920 --> 00:25:41,080 Speaker 1: and how humans we we fold our hands around a 446 00:25:41,080 --> 00:25:43,040 Speaker 1: tool and all of a sudden becomes part of us, 447 00:25:43,480 --> 00:25:45,720 Speaker 1: and we have body schema. We have a map in 448 00:25:45,760 --> 00:25:48,280 Speaker 1: our mind of where we are in space and time, 449 00:25:48,480 --> 00:25:51,800 Speaker 1: and we incorporate these objects. And we've even talked about 450 00:25:51,800 --> 00:25:56,080 Speaker 1: how the mind will sometimes adopt a fake limb in 451 00:25:56,080 --> 00:26:00,639 Speaker 1: the right context, of course, usually an experiment as our own, 452 00:26:00,760 --> 00:26:03,240 Speaker 1: if prompted right. So we've got that sort of pro 453 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: pre aceptive drift to other objects in people um when 454 00:26:08,040 --> 00:26:11,000 Speaker 1: the context warrants it. So it's not so weird to 455 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:13,239 Speaker 1: think that you could do the same thing with your car. Now. 456 00:26:13,320 --> 00:26:16,879 Speaker 1: There's a two thousand eleven Temple University paper by A. 457 00:26:17,000 --> 00:26:20,399 Speaker 1: Yalia Rubio who found that two studies on driving in 458 00:26:20,640 --> 00:26:24,840 Speaker 1: relationship to car bore out this idea that a car 459 00:26:24,880 --> 00:26:27,480 Speaker 1: could be an extension of yourself and as a result, 460 00:26:28,080 --> 00:26:33,119 Speaker 1: you could have stronger aggressive driving tendencies. So Rubio and 461 00:26:33,160 --> 00:26:35,840 Speaker 1: a colleague used a hundred and thirty four surveys of 462 00:26:35,880 --> 00:26:39,840 Speaker 1: men and women in Israel averaging UH twenty three point 463 00:26:39,920 --> 00:26:43,760 Speaker 1: five years of age to examine the influence of personality, 464 00:26:43,880 --> 00:26:48,639 Speaker 1: attitudes and values on driving, and the researchers also looked 465 00:26:48,680 --> 00:26:53,080 Speaker 1: at the factors of risk, attraction, impulsivity, and driving. I 466 00:26:53,160 --> 00:26:58,640 Speaker 1: love this as a hedonistic activity as well as perceptions 467 00:26:58,680 --> 00:27:01,240 Speaker 1: about time pressures. And they did this with another two 468 00:27:02,359 --> 00:27:04,240 Speaker 1: people too, so they had a sort of part B 469 00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:06,760 Speaker 1: of this study that involved some of the people from 470 00:27:06,800 --> 00:27:10,159 Speaker 1: the first study, and they saw an uptick in disregard 471 00:27:10,240 --> 00:27:13,480 Speaker 1: for road rules, aggressive behavior, and the sense that these 472 00:27:13,520 --> 00:27:17,680 Speaker 1: people were under more pressure in terms of time. So 473 00:27:17,720 --> 00:27:21,920 Speaker 1: it's worth noting that this study is dealing with an 474 00:27:21,920 --> 00:27:25,879 Speaker 1: age group that is younger, and as a result, Rubio 475 00:27:25,960 --> 00:27:29,240 Speaker 1: and her colleagues posit that some of this has to 476 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,000 Speaker 1: do this attachment to car and extension of cell through car, 477 00:27:32,480 --> 00:27:35,960 Speaker 1: with the fact that people haven't really developed their personalities 478 00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:39,560 Speaker 1: fully yet, and so part of this car is informing 479 00:27:39,640 --> 00:27:42,960 Speaker 1: who they think they are and the sort of maybe 480 00:27:43,000 --> 00:27:46,479 Speaker 1: the bleeding edges of themselves out there in a public space. 481 00:27:47,080 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: And this is where we see things like the red 482 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:53,280 Speaker 1: car situation, right, well, more like this sports cars are 483 00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:56,000 Speaker 1: you're thinking like the red sports car and like, yeah, 484 00:27:56,080 --> 00:27:58,119 Speaker 1: hey I'm here, I'm going to tear it up on 485 00:27:58,160 --> 00:28:02,359 Speaker 1: the streets. Yeah, that sort of any McQueen persona if 486 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:05,760 Speaker 1: you've seen cars, Okay, that's right, I have not seen it, 487 00:28:05,800 --> 00:28:07,920 Speaker 1: but I know of what do you speak? It's a 488 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:12,080 Speaker 1: kid favorite, um, But so yeah, there's this idea that 489 00:28:12,080 --> 00:28:15,080 Speaker 1: that part of your personality is being performed by the car. 490 00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,960 Speaker 1: But then of course you have the risk taking. And 491 00:28:18,119 --> 00:28:20,720 Speaker 1: anybody who worked for an insurance company knows what I'm 492 00:28:20,720 --> 00:28:24,960 Speaker 1: talking about, or anybody who has someone on their policy 493 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:27,520 Speaker 1: who's under the age of twenty five knows what I'm 494 00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,879 Speaker 1: talking about. You're going to get charged more for youth 495 00:28:31,520 --> 00:28:35,520 Speaker 1: when youth is driving, because youth doesn't have the fully forward, 496 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,720 Speaker 1: prefunct frontal cortex that we've talked about before, specifically when 497 00:28:39,720 --> 00:28:42,239 Speaker 1: we've talked about the teenage brain. Yeah, they're gonna take 498 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,680 Speaker 1: more risks, more risk to fit in. It's to the 499 00:28:44,680 --> 00:28:47,800 Speaker 1: teenage brain. It's vital to find a place in some 500 00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:51,520 Speaker 1: sort of social scenario so that they can survive. Right 501 00:28:51,640 --> 00:28:53,560 Speaker 1: in the pre ful to cortex and in the executive 502 00:28:53,560 --> 00:28:56,360 Speaker 1: function of hey, is this a good idea? Maybe not 503 00:28:56,560 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: be as fully engaged at that age as you would 504 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,440 Speaker 1: want it to be. And of course, in America, those 505 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:04,760 Speaker 1: teenagers grow up into uh, into a culture that has 506 00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 1: historically loved its automobiles. I mean, the automobile industry has 507 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:15,120 Speaker 1: I mean continues to be a symbol of of American ingenuity. 508 00:29:15,600 --> 00:29:19,640 Speaker 1: UH and UH an accomplishment and freedom. Yeah, I mean 509 00:29:19,680 --> 00:29:24,520 Speaker 1: it's as well as other vehicles such as the motorcycle. Right, 510 00:29:24,600 --> 00:29:27,200 Speaker 1: the freedom to be out there and own the road. 511 00:29:28,040 --> 00:29:31,880 Speaker 1: But our times a change in uh, they might be. 512 00:29:32,040 --> 00:29:35,520 Speaker 1: According to a Pew Research Center of study from two 513 00:29:35,520 --> 00:29:38,240 Speaker 1: thousand ten published as Americans in their Cars is the 514 00:29:38,400 --> 00:29:42,200 Speaker 1: Romance on the skids and uh, they looked at the 515 00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,240 Speaker 1: trends in terms of loving your car versus just seeing 516 00:29:46,280 --> 00:29:48,120 Speaker 1: your cars this thing you have to be and to 517 00:29:48,200 --> 00:29:51,719 Speaker 1: go from point A to point B. They found in 518 00:29:51,720 --> 00:29:55,160 Speaker 1: two thousand ten that six of American drivers said that 519 00:29:55,200 --> 00:29:57,880 Speaker 1: they like to drive they genuinely liked it, and that 520 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:03,920 Speaker 1: was down from sevent and just twenty percent said that 521 00:30:03,920 --> 00:30:07,280 Speaker 1: they considered the car something special compared to forty in 522 00:30:07,360 --> 00:30:10,520 Speaker 1: ninety one. Now, the Pew survey identified a number of 523 00:30:10,520 --> 00:30:14,840 Speaker 1: different factors that were contributing to these trends, and you 524 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:17,320 Speaker 1: might think that gasoline might be a big one, but 525 00:30:17,440 --> 00:30:20,400 Speaker 1: gas actually only came in at three percent. Three percent 526 00:30:20,440 --> 00:30:23,440 Speaker 1: of people saying that gas gasolene prices factored in to 527 00:30:23,680 --> 00:30:28,520 Speaker 1: their uh, they're they're they're falling out of love with cars. Um. 528 00:30:28,640 --> 00:30:33,040 Speaker 1: The big one was traffic congestion of those surveyed. Another 529 00:30:33,080 --> 00:30:36,840 Speaker 1: big factor other drivers fourteen percent. So already we see 530 00:30:36,880 --> 00:30:40,160 Speaker 1: what thirty seven percent tied to traffic congestion and having 531 00:30:40,200 --> 00:30:41,959 Speaker 1: to put up with other people in the cars that 532 00:30:42,040 --> 00:30:45,600 Speaker 1: make up that congestion. Commuting as another ten percent on 533 00:30:45,720 --> 00:30:48,680 Speaker 1: on top of that, and then running errands also contributed 534 00:30:48,720 --> 00:30:52,200 Speaker 1: ten percent um And again this is all this is 535 00:30:52,240 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: all pointing back to that idea that was just more 536 00:30:54,640 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: and more cars out there, more people driving on these 537 00:30:58,280 --> 00:31:01,760 Speaker 1: these these roads, that that just can't keep up with 538 00:31:01,840 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: the increase in population. A National Household Travel survey in 539 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,080 Speaker 1: two thousand and one found that at that point, for 540 00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:11,320 Speaker 1: the first time since the studies have been conducted, there 541 00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:14,080 Speaker 1: were more personal vehicles on the road two d and 542 00:31:14,120 --> 00:31:19,560 Speaker 1: four million than licensed licensed drivers million in the country. 543 00:31:19,960 --> 00:31:23,640 Speaker 1: It's still noted that that in that Pew survey of Americans. 544 00:31:23,800 --> 00:31:26,480 Speaker 1: I mean, that's that's still two third margin of Americans 545 00:31:26,480 --> 00:31:28,800 Speaker 1: who love driving. And we still do a lot. We 546 00:31:28,840 --> 00:31:30,720 Speaker 1: still spend a lot of time in our car. We're 547 00:31:30,760 --> 00:31:33,000 Speaker 1: singing there, we listen to music, we listen to podcasts, 548 00:31:33,000 --> 00:31:37,200 Speaker 1: we talk on the phone, we read, we groom, we sleep. Uh, 549 00:31:37,240 --> 00:31:38,920 Speaker 1: but we do seem to do a lot of things 550 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,160 Speaker 1: that are about making do with our time in the 551 00:31:42,200 --> 00:31:45,040 Speaker 1: car or even sort of transcending that time we have 552 00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:50,440 Speaker 1: to spend in the car versus just really loving the road. Yeah, 553 00:31:50,440 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: And I think you're touching on something here with technology 554 00:31:53,280 --> 00:31:55,840 Speaker 1: becoming so much more a part of our lives and 555 00:31:55,880 --> 00:31:59,080 Speaker 1: informing our lives, that we begin to look for these 556 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,880 Speaker 1: bits of all in time right where we can listen 557 00:32:01,920 --> 00:32:06,040 Speaker 1: to a podcast or listen to music, or access one 558 00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:09,960 Speaker 1: million other things that we can via the Internet. And 559 00:32:10,080 --> 00:32:14,360 Speaker 1: so this idea that Tesla co founder and CEO Elon 560 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:18,480 Speaker 1: Musk has is really interesting. He thinks that computers will 561 00:32:18,560 --> 00:32:21,680 Speaker 1: do a much better job than us when it comes 562 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:26,040 Speaker 1: to driving, to the point where statistically humans would be 563 00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:30,200 Speaker 1: a liability on the roadways and would be banned from 564 00:32:30,280 --> 00:32:33,360 Speaker 1: driving in the future sometime. Yeah. I mean he makes 565 00:32:33,360 --> 00:32:35,840 Speaker 1: the comparison to elevators. Right in the old days, you 566 00:32:35,960 --> 00:32:38,760 Speaker 1: got an elevator, there's an elevator operator to make this 567 00:32:39,160 --> 00:32:42,080 Speaker 1: piece of machinery go up and down. But it got 568 00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:44,680 Speaker 1: to the point where we didn't need the operator anymore. 569 00:32:44,680 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: The technology was such that the elevators took care of 570 00:32:47,840 --> 00:32:50,160 Speaker 1: above everything, and if you had an operator, it would 571 00:32:50,200 --> 00:32:54,000 Speaker 1: hinder the process, right, And so you've got these two 572 00:32:54,000 --> 00:32:56,920 Speaker 1: different things going on. You have computers rising to the 573 00:32:56,920 --> 00:32:59,800 Speaker 1: occasion to to do this in a way that it 574 00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:05,080 Speaker 1: um manageable, right, not cost effective now, but perhaps in 575 00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:08,840 Speaker 1: the future. And then you have us consuming so much 576 00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:12,160 Speaker 1: media and trying to find spare moments in our lives 577 00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:16,600 Speaker 1: that we're pretty open to trying out something like this 578 00:33:16,680 --> 00:33:20,000 Speaker 1: if it means that on our commute we could read 579 00:33:20,040 --> 00:33:24,080 Speaker 1: a book on um a device as opposed to sit 580 00:33:24,120 --> 00:33:29,200 Speaker 1: there in you know, knuckle whitening traffic, trying not to 581 00:33:29,280 --> 00:33:33,640 Speaker 1: yell at someone or get angry about something. And ultimately 582 00:33:33,800 --> 00:33:36,040 Speaker 1: computers would be able to just manage the flow of 583 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:39,200 Speaker 1: traffic more efficiently. In this scenario, you wouldn't have to 584 00:33:39,200 --> 00:33:42,480 Speaker 1: worry about all the little things like rubber necking and tailgating. 585 00:33:42,520 --> 00:33:45,440 Speaker 1: Everything could be could There could be a standard distance 586 00:33:45,440 --> 00:33:48,640 Speaker 1: between cars, the standard speed could be maintained, and yeah, 587 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:51,560 Speaker 1: to your point, you could just lean back, read a 588 00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,840 Speaker 1: book and not worry about all those little things on 589 00:33:53,880 --> 00:33:57,080 Speaker 1: the road. Yeah, sounds lovely. And according to the Boston 590 00:33:57,160 --> 00:34:00,800 Speaker 1: Consulting Group, fully automated automated driver less cars could make 591 00:34:00,880 --> 00:34:04,040 Speaker 1: up nearly ten percent of global vehicle sales or about 592 00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:09,000 Speaker 1: twelve million cars a year by the year twenty five, 593 00:34:09,239 --> 00:34:12,759 Speaker 1: So it's something that could happen, you know, over the 594 00:34:12,760 --> 00:34:15,560 Speaker 1: next couple of decades. Here. Yeah, we've been developing the 595 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:17,480 Speaker 1: technology for some time, so it's really not a matter 596 00:34:17,520 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 1: of if, but but when. Yeah, and and also a 597 00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:22,680 Speaker 1: matter of like, well, how are we going tomok that up? 598 00:34:22,680 --> 00:34:24,840 Speaker 1: As humans? You know, like how are we going to 599 00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:28,439 Speaker 1: express our status in these driver list cars? Or maybe 600 00:34:28,440 --> 00:34:30,239 Speaker 1: even just having a driver list car at that point 601 00:34:30,280 --> 00:34:33,680 Speaker 1: becomes a status object. And what will whacken it? Think 602 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:37,239 Speaker 1: of it? Right? Will he appreciate having uh this free 603 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:38,880 Speaker 1: time in the vehicle or is he going to miss 604 00:34:38,920 --> 00:34:42,000 Speaker 1: the command of his vehicle on the open road? And 605 00:34:42,120 --> 00:34:45,080 Speaker 1: what will he be doing in his vehicle? We don't know, 606 00:34:45,600 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: there's no way to know alright, Today you have a 607 00:34:49,600 --> 00:34:52,960 Speaker 1: road rage aggressive driving um, something I think we can 608 00:34:52,960 --> 00:34:55,719 Speaker 1: all relate to on one level or another. If you 609 00:34:55,719 --> 00:35:00,480 Speaker 1: want to check out more topics related to human behavior alemobiles? 610 00:35:00,480 --> 00:35:02,040 Speaker 1: What have you gone? Over to? Stuff to blow your mind? 611 00:35:02,040 --> 00:35:03,759 Speaker 1: Dot com that's the mother ship. That's where we'll find 612 00:35:03,840 --> 00:35:07,520 Speaker 1: all the podcast episodes, videos, blog posts, splinks out to 613 00:35:07,560 --> 00:35:11,000 Speaker 1: social media accounts, you name it, and you have ideas 614 00:35:11,000 --> 00:35:13,880 Speaker 1: about this. You want to share your the traffic infraction 615 00:35:13,920 --> 00:35:16,200 Speaker 1: that drives you the most crazy way. You can do 616 00:35:16,239 --> 00:35:18,640 Speaker 1: that by sending us an email at below the mind 617 00:35:18,640 --> 00:35:24,400 Speaker 1: at how stuff works dot com. 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