I have a new theory (be still, beating hearts). I think that we tend to get 'up' confused with 'across', and vice versa.
What I mean is that we tend to judge absolute things relatively, and relative things absolutely.
Traffic is a good example. I've often tried to figure out why some people tail-gate. Is it lack of imagination or lack of discipline that makes them discount the obvious dangers in favour of ... well... what, exactly? What advantage could there possibly be? After all, a car traveling 1 metre behind another vehicle is going the same speed as a car traveling 100 metres behind. Even if tail-gating leads to cutting in and out, which leads to getting home 5 minutes earlier, the absolute advantage is so negligible that no-one in their right minds would take the risks associated with gaining the sort of time that could be gained by going to sleep 5 minutes earlier.
In other words, there can't be an absolute advantage to tail-gating. No, the only advantage I can think of is relative: they'll beat the other car (or their usual commute time). But I'd bet that the reasoning those drivers use is absolute.They've mixed up absolute with relative, up with across.
We do this in all sorts of ways, particularly when it comes to moral decisions. No matter what your faith, moral decisions are essentially 'up' decisions, not 'across': the fact that person A killed 5 fewer people than person B doesn't mean it's fine for person A to have killed anyone. (Yes there's the whole element of mitigation, but that doesn't change the fundamental fact that society considers some things absolutely wrong). But despite this, we usually consider our own morality in relative terms: 'well, I'm not as bad as that guy', or 'everyone downloads stuff illegally'. It doesn't matter what anyone else does - it's an absolute issue.
f it was relative, the law would state 'downloading files is illegal unless there's someone else who does it more than you, in which case it's legal'. Ludicrous as that sounds, that's basically what we tell ourselves when we compare across not up.
I'm trying to identify those parts of my life where I look the wrong way. I now remind myself that driving is an absolute exercise, not a relative one, and I have to say that I'm a much calmer driver as a result. Well, until someone tail-gates me, anyway.
Dear David,
I need you to make your font a wee bit bigger. Or....I need progressive lenses. At this stage in my life I feel more comfortable blaming your font.
Take Care,
D
Posted by: Dana | December 20, 2009 at 08:31 PM