Bad driver

I heard something on the radio today - voices.  So I looked and saw that the radio was off... nah, that would be the start of a horror story, one different from this one.  The claim was that 80% of people think that they are better than average drivers.  The hosts of the show chuckled about people's lack of understanding of percentages, but I chuckled at the hosts' lack of understand of other people's points of view.

While on the road driving, I ended up behind this SUV that was going at least 10 MPH under the speed limit.  Traffic was kind of dense, both physically and mentally, so I decided that I didn't want to be stuck behind this SUV for the next quarter mile to my exit.  I saw my gap and lunged for it.  I was now passing the SUV!  As one often does, I looked over to see what kind of moron I was passing - was she drooling out of one side of her mouth?  Was she missing the top part of her head where the brain normally keeps higher, driving level functions?  Could I see the stupid just dripping off of her?  Nope, she was just a women who looked like she was amazed at all of the bad drivers around her.

The problem with people's self evaluation is:  it is always that way for them.  People who are bad drivers always have people trying to get around or away from them.  So, everywhere they go, all they have ever known are bad drivers all around them, not realizing that they are the cause of what they are seeing.  When polled, they would claim all other drivers suck, not thinking about how their own actions are causing what they are seeing.

I often have heard supermodels claim that they were ugly kids - people often think that the models are saying that because they want to appear less vain (ie they knew they were always pretty, but they want to seem humble).  But think of it from there point of view.  All day long, every day, as adults all they see are smiling faces and people hitting on them or wanting to be close to them.  That is all they see.  Some of us might see a smiling face every so often and apply our standards to the models.  But for them, it isn't anything special to have people fawning over them all day long - that is just how the world is, in their eyes.  When they think back over their childhood, the world wasn't all smiles, because most kids are socially awkward - other kids weren't all smiles or were too shy to fawn.  So, from the model's point of view, she must not have been as attractive them, because the world wasn't as shiny/happy as it is now.

Can you imagine, every day, all day, all the people you see are just smiling at you?  Everyone you meet wants to be your special friend?  Everyone is very helpful?  If it happened to you tomorrow, you would be very uncomfortable with it at some point.  But after a period of time, you would just accept that that is the way the world is.

Combining the stories of the drivers and the models:  ones point of view is influenced by what one sees all day long, but what one sees is also influence by ones perceptions.  So, if you view The Universe as a friendly place...  well, maybe I do not have a point to this blog entry, because I know I am a bad driver.

The Edward