So...yesterday I explained to Domenica why cranking the fan in your car when you start it up in cold weather doesn't help it warm up any faster. She always thought that she was blowing out the cold air quicker so the warm air could get in. The fact is, you won't get warm air until your engine heats up (unless you're in a Rolls or something with an auxilliary electric heater), and that only depends on how cold it is outside and how fast you run your engine. Turning up the fan at first only blows more frigid air into the cabin. So I told her to put the fan on low, turn it to defrost, and wait until either your thermostat gauge creeps above "C" or you stick your hand over the dashboard and feel warm air coming out. Then turn the fan up and kick it to your feet, or wherever your heart desires. This revolutionized her thinking, which got me thinking...
Do other people not think of stuff like this? To me it's patently obvious: cranking a fan blowing over a cold engine just blows more cold air! And there are other little things like this, too. When we got a new turning lane on 885, which we turn left off of to get to our house, the first time I used it I knew that it was only beneficial if I got into it before slowing down for the turn. If you slow down in the normal lane and then get into the turning lane, you're still obstructing traffic and increasing your risk, which is antithetical to the point of having a separate turning lane. Yet my family continues to do just that, every time they turn.
Do these "optimization thoughts" just not occur to other people? Do they occur vaguely, but nobody acts on them? Could folks think of them if they wanted, but just don't give it any consideration? If so, why do I give it consideration? My driving is basically a constant stream of optimization--lane, speed, braking, inside or outside lane on a turn, get out of the left lane 'cause he's turning, creep up slowly so the stopped cars can start to move again before I reach them... And I don't think I have to tell you that not many people do those things on the roads :-P
So, I guess I'm rather prideful about this, but I also do wonder if I am so different from most people, or if there are other things going on. Or, worst of all, if my reasoning in these cases is wrong. Then I'm really screwed up! But anyway, who knows. It is mildly irritating, though, when I run across needlessly unoptimized behavior. It's a similar feeling to when someone just can't seem to play something on an instrument that is very easy for me. Not easy because of practice...just simple, straightforward, and obvious.
Hm. I wonder what things I do that hit other people in this way. Oy. What are the stupid things I do unthinkingly that someone else sees and shakes their head at, walking away glad they're not dumb like that dude? Scary thought. But I *probably* have reasons for doing all those things, they're just not apparent. So do these other people have reasons for what they do? Domenica did, but her reasons were wrong. Daniel had no reason for not using the turning lane properly. Who knows. I guess I should be careful to not pridefully judge in my heart, and continue to investigate, as life brings an unending string of experiences parading before me.
Beddy-bye. Good-night.
--JPB
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5 comments:
I can tell you (based on personal driving habits) that you are not the only driver who tries to avoid coming to a complete stop at red lights. Less braking = less accelerating = better gas mileage.
"Do other people not think of stuff like this?"
Hmmmm, me wonders how much this question is worth your fast-paced and thorough thinking....
I'm reminded of the teaching that "all comparison is sin."
Dude, you totally should have been an Industrial Engineer! We would give you the care you need!
Also, in the past, I have studied my car's heating habits and my theroy is that the car heats up faster when you have the fan on.
My reasoning is that my car relies on the fan as a cooling method instead of the normal system which is less efficent and therefore heats up faster.
Thats what I would do if I designed it, try to take advantage of "normal" people's (Domenica's) logic.
yay for your well-measured driving, Jason!
Mike..interesting thought! How would it know when to switch over to normal cooling? I've been experimenting with my car, and it has heated up startlingly fast if I just leave my fan totally off.
seporwoT - comparison is indeed neither righteous nor productive. And there is some of that in my heart, leading to pride. But there is also curiosity about how people think. The more I live, talk, and listen, the more I realize that what is fundamental and central to my outlook and "strategy" on life is not necessarily so for others. Neither is better, both are different, and that difference from my little world, as I peer out from my two eyes, is fascinating. That's why I'm always wondering what I seem like to other people. Not solely to pridefully seek glory from men, but to get a peek at what their world looks like to them.
Curiosity can be very good, reflective of a zeal for discovering God's workings in the physical and metaphysical. That you've got a refreshingly large dose of it goes right along with your post, and is the reason I link you as "O Pioneer."
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