Bill Sticker's rule of 85%
The general dyslexic have been even more dyslexic than usual. This has led to more tickets being issued than usual. You hear them saying things like "What sign?" and you feel like shouting "THERE! THERE! Right next to your big silly 4x4. It's written in English, thats probably why you can't read it - bozo!" Instead you restrict yourself to a neutral thin lipped expression and point, or turn away sadly shaking your head at the stupidity of many of your fellow humans.
Several years ago I worked out that roughly 75% of the human race are either plain stupid or just not paying attention. Mrs Sticker agrees, and helped modify the criteria so that the rule covers 85% of humans. After much spirited debate I was forced to agree. A proper mathematical analysis would bear this figure out. Think about it. In order for a proportion of the human race to be of average intelligence and above, statistically there has to be a corresponding fraction below those levels. Furthermore intelligence manifests itself in a number of ways. For example a Professor of Mathematics may be highly intelligent in a specific way but be a complete klutz in the kitchen. He / she might be great at advanced calculus but like many humans, reduced to the standard of the average moron when in charge of a car.
It is about the standard of driving as a measure of intelligence that I wish to write. Forget all your fancy IQ and EQ tests, what counts is how you use that intelligence. Driving is a more than adequate measure of those factors which cuts across all social levels. Are you smart enough to pay attention to all the factors you have to take into consideration when driving? Yes? Are you clever enough to realise how your behaviour may put others, both inside and outside your vehicle - at risk? Do you understand the reasoning behind road signs and responsible road use? See where the basis of my argument lies?
Having thought about this for a while, can you discriminate? Do you, above all things pay attention. Good. then you will never get caught by me. You are one of the 15% of humans that actually justify our existance as a species. Well done. Now don't get all smug and superior about it or you will automatically drop into the 85% of idiots.
Several years ago I worked out that roughly 75% of the human race are either plain stupid or just not paying attention. Mrs Sticker agrees, and helped modify the criteria so that the rule covers 85% of humans. After much spirited debate I was forced to agree. A proper mathematical analysis would bear this figure out. Think about it. In order for a proportion of the human race to be of average intelligence and above, statistically there has to be a corresponding fraction below those levels. Furthermore intelligence manifests itself in a number of ways. For example a Professor of Mathematics may be highly intelligent in a specific way but be a complete klutz in the kitchen. He / she might be great at advanced calculus but like many humans, reduced to the standard of the average moron when in charge of a car.
It is about the standard of driving as a measure of intelligence that I wish to write. Forget all your fancy IQ and EQ tests, what counts is how you use that intelligence. Driving is a more than adequate measure of those factors which cuts across all social levels. Are you smart enough to pay attention to all the factors you have to take into consideration when driving? Yes? Are you clever enough to realise how your behaviour may put others, both inside and outside your vehicle - at risk? Do you understand the reasoning behind road signs and responsible road use? See where the basis of my argument lies?
Having thought about this for a while, can you discriminate? Do you, above all things pay attention. Good. then you will never get caught by me. You are one of the 15% of humans that actually justify our existance as a species. Well done. Now don't get all smug and superior about it or you will automatically drop into the 85% of idiots.
1 Comments:
IMHO, the biggest problem has been that the standard of both the driving test & the consequences of motoring offences have been allowed to be so low that driving is considered to be something that anyone & everyone can do. Consequently, it's become acceptable to relegate it to 3rd or 4th place. I've seen plenty of drivers putting more effort into talking to passengers, jigging to ear-splitting noise, yakking on the phone or even reading memos at 80MPH (& no I didn't like being a passenger in my boss's car). So looking for parking restrictions is just an annoyance, because parking the car isn't the task in hand, but something that gets in the way of the task in hand. IMO, this won't change until drivers loose their licences rather than just getting fined.
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