Your point of view changes when you get in the car. Your sense of speed changes. Your sense of responsibility changes.
The car is an intoxicant. It makes some people aggressive. It makes others stupid. Use becomes a habit, then a dependency. May cause drowsiness. Side effects include weight gain, shortness of breath, tunnel vision and in some cases injury or death.
Try to quit. See how hard it is.
As with many strong substances, it has its uses as well as its risks. Some people seem to manage its effects better than others. Its power is insidious. It must always be used with caution. Excessive use always leads to increased risk of dependency.
Agreed on all points! You could add to your list that it causes impotence...
ReplyDeletehttp://rantwick.blogspot.com/2005/08/rantwick-study-proves-driving-makes-you.html
Rantwick -- Thanks for reminding me of this excellent piece. I like how you slipped in the term "lay people." Also you said "wee hours" in a later comment. And I just said "piece." Egad.
ReplyDeleteIf I were at hem, after reading this, I'd go work on the E type. Therapy...
ReplyDeleteExcellent post: You know for me it’s always been the perspective that motororized transport leads to an anesthetization, a general disconnect with where one is at: case in point being all the little details that one notices while riding, like all the dead animals, shards of glass, noises, smells etc.
ReplyDeleteI remember vividly one commute up in Alaska when the roads were carpeted with dragonflies (not to mention how they are one of the #1 predators of mosquitoes) and 99.9% of folks ensconced in their metal bubble are completely unaware of the incidental byproduct of their oblivious passage.
Same for watching powerboats while canoeing, and ATVs while out trekking the tundra. One week I was watching and listening to a pack of wolves singing on the hillside opposite me, and literally bumping into a herd of caribou around the corner of a rocky outcrop, and the next week, when hunting season had opened up (I had retraced the first portion of the hike to photograph some reference shots) all I could hear was the drone of engines and complaints of mighty hunters that there wasn’t any animals anymore.
It *is* intoxication, and it’s abused more often than not these days. In light of the recent extinction of another species (Javan rhinoceros), and the ongoing “Occupy __________” protest, I’d say humans have definitely over-occupied more than enough of everything already.