This is a piece my dad wrote back in 2010, about the counterintuitive finding that removing traffic signs actually improved safety, in experiments run in some European cities.
> This is one of the unintended consequences of taking the state out of the business of directing our traffic: we regain our sense of society with others; strangers lose their abstractness, and become more like neighbors to us.
Enjoyed reading this as my observations about traffic with no guidance is that people cooperate. This is my go to example , when thinking about how much governance do we actually need. More rules and restrictions cause division and less cooperation.
Many years ago in Hong Kong I was amazed by the huge number of people on the streets and how they flowed easily. They respected each other’s space , observing and never stopping suddenly in the middle. This is very different to my city experiences in the UK and Italy, you have to be vigilant for people looking at their phones , talking or just walking at you. We will have traffic lights on pavements next.
I’m of the opinion that I trust my fellow citizens than the government, so why not! Problem is nobody can agree bc we’ve all been lied to all our lives and AI has fragmented us more.. if all were told the truth, we would be operating in a cohesive manner and in better agreement
Exactly. I've long thought the main cause of our division is the government, fomenting it along religious, political, ethnic, gender, and myriad other issues.
They’ve launched these mind control apps, Fb goog and the rest on other countries, war in Myanmar Fb even admitted to in the Social dilemma movie, the Arab spring and many others.. the v was one on us. The gender lies included our $ given to cdc as well. The Philippians and the sinovac was very interesting, our military in Tampa responded “we’re a bunch of sick fucks” unbelievable what they said and did all while launching it on us with you’re gonna kill gma and all the other lies about cov, problem is we dumbed ppl down so much they have zero understanding of science and willing to turn they’re brains over to AI and govt.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020025517305030 more to do with mind control … this gender crap didn’t increase 4000% its not organic or in the water .. they use this in other countries for decades with their proxy wars but now launched it on the US citizens using our $
Very interesting perspective and observations. I don't quite agree. Suppose you remove all the traffic lights and stop signs, and everyone takes turns. Do you have any idea of the effect that would have on gas mileage and the time it takes to arrive at your destination? Gas mileage because repeatedly accelerating and stopping will greatly reduce it. This works well in a small town but it would not work well in a big city, not if all such things were removed. Traffic lights can be synchronized so that you experience constant speed and minimal wait time, along with better gas mileage. I know that if I make the lights, my average mileage will increase, while if I have to wait at lights, it decreases.
Here is another idea. Keep the signs. But don't stop anyone for disobeying. Use the signs as guidance. If an accident occurs. forensics determines who is at fault, using the signs as an aid in making the determination. If a person is at fault, then his insurance is not required to pay for HIS car repair or replacement. You can bet that this would fix all the rude behavior, and the irresponsible driving real quicklike. Oh, and while we are at it, I want a gadget installed on the rear of my car. Say I am passing someone in the left lane on the freeway, and I am not ahead of him so I can pull back into the right lane. Someone who wants to drive faster comes up behind me and tailgates. I want a device that I can use to spray stinky mud on his grille. If I had such a gadget and many other people did, you can bet people would stop tailgating!
The key is, never penalize someone for harm that has not occurred. Merely disobeying signs does not harm the government. The way traffic laws are enforced is extortion, and it's so the government can take your money under a pretext. Let the police concentrate on dealing with people who are actually doing harm, like criminals. And let the insurance companies refuse to pay a driver for damage to HIS car if he causes an accident.
> This is one of the unintended consequences of taking the state out of the business of directing our traffic: we regain our sense of society with others; strangers lose their abstractness, and become more like neighbors to us.
You know I like this line of reasoning :-)
I bet I would've gotten along well with Butler.
Yes you would have!
Brilliant man, speaking clearly to all of us. I'll be forwarding this along to others. Wish I'd've known him!
Enjoyed reading this as my observations about traffic with no guidance is that people cooperate. This is my go to example , when thinking about how much governance do we actually need. More rules and restrictions cause division and less cooperation.
Many years ago in Hong Kong I was amazed by the huge number of people on the streets and how they flowed easily. They respected each other’s space , observing and never stopping suddenly in the middle. This is very different to my city experiences in the UK and Italy, you have to be vigilant for people looking at their phones , talking or just walking at you. We will have traffic lights on pavements next.
Cannot love this enough.
I’m of the opinion that I trust my fellow citizens than the government, so why not! Problem is nobody can agree bc we’ve all been lied to all our lives and AI has fragmented us more.. if all were told the truth, we would be operating in a cohesive manner and in better agreement
Exactly. I've long thought the main cause of our division is the government, fomenting it along religious, political, ethnic, gender, and myriad other issues.
I wish it was that simple but Ck this out and this is 2017 https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/07/air-force-research-how-to-use-social-media-to-control-people-like-drones/
Awful , but sadly not surprising , we are treated like drones and will become them if not vigilant.
They’ve launched these mind control apps, Fb goog and the rest on other countries, war in Myanmar Fb even admitted to in the Social dilemma movie, the Arab spring and many others.. the v was one on us. The gender lies included our $ given to cdc as well. The Philippians and the sinovac was very interesting, our military in Tampa responded “we’re a bunch of sick fucks” unbelievable what they said and did all while launching it on us with you’re gonna kill gma and all the other lies about cov, problem is we dumbed ppl down so much they have zero understanding of science and willing to turn they’re brains over to AI and govt.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0020025517305030 more to do with mind control … this gender crap didn’t increase 4000% its not organic or in the water .. they use this in other countries for decades with their proxy wars but now launched it on the US citizens using our $
Very interesting perspective and observations. I don't quite agree. Suppose you remove all the traffic lights and stop signs, and everyone takes turns. Do you have any idea of the effect that would have on gas mileage and the time it takes to arrive at your destination? Gas mileage because repeatedly accelerating and stopping will greatly reduce it. This works well in a small town but it would not work well in a big city, not if all such things were removed. Traffic lights can be synchronized so that you experience constant speed and minimal wait time, along with better gas mileage. I know that if I make the lights, my average mileage will increase, while if I have to wait at lights, it decreases.
Here is another idea. Keep the signs. But don't stop anyone for disobeying. Use the signs as guidance. If an accident occurs. forensics determines who is at fault, using the signs as an aid in making the determination. If a person is at fault, then his insurance is not required to pay for HIS car repair or replacement. You can bet that this would fix all the rude behavior, and the irresponsible driving real quicklike. Oh, and while we are at it, I want a gadget installed on the rear of my car. Say I am passing someone in the left lane on the freeway, and I am not ahead of him so I can pull back into the right lane. Someone who wants to drive faster comes up behind me and tailgates. I want a device that I can use to spray stinky mud on his grille. If I had such a gadget and many other people did, you can bet people would stop tailgating!
The key is, never penalize someone for harm that has not occurred. Merely disobeying signs does not harm the government. The way traffic laws are enforced is extortion, and it's so the government can take your money under a pretext. Let the police concentrate on dealing with people who are actually doing harm, like criminals. And let the insurance companies refuse to pay a driver for damage to HIS car if he causes an accident.