Scrambler's Unified Theory of Driving - Rule 2

"Just wear your damn mask..." (jimal)
09/07/2013 at 21:36 • Filed to: SUToD

There is no such thing as "losing control of a car". A car is a machine, not a living creature that you can lose control of like a horse or a dog. It only reacts to control inputs. So, you didn't lose control, you just don't know what you were doing.

DISCUSSION (15)

Lets Just Drive > Just wear your damn mask...
09/07/2013 at 22:07

Have you ever driven a sports-car with a live rear axle?

PlayerWAN > Just wear your damn mask...
09/07/2013 at 22:11

I showed this to a friend and she brought a good point.

"What if my car dies and I ease it to a stop, but it refuses to start again? Would I have lost control of it?"

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Just wear your damn mask...
09/07/2013 at 22:17

Not strictly true, as "losing control" can mean achieving a state where it no longer responds adequately to control inputs. Granted, that state is usually preceded by a fit of idiocy or "not knowing what one was doing".

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > Just wear your damn mask...
09/07/2013 at 22:37

Not so. All my cars are and always have been alive. They have names and respond positively and negatively, frequently on their own, to their surroundings. They breathe and drink and speak (one of them, quite loudly). They are valued members of the family.

I find Rule 2 to be very un-Jalop.

Just wear your damn mask... > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull
09/08/2013 at 07:34

Your "granted" statement defeats your first statement.

Just wear your damn mask... > Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back
09/08/2013 at 07:37

Rule 2 is the most Jalop because a Jalop should know how to drive. Rule 2 is different from the anthropomorphic fallacy.

Just wear your damn mask... > PlayerWAN
09/08/2013 at 07:37

Tell your friend that is just means that her thing broke.

Just wear your damn mask... > Lets Just Drive
09/08/2013 at 07:39

I've driven a sports car with a live rear axle and an old VW with a swing axle rear. Never lost control of either.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Just wear your damn mask...
09/08/2013 at 07:56

No, it doesn't, unless you believe "losing control" cannot mean "giving up control because one is an idiot, and no longer having it available as a result". Loss is not necessarily a passive act in which something just happens. If one leaves a coffee on one's car roof before driving off, it is just as "lost" as if it slipped out of one's hand. It's a fine distinction, but an important one.

Then again, a lot of people describe "I fucked up" events with "lost control" because it has evolved to most often describe passive events, but that doesn't change the phrase's nature. A loss is a loss, no matter how incurred.

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > Just wear your damn mask...
09/08/2013 at 08:12

Disagree with your use of what seems to be a strawman. You'll note I said nothing about not being able to drive, nor the "losing control" aspect of your rule, just that cars are alive. To the extent it wasn't clear from my comment, that was the only part with which I was quibbling; apologies for any confusion.

As for the fallacy of my anthropomorphic statement, while my head acknowledges reality, 25 years of driving and wrenching has caused me to doubt that reality on a multitude of occasions. I guess we'll have to agree to disagree.

Just wear your damn mask... > Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back
09/08/2013 at 08:19

I think the straw man is yours. I'm referring to driving and being in control of a piece of machinery. Your argument is the anthropomorphic fallacy defined. The fact that neither statement is mutually exclusive makes me wonder what you are arguing about.

Just wear your damn mask... > Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull
09/08/2013 at 08:28

"losing control" of something is different than "losing" something. The cup of coffee on your roof is an inanimate object. The cup didn't get up there by itself in an attempt to escape your dismal commute, you put it there and forgot it. The same thing applies to the car you are driving; it didn't end up in that ditch by itself, you drove it there. You may not realize what you did, but you did something.

Ramblin Rover - The Vivisector of Solihull > Just wear your damn mask...
09/08/2013 at 08:51

"Control" is something that one possesses or does not possess. Thus, if it becomes unavailable to you, it is "lost", regardless how that happened - just like loss of an object or other ability. If Michael Jordan makes a bad dunk and breaks his arm, he might "lose" the ability to do something, even if the loss was due to his own action. If you are driving through a turn, fail to notice a spot of black ice, and the car then begins to slide contrary to control inputs , yes, control has been lost - even if control inputs have a shade of influence over what happens.

The manner in which you lose something has no relation to whether it is lost to you. None. Just because a lot of people treat the verb "lose" as something that happens to them does not make it so. That's the fundamental point you're missing. My point with the cup was meant to highlight this: it's an item discarded with fecklessness, but correctly speaking it IS LOST. LOSS IS NOT ONLY PASSIVE. Control is something that can be possessed or not possessed - in the manner of an item, it can be lost passively or not.

I really don't see what's so hard about this. Just because "I lost control" is an idiom people use to mean "it just happened" does not mean it is devoid of truth in what it actually means .

Michael Delaney reaches down between his legs and eases the seat back > Just wear your damn mask...
09/08/2013 at 09:05

I think we are missing each other here. Was just trying to have a bit fun with the "cars are alive" thing. I fully recognize that my description - not argument - was precisely the fallacy to which you referred. I should've used a sarcasm tag; again, apologies for any confusion I created.

Lets Just Drive > Just wear your damn mask...
09/08/2013 at 15:41

I was just being amusing.