Why you should drive like an a-hole
Paul Bloom recently wrote about the downsides of empathy.
In cases of public policy, anecdotal and emotionally salient outliers can have adverse effects on public policy. I feel that in California , the passage of SB-277, the mandatory vaccine bill, is one excellent case. There is little actual evidence to support the claims of public health risks, but the very uncommon stories of immune suppressed kids catching an infectious disease from an ardent unvaccinated child pushes buttons. So SB-277 forces parents to vaccinate against even things like tetanus despite the fact that tetanus is not contagious and has no risk to the large community.
Personally, I am vaccinated against tetanus. Given the pros and cons, it seems like a good idea. But not sure we need to have the state coerce people into tetanus injections if they have some issue with it. A simple example of empathy run amok.
Empathy is detrimental elsewhere. The dark side of empathy is spite. I see examples of spite while driving — it is the moralistic retribution enforcer who is in fact creating the problem.
Take traffic merging. The zipper merge is the most efficient way for cars to exit. Well, it is more efficient than the typical offramp at least. Living in Mallorca I have come to believe that the roundabout is the most efficient traffic device every devised.
So the zipper merge? This means being the a-hole who merges in at the very last minute. Efficacy demands being a free-rider. I used to get furious at these cutters. I would tail-gait the car in front of me in an effort to block such jerks. I would do this even if I was not intending to exit the highway. Because other people were patiently waiting to the jerk deserved it.
But I was totally wrong. This is the optimal behavior for the common good. Don’t believe me? Take a read here:
Now I happily cut in at the last minute when lanes merge. Yes I get a lot of birds flipped at me but the joke is on them. Here is an example where empathy for your fellow driver does us all harm. Everyone, zipper merge!
When I see someone cut over at he last minute, I applaud them. Hopefully, they are going it in the spirit of cooperation but either way, way to go. And thanks.