Originally Posted by lilHinault
Feldman that's interesting, I know one of the things considered work is lighting a fire, so starting an engine is considered work.
One of my heros, physicist Richard Feynman (very neat guy), wrote about when he was doing the research that led to his nobel prize, he was in a building shared with a Jewish studies program, and would frequently see Rabbis around. He thought he'd have some fun with them, so one day on the elevator he asked them if lighting fires was considered 'work', and they agreed. Then he asked if they used electricity, and they said they did, and that electricity wasn't considered 'fire' theologically speaking. But then he told them about how when you press a switch, there is a moment when the switch contacts are almost, but not completely, connected, when an arc will jump through the air, ionizing it, which meets the physical definition of 'fire', so using electricity means you have to light little fires all the time. He thought he'd 'caught' them, but they had a complex explanation for his problem, and the two of them debated back and forth for hours. Eventually he learned that while they were studying something very different from what he was studying, that they were working just as hard, and were just as fierce of logical debators, and ended up spending a lot of time with them, just to enjoy the thrill of worthy debate.
About the kids riding to school thing... Crossing guards and riding in groups are inexpensive but helpful solutions. Traffic is a huge danger, abduction is incredibly minimal. Fortunately, there ARE ways to limit the traffic danger, people just don't want to do them, since they'd rather drive, and its easier to just find rationalizations for that choice.
peace,
sam