Originally Posted by
Mobile 155
College,
I believe you are more focused on the real cause now rather than the symptoms as so many others seem to be. They blame the technology for the condition that birthed the technology.
C.S. Lewis is right it is a natural condition for us to avoid the massive effort close contact with others require. Because of that those that can or could always look for a way to add distance to those contacts. Hence the Roman devised word from 2000 years ago that we get Suburbs from.
Technology from horse and wagon to bicycles and finally cars are simply off shoots to wanting to keep others at arms length.
Nothing we have come up with so far addresses this natural desire for space better than the car. And until they find a way to give people that same physical separation with other forms of transportation private vehicles will be with us long after people pushing for a return to foot and pedal power are passed away.
But we are also good at rationalizing. Some say we haven't returned to miles driven in 10 years as an indication cars are on the decline. Yet at the same time the fact that Bicycle Sales to adults is still lower this year than it was in 1973 doesn't effect their contention that cycling in the U.S. Is on the rise.
Yes, I am a firm believer that there is usually a "thing behind the thing" when it comes to people and their behavior. Most people are not even aware that they are isolating themselves. Cars are inherently isolating.... for example imagine yourself at a red light for a long period of time, or in a traffic jam on a freeway. You are
physically very close to many people, yet exquisitely isolated. Would you make eye contact with the person stuck in traffic next to you. Or would you avoid eye contact because it feels "awkward"? Most people pull back from and try to escape even *very* tiny amounts of relational uncomfortableness, such as in this example. Living in the suburbs is even better, as you can drive your car directly into your garage, close the door, and you can effectively never have to so much as look at or speak to your neighbors.
But as I said, this is not a new revelation about the souls of people. See Robert Frost's "Mending Wall", for example. Human souls are old things, and they haven't changed since they were first new.... we still prefer comfort, ease, and the illusion of safety to real wisdom or self-understanding.
I'll venture a guess that in five hundred or one thousand years, there will be no more automobiles. But it won't be because people will have changed; they'll still seek what is easy and individualistic. As it relates to transportation, at least, only the technology and source(s) of energy will have changed.