Comments

1
Can't you just argue normative Western narrative for ONCE??
I liked this post, though I do not like crying babies, we will have to work on that one (soundproofing is a good use of non-degradable shit).
2
Why didn't you see the real politics of the piece? It has nothing to do with "too many cars on the road" and everything to do with too many people in the world. We were not developed in an overcrowded society as we are hurtling ourselves into, if we're not there already. Both the things you lament and support is a symptom of that. Cars on road = overcrowding. Micro units = overcrowding.
3
I don't know if it's a question of driver education, natural instinct, or lack of information, but many traffic jams occur for no good reason or last much longer than necessary.

However, the same can be said for some crowds. Think Black Friday or Bumbershoot. Or even getting off an airplane. Nobody loses an ear, but the whole operation would go a lot faster if those with bags in hand quickly exited. The lack of cooperation slows things down for everyone.
4
Google Cars.

Once we have cars with intelligence, they will swarm for us.

Every sq. in. of roadway can be used.

In fact, who needs roadways.

Why don't we just unpave the roads and leave it as gravel and grassland and use SUVs as SUVS!

Off road.
Off grid.

Swarming the suburbs is the natural way to live.

Multipath
Multipoint

The central city is obsolete and in the way.

5

Speaking of energy. Kids get it. Elon Musk doesn't.

Kids 4 Hydrogen

Founded in 2004, Kids 4 Hydrogen is an educational outreach nonprofit organization affiliated with Merit Academy. Kids 4 Hydrogen’s goal is to lead America in developing a sustainable energy infrastructure that will meet the world’s needs in 2050. By giving demonstrations of how fuel cells work and presenting the hydrogen fuel cell vehicles on well-publicized tours, we hope to encourage people to get on our waiting list to purchase fuel cell vehicles to move towards a sustainable hydrogen economy.


http://kids4hydrogen.org/
6

And how big should a city, town or business be?

Dunbar says...150!!!

Dunbar has found 150 to be the sweet spot for hunter-gatherer societies all over the world. From the Bushmen of Southern Africa to Native American tribes, a typical community is about 150 people. Amish and Hutterite communities — even most military companies around the world — seem to follow the same rule.


http://www.npr.org/2011/06/04/136723316/…

The city is unnatural.

We cannot use it.

We only have space in our brains for 150 people.
7
I never thought I'd see a Mudede post with the words "here is my point."
8
@6 Yeah, but the self sufficient, nomadic, mega-families wont work with suburbs [as evidenced by the failures of various rural experimental communes.] Each group of 150 is its own state within the super dense pod city. Everything outside the walls is a wild commons used for subsistence hunting/fishing/foraging. You cant accumulate much power without agriculture so the the nativist/tribal mindset wont devolve into classism, racism etc.
9
@3, I thought it was the people who couldn't get their bags out of overhead storage quickly who slow the plane exit more than anything.

People are much more cooperative in tight spaces on buses and trains not because they feel calm, but rather the situation would be more difficult to deal with if they lost their cool.
10
Ahh... but the starting deception lies here:
Traffic is not a swarm.

Swarms are large groups of individuals moving with purpose toward the same goal or destination. So in this comparison, the transit commuters have a much more swarm-like agenda --and hence more swarm-like behavior-- than their car encased fellows.

Traffic is not a swarm. It is a group of individuals each with individual goals and individual destinations. That they are all moving in a similar direction should not be confused for moving with a similar purpose.

We have traffic jams because the motivations of individual actors are at odds and/or in competition with one another. The traffic becomes jammed not because humans are bad at swarming. Rather it is because humans in cars are NOT swarming; not acting together, not acting to arrive the same place.

Whereas the humans on bus or train are doing exactly that for the duration of their commute.
11
Yeah, I'm with Timrrr@10 -- Driving is very little like swarming. Yes, everyone is following different agenda, but also they are constrained to very specific routes. Swarming ants, OTOH, get to walk wherever they want, avoiding obstacle as necessary. If cars drove wherever they wanted, avoiding whatever obstacles, we'd have tons more pedestrian deaths and car accidents.

Anyway, whatever. I'm down with the energy efficiency argument. I can't wait til gas goes up to $10 a gallon and everyone swarms to public transit, and demands even more.

Please wait...

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