Chewing gum while walking.

[Lexicus]

Unfortunately the forces of natural selection are somewhat split in their usefulness. For every "just as well you stupid jerk" you usually lose at least one "so I was just walking along and this idiot driving with their phone in their hand..."

Natural selection also only works if you assume the dangerous behavior in question is entirely tied to genes and if the person engaging in the behavior dies before reproducing.

But yeah casual jokes about social Darwinism ftw!

 

[rah]

The day I need an app to remind me that reality exists is the day I give up virtual and on-line experiences.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

The day I need an app to remind me that reality exists is the day I give up virtual and on-line experiences.

I'd never leave the holodec....

On the other hand, older people are much more likely to be scammed than millennials.

No, that guy on the phone with the Russian accent isn't really your nameless grandson who needs you to quickly wire him $3000 so he can get home. No, the police aren't going to come arrest you right now if you don't pay your sudden mysterious IRS debt with iTunes gift cards to that guy on the phone speaking broken english.

You also don't need to burn or pay to have your junk mail shredded.

My step grandma came *this* close to giving a bunch of gift cards to guy who called and pretended to be me, locked up in Vegas. He landed on my identity because he answered the phone saying 'grandma' and she didn't recognize the voice as one of her grandkids so she replied 'Hobbsyoyo?' and he went with it. She had the thought to call me back and call my mother after hanging up with him and saved herself.

 

[yung.carl.jung]

A few months ago I had a friend over. He took a huge dose of LSD and we went outside to collect some berries for hot sauce. Don't ask. So, there we are walking along the street. He fixates his eyes on something, a little rat-like dog if I remember correctly, and just walks, full steam ahead, right into a freaking lamp post. No sign of stopping. His eye was blue for over a week. Kids these days, huh?

Yeah, I would never consider reading a book while walking down the street. I consider browsing on a phone even worse.
I really can't understand why people think it's OK to do while driving. I see someone doing it every time I'm out driving.

Same. It's always middle age rich-looking woman/businessmen in their SUVs, too. I genuinely have not seen such a person not use their phone whenever they're at a red light or something.

I usually spit on them, like actually spit. And glare. I hope they can feel my hatred. It's particularly impressive whenever I can hit the windshield in late december or january, because then it insta freezes!

 

[TheMeInTeam]

I once dropped my phone on my hand. That was more painful that it should have been.

I don't understand people who walk around with cell phones though. How do they not trip on the ground and fall over?

If you're willing/able to engage peripheral vision (feels like most people I see don't) you can mostly get by walking like that. When driving it's beyond human ability, because rather than going 2-4 mph you're going more than 10x faster typically. That only works if you see things sufficiently in advance to anticipate what will happen, which implies eyes on the road. Besides, competent drivers need their peripheral vision for driving, too. Sometimes stuff to the sides/behind matters too, not just what's ahead.

When you're just walking it's pretty viable, though I still generally don't do it unless I'm trying to place a call or something is time sensitive.

 

[Hygro]

Yo I developed my peripheral vision and I gotta say most people have very developed peripheral skills and it’s a big separator for people who vibe normal and people who vibe weird.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Yo I developed my peripheral vision and I gotta say most people have very developed peripheral skills and it’s a big separator for people who vibe normal and people who vibe weird.

It's not a matter of developing, it's a matter of paying attention, like at all. I'm not talking about some great skill lol. But so many people just won't do it. I don't think it's because they can't.

 

[Hygro]

It's not a matter of developing, it's a matter of paying attention, like at all. I'm not talking about some great skill lol. But so many people just won't do it. I don't think it's because they can't.

You don’t think your attention is something to develop?

 

[Farm Boy]

Aim small miss small.

 

[shadowplay]

Yeah, I would never consider reading a book while walking down the street. I consider browsing on a phone even worse.
I really can't understand why people think it's OK to do while driving. I see someone doing it every time I'm out driving.

I've seen guys driving 18-wheelers on the highway doing it.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

It's not a matter of developing, it's a matter of paying attention, like at all. I'm not talking about some great skill lol. But so many people just won't do it. I don't think it's because they can't.

Twenty bucks says you aren't using peripheral vision, you are just "keeping your eyes loose." Peripheral vision actually uses the edges of the rod field in your eye, which is not really equipped to provide you the kind of information that you are suggesting you receive (for example, it is not equipped to assess a stationary object that has no bearing rate, so it won't stop you from walking into a pole if you are headed straight towards it). Training yourself to flick your eyes to either side and or up and down regularly (what the driving instructors refer to as constant scanning) so that at least briefly you are taking in on the center of your rod/cone field the mirrors, the area beside the car, the side streets, etc does not actually rely on peripheral vision at all. You may not be turning your head, but your eyes are not locked on a focal point with "your attention" examining the peripheries. If your attention actually DID examine a periphery your eyes would move. That's their job.

As to whether people can maintain a scanning regimen while reading with comprehension I honestly don't know if it is within the range of the average person.

 

[rah]

Damn, you had to bring actual science into it.

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Twenty bucks says you aren't using peripheral vision, you are just "keeping your eyes loose." Peripheral vision actually uses the edges of the rod field in your eye, which is not really equipped to provide you the kind of information that you are suggesting you receive (for example, it is not equipped to assess a stationary object that has no bearing rate, so it won't stop you from walking into a pole if you are headed straight towards it). Training yourself to flick your eyes to either side and or up and down regularly (what the driving instructors refer to as constant scanning) so that at least briefly you are taking in on the center of your rod/cone field the mirrors, the area beside the car, the side streets, etc does not actually rely on peripheral vision at all. You may not be turning your head, but your eyes are not locked on a focal point with "your attention" examining the peripheries. If your attention actually DID examine a periphery your eyes would move. That's their job.

I think you're probably right, and what I'm referring to as "peripheral vision" was a misnomer on my part. More like "scanning to pick up on things otherwise on the periphery of current focal point". That's not very catchy though.

As to whether people can maintain a scanning regimen while reading with comprehension I honestly don't know if it is within the range of the average person.

I don't know either, but I can do it trivially. Experience suggests that if I can do something, the default conclusion is not to assume I'm special . But maybe other people haven't had occasion to get into the habit. That's kind of scary, since it is pretty useful while driving and most adults drive in the US.

 

[Timsup2nothin]

I think you're probably right, and what I'm referring to as "peripheral vision" was a misnomer on my part. More like "scanning to pick up on things otherwise on the periphery of current focal point". That's not very catchy though.



I don't know either, but I can do it trivially. Experience suggests that if I can do something, the default conclusion is not to assume I'm special . But maybe other people haven't had occasion to get into the habit. That's kind of scary, since it is pretty useful while driving and most adults drive in the US.

Most of them don't try to read with comprehension at the same time. Reading with comprehension actually takes a significant fix of concentration, for most people.