Thursday August 26, 2004

Horses notice everything

Have you ever watched a horse race? Big animals running as quickly as they possibly can around a fairly uninteresting track with a small person awkwardly poised on its back spurring it to success using positive encouragement and a whip almost always draw a crowd. Have you noticed that this spectacle is apparently so interesting that even the horses might get distracted?

I'm not sure what it is about this arrangement that could be considered so distracting. Horses running. One of them will always win. I suppose the most interesting races end with a winner that can only be determined by reviewing photos. Or maybe it is money changing hands in excited gestures. Perhaps grown people pumping their fists during the race thinking perhaps they will be able to change the outcome of the race with their actions and thoughts.

But how would the horse know any of this? Does a horse know before or during the race that it will be an interesting photo finish? Does he understand the very human concept of currency? I don't tend to think so. But whatever the horse may find interesting, it is interesting enough to make him lose his focus. How do I know? Because the horses always have to wear blinders during the race.

I used to think this was evidence of human cruelty. Exploiting an animal for entertainment. Limiting his sensory input during his very limited lifespan with small plates of leather made from the carcasses of fellow animals being exploited in completely different ways.

Since, I have learned that this simple technique actually can be the deciding factor in a race. I guess I'm slow, or maybe I didn't really care about horse racing enough to figure this out until relatively recently. It's a business. Winning is a winning strategy. The horses really do get distracted by just about anything.

I feel sad for the horses. They must be so stupid that they can't focus for just a few minutes at a time while they race as quickly as their bodies can carry them.

Their mental thread is constantly being interrupted by practically nothing at all. Nothing of any possible consequence to them. Maybe they are unlucky to not have the so very evolved brain that humans have been gifted with.

On a completely separate topic, have you ever noticed freeway traffic patterns near the scene of an accident? So many motorists slow down to take a look at whatever the issue is that it can hold up traffic in that area of the freeway for literally hours. Sometimes it is simply someone changing a tire. Sometimes it is a horrible accident.

Have you ever been waiting in traffic for a long time to get past such a scene? By the time you get to the actual scene, are you ever so curious about what has taken time out of your limited existence to warrant this time penalty that you simply have to take a look? Is it always interesting? Does it ever disappoint you? Is it ever worth the look?

Continuing on with the Connections entry from last time, this simple action of delaying your departure from the scene of whatever distraction affects others. You slowed down, so it must have been worth your time to look. Should the guy behind you that has waited patiently for you to sort it out not take the time to reap the same benefit that you obviously have?

If you do this, you have used your influence in an interesting way. Your influence continues the investment of human energy and time into absolutely nothing. No gain is possible in this situation. I've never seen someone who wasted other people's time at the scene of highway trouble come out of it a better person or in a better position in any way. Best case, it is nothing. Worst case, it is a horrible scene of death that will leave you with things to discuss with your therapist later. Lose - lose. What's the point?

In some countries, they put up visual barriers to minimize the impact to the passing traffic. Do you wish they would do that where you live? I'm not so sure if I would feel any better about that, but I do understand the point.

I feel sad for the people. They must be so stupid that they can't focus for just a few seconds at a time while they operate their deadly contraptions of transportation past a point of trouble in the road.

Maybe by putting blinders on everyone, we could save valuable time that would otherwise be lost energy and potential.

I think that people are smart, but perhaps don't think about how their behavior negatively affects those around them. They don't understand their own influence. There must be a way to fix this.

I realize that there may be a segment of the human population that is completely fascinated with roadside complications of all types. Perhaps it is these specimens that are causing all of the trouble. I think there could still be a solution.

Let's work together. Let's realize that some folks do need to see even the most mundane of highway angst, and they are going to need lots of details. For those that have journalistic ambitions, could we have you pull over at any such highway scene you encounter and take pictures and notes? Interview anyone and everyone at the scene. We need you to write a book about it. I want to see if the sales of that book match the human investment it takes to create it. That would be a good measure of exactly how interesting these events truly are.

For everyone else, I really need you to stay focused on the road and drive. If it doesn't involve you, ignore it. Think: blinders. If it does involve you, deal with it in a manner respectful of other people's time. And don't drive on the shoulder - that's where the remnants of highway angst are most likely to end up.

It doesn't take much thought to realize that a few seconds of delay in a heavy traffic situation can cause a cascade of tiny events costing literally years of lost time for the set of people following. Like the horse being distracted by money changing hands on the sidelines, the benefit of such notice seems hardly worth the price.