3 ms·

I've noticed a related phenomenon in day-to-day life, especially regarding deadlocking. There are occasions when two parties will deadlock; the classic one is w

I've noticed a related phenomenon in day-to-day life, especially regarding deadlocking. There are occasions when two parties will deadlock; the classic one is when two people walk towards each other, directly in line, and come to a point where they want to pass without colliding. It happens -- often with comic effect -- when the two parties sidestep at perceptibly the same point and in the same direction, again and again, deadlocking themselves. However, something kicks in after two-or-three failed attempts to resolve the deadlock. I've noticed similar things at traffic junctions; roundabouts and single-lane roads, especially. Personally, I sometimes do this when I go to open a door that is often, but not always, locked: my hand will reach for the latch, then go for the handle, then back and forth semi-automatically, until my higher thinking kicks in and I realise I've just got to make a decision! In these cases, I feel as though the cycles aren't weakened, but instead there's some kind of executive function -- that's normally asleep, because it's presumably expensive to run -- which oversees to break the impasse, when needed.

chris_st 6y ago
In the "two people walking towards each other" case, I've battled that my whole life. I typically stare right at the other person, anxiously waiting for them to pick a direction so I can go the other way. My wife pointed out to me that just by picking a side, and then looking in that direction as the other person comes towards you, that they (possibly unconsciously) go the other way, and conflict avoided! Mind blown. And it works.
- Xophmeister 6y ago
  Another solution I've heard for this problem is to not look the other person in the eye and just look passed/through them without faltering. IIRC, this comes across as an assertion of dominance and the other party will submit and move aside. I don't actually know if this works :P Also, I assume there's a hilarious edge case where two super-assertive people just walk into each other.
  - heavenlyblue 6y ago
    Or you could just say that this is an assertion of “I am intelligent enough to pick the path I would like to go given the fact that the choice of a path is irrelevant for both of us”. The fact that you lack confidence doesn’t suddenly make others alpha fe/males.
FartyMcFarter 6y ago
I think this is called a livelock.

chris_st 6y ago

In the "two people walking towards each other" case, I've battled that my whole life. I typically stare right at the other person, anxiously waiting for them to pick a direction so I can go the other way. My wife pointed out to me that just by picking a side, and then looking in that direction as the other person comes towards you, that they (possibly unconsciously) go the other way, and conflict avoided! Mind blown. And it works.

Xophmeister 6y ago
Another solution I've heard for this problem is to not look the other person in the eye and just look passed/through them without faltering. IIRC, this comes across as an assertion of dominance and the other party will submit and move aside. I don't actually know if this works :P Also, I assume there's a hilarious edge case where two super-assertive people just walk into each other.
- heavenlyblue 6y ago
  Or you could just say that this is an assertion of “I am intelligent enough to pick the path I would like to go given the fact that the choice of a path is irrelevant for both of us”. The fact that you lack confidence doesn’t suddenly make others alpha fe/males.

FartyMcFarter 6y ago

I think this is called a livelock.