4 ms·

Don't you just make a conservative decision in that case? My eyes and ears disagree all the time, but if one of them says danger that is the one I listen too.

parineum 3y ago
I'm sure this example isn't new at all but it's the first time I've encountered the argument phrased this way and I find it incredibly compelling. Looks good, smells bad is another one (that probably happens more often). It did get me thinking about different senses and how I prioritize them. Given that humans strongest sense is visual, it's interesting to me that the priorities of what to trust seem opposite of my expectations. It seems to me that visual signals are seemingly least "trusted" compared to the other senses. As if the logic goes, "my sense of smell is so bad that if it detects danger, it must be very dangerous". Similarly, I'm sure dogs can smell rotting flesh long before meat is unsafe.
- afterburner 3y ago
  Even simpler: if one sensor tells you confidently there's something in your way, and the other doesn't, assume there's something in your way.
  - Sodman 3y ago
    The problem in this particular case is that the sensor may be confidently telling you there's something in the way, but in reality it's just a plastic bag. Hard braking at 70mph on a highway as if you were about to hit a concrete wall is probably not a great outcome in this scenario if there's somebody behind you.
    - jjk166 3y ago
      If your sensor is confidently telling you that a plastic bag is a concrete wall, maybe you shouldn't be using that sensor to begin with.
wolrah 3y ago
> Don't you just make a conservative decision in that case? My eyes and ears disagree all the time, but if one of them says danger that is the one I listen too. In the context of vehicular autonomy it's more complicated than that because for example a radar sensor picking up an overhead sign or a truck parked on the shoulder as if it's an obstruction on the road is something you want to ignore when you're going 80 MPH on the highway rather than slamming on the brakes. When you're the only vehicle on the road, stopping if anything goes wrong is always the safest idea. When you're one of hundreds of vehicles in a high speed flow of traffic stopping would put you and everyone else on the road at significantly greater risk.

parineum 3y ago

I'm sure this example isn't new at all but it's the first time I've encountered the argument phrased this way and I find it incredibly compelling. Looks good, smells bad is another one (that probably happens more often). It did get me thinking about different senses and how I prioritize them. Given that humans strongest sense is visual, it's interesting to me that the priorities of what to trust seem opposite of my expectations. It seems to me that visual signals are seemingly least "trusted" compared to the other senses. As if the logic goes, "my sense of smell is so bad that if it detects danger, it must be very dangerous". Similarly, I'm sure dogs can smell rotting flesh long before meat is unsafe.

afterburner 3y ago
Even simpler: if one sensor tells you confidently there's something in your way, and the other doesn't, assume there's something in your way.
- Sodman 3y ago
  The problem in this particular case is that the sensor may be confidently telling you there's something in the way, but in reality it's just a plastic bag. Hard braking at 70mph on a highway as if you were about to hit a concrete wall is probably not a great outcome in this scenario if there's somebody behind you.
  - jjk166 3y ago
    If your sensor is confidently telling you that a plastic bag is a concrete wall, maybe you shouldn't be using that sensor to begin with.

wolrah 3y ago

> Don't you just make a conservative decision in that case? My eyes and ears disagree all the time, but if one of them says danger that is the one I listen too. In the context of vehicular autonomy it's more complicated than that because for example a radar sensor picking up an overhead sign or a truck parked on the shoulder as if it's an obstruction on the road is something you want to ignore when you're going 80 MPH on the highway rather than slamming on the brakes. When you're the only vehicle on the road, stopping if anything goes wrong is always the safest idea. When you're one of hundreds of vehicles in a high speed flow of traffic stopping would put you and everyone else on the road at significantly greater risk.