4 ms·

The market logic isn’t going to be defensible. The market is highly irrational and prone to be influenced by those with the most capital, not the, “invisible ha

The market logic isn’t going to be defensible. The market is highly irrational and prone to be influenced by those with the most capital, not the, “invisible hand.” Cars are freaking everywhere not because they are the best solution of transportation but because people with vested interest in the sale of oil and cars made it so by buying politicians, starting political and marketing campaigns, and on for generations. It took decades for the car to become the de-facto mode of transportation in North America let alone the rest of the world. It’s not good for us. It’s highly irrational to prefer cars when freaking wildfires and climate change threaten our very existence. In a similar vein, LLMs as they are, are not around because they are necessary and superior.

KurSix 2mo ago
"The market chose it" doesn't mean it was the best solution, just that it fit the incentives
BlueTemplar 2mo ago
The current kind of car is extremely good at doing what it does. It's just that most of the benefits are short term, and for the car user (and the oil salesman), while the costs are borne by everyone else, and some of the worst ones are long term. (Some similarities to hard drugs here.)
account42 2mo ago
Cars are actually the best solution to transportation once you stop ignoring inconvenient but real requirements like autonomy and isolation.
- ben_w 2mo ago
  > Cars are actually the best solution to transportation "the" is the error here. There's places and people for whom cars are so. There's other cases where public transport covers the people while business-owned vans cover deliveries of bulky items, which is essentially how I've lived the last 8 years, though for "bulky" I should note I've seen someone take an actual kitchen skink on public transport here in Berlin. I've also found some islands here Berlin with no bridge connection to the mainland and hence no practical use for a car at those locations; that said, my main reference for "car free" domiciles would be Sark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sark
- polotics 2mo ago
  Cars are not a system. You need roads, traffic lights, drivers and pedestrians that respect rules, not too many holy cows in the way, not too much CO2 in your quasi-self-sustaining spaceship, lungs and livers that can deal with the soot, a tolerance for high-velocity impacts risks, not too many other cars around, ...

KurSix 2mo ago

"The market chose it" doesn't mean it was the best solution, just that it fit the incentives

BlueTemplar 2mo ago

The current kind of car is extremely good at doing what it does. It's just that most of the benefits are short term, and for the car user (and the oil salesman), while the costs are borne by everyone else, and some of the worst ones are long term. (Some similarities to hard drugs here.)

account42 2mo ago

Cars are actually the best solution to transportation once you stop ignoring inconvenient but real requirements like autonomy and isolation.

ben_w 2mo ago
> Cars are actually the best solution to transportation "the" is the error here. There's places and people for whom cars are so. There's other cases where public transport covers the people while business-owned vans cover deliveries of bulky items, which is essentially how I've lived the last 8 years, though for "bulky" I should note I've seen someone take an actual kitchen skink on public transport here in Berlin. I've also found some islands here Berlin with no bridge connection to the mainland and hence no practical use for a car at those locations; that said, my main reference for "car free" domiciles would be Sark: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sark https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sark
polotics 2mo ago
Cars are not a system. You need roads, traffic lights, drivers and pedestrians that respect rules, not too many holy cows in the way, not too much CO2 in your quasi-self-sustaining spaceship, lungs and livers that can deal with the soot, a tolerance for high-velocity impacts risks, not too many other cars around, ...