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The premise is surely nonsense! The full logic ought to go: Why do we have cars? To go faster. Why do cars have brakes? In order to slow down again. If all we
by adam-a 14y ago
The premise is surely nonsense! The full logic ought to go: Why do we have cars? To go faster. Why do cars have brakes? In order to slow down again.
If all we were concerned about was going fast then why ever slow down? Cars need to regulate their speed in order to provide safety, and also so they are usable, if I can't stop then I can't get out at my destination. Many elements of a car help in it's overall function, which is to go fast, but you may as well say the purpose of a fan belt is to go fast. Brakes are a part of a car and saying that their purpose is the same as the whole car is useless and confusing. They have a specific purpose within the machine.
From the linked article: "[the] answer feels paradoxical which usually means there's a deep truth". Indeed. The simpler explanation is that it's pure twaddle.
- alexkus 14y agoIt's just one possible result of applying "two whys" and then not stating the answer to the first why.
- michaelt 14y agoif I can't stop then I can't get out at my destination. Different people seem to have different interpretations of this question. My interpretation was: Why have brakes instead of coasting to a stop? Coasting to a stop is popular with drivers who are 'Hypermiling' [1] - and bicycles used in velodromes don't have brakes [2]. While this isn't consistent with Richard Dalton's blog post (if you coast to a halt, you wouldn't need to throw your children out of a moving vehicle) but it isn't inconsistent with Jon Jagger's blog post, which Dalton credited as his inspiration. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-efficient_driving#Acceleration_and_deceleration_.28braking.29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Energy-efficient_driving#Accele... [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velodrome#Bicycles_and_track_design http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Velodrome#Bicycles_and_track_de...