Carmera.
“unholy merging of flesh and metal” got me. Oh that’s good.
I guess the holy merging would be human and bicycle.
You’ve never had a cyclist on the sidewalk yell that you’re walking on the wrong side of the sidewalk as they blast past you at road speeds?
Assholes are assholes, regardless of what flavor unholy chimera they’ve merged into. They’re just less deadly when they’re non-charmeras.
My favorite is when someone has some minor road dispute that cost them maybe a couple of seconds in drive time, and they follow you to catch up with you and scream at you about it…almost as if they weren’t actually on their way to go fucking do anything.
They were already late to whatever they’re supposed to be doing, and you’ve just become the excuse they needed.
Reminder that a pattern of behavior is not an accident, it is born from intentional choices. Running late isn’t something that just happens to people, it is a choice. They choose not to leave on time, they choose not to manage their time, and at a subconscious level they enjoy speeding so leaving late is often an exercise of rationalization. It justifies their speeding and absolves them of guilt when they end up hurting or killing someone. ‘Sure, they were speeding and they know speeding causes accidents… but they didn’t have a choice, they had to speed or they might of lost their job!’ 😮💨
Reminder that a pattern of behavior is not an accident, it is born from intentional choices. Running late isn’t something that just happens to people, it is a choice.
Tell that to my ADHD
That doesnt mean that speeding when you are late is OK.
I hate driving, it feels like it got way worse after covid, like people forgot how to drive properly
It’s the same phenomenon of de-socialization that was radically accelerated during peak Covid that has led to everything from a 1000% increase in unruly passengers on airlines, to a drastic decrease in relationships and dating, to a whole host of people just checking out from the social contract and embracing ludicrous conspiracy theories and retreating to online safe-spaces where any crazy thought will be validated and praised.
As a species we were not meant to have constant exposure to millions of people’s innermost thoughts and feelings and unrestrained impulsive ideas. It fucks with your head. Combine that with the economic incentive of keeping people in one spot, scrolling their attention-span to sawdust, and you are training an entire generation of people to turn off their inner monologues and to stop thinking entirely, just seeking validation and things to click on.
I feel strongly that AI ruining the internet will be a net-positive, as it’s going to drive more people to human spaces to connect with each other. Sure there will be a whole segment of people raised in the AI slop of the next decade, but there will also be a subset of people who want more and create their own spaces with other real humans.
I think people all just hate each other more now. Generally stress makes little aggressions feel more extreme and the world is in fact falling apart at the seams.
Plus scientific studies have shown people with more bumper stickers were more violent and more likely to commit road rage seeing the car as an extension of themselves and interactions with the car as attacks on personal self and people are much more aware of “personal space” than before covid probably upping the sense of the car being an extension for more people.
I wouldn’t say people hate each other. I think it is more that car dependency is deeply dehumanizing and stressful in a way that leads to violent outbursts that further erode our sense of community and collectiveness. It doesn’t help that capitalism is a cut throat system that primes people to see others as being competition rather than comrades. Together we have become a people of hyper individualist, anti-social consumers… A spiritual sort of rot that is incompatible with the ideals that civilization itself is built on.