#11
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The Four Horsemen
On Fri, 8 Nov 2013 10:54:48 -0800 (PST), Dan O
wrote: I didn't even know it was a "thing"; I thought I had made it up. Well, I knew it was a patently obvious (to me) fundamental cognitive concept, but I *thought* I had pulled it together as a label from discrete words in my vocabulary; dunno maybe I heard it somewhere in my peripheral, er... awareness. I suppose I may have been exposed to the term in EMR training. Anyway, you guys know I've always said situational awareness is head and shoulders (and then some... hell, it's virtually *everything*) of safe bicycling in traffic. I found the Wikipedia page for it today. Cool stuff. Will start with the definition the Situation Awareness (SA): "the perception of elements in the environment within a volume of time and space, the comprehension of their meaning, and the projection of their status in the near future," That's pretty good. To establish ~on-topic: "... perception of the environment critical to decision-makers in... complex tasks such as... bicycle." A couple of other interesting notes: "One with an adept sense of situation awareness generally has a high degree of knowledge with respect to inputs and outputs of a system, i.e. an innate "feel" for situations, people, and events that play out due to variables the subject can control." I wouldn't emphasize the variables that I can control, because those I cannot are equally important, though those I can control do fall in for special treatment. It's fuzzy, though, as one little controlling action changes everything, including *relationship* with the things one cannot control. I agree with the characterization "innate 'feel'". "Situation awareness has been recognized as a critical, yet often elusive, foundation for successful decision-making across a broad range of complex and dynamic systems... " I agree with the characterization "elusive". As for Bike School: "... well-defined, highly-organized yet dynamic knowledge structures developed over time from experience... " I agree that SA depends on experience, and there is no substitute. "... individuals vary in their ability to acquire SA; thus, simply providing the same system and training will not ensure similar SA across different individuals. Endsley's model shows how SA "provides the primary basis for subsequent decision making and performance in the operation of complex, dynamic systems" Wow, it's quite an article. I've only just skimmed yet. Here's an interesting gotcha: "... unaware of information they do not know (the "unknown unknowns")." But exactly the same holds true for Bike School graduates. I liked the reference at Wikipedia about air combat dogfighting "strategy... to "get inside" your opponent's OODA [observe, orient, decide, act] loop". That's exactly what smart racing is to me; and I use this in ordinary traffic, too - except that it can be inverse here in that the objective is not (usually ;-) to outwit an opponent - maybe even extended to tricking them by messing with *their* SA - but in ordinary transportation the objective is more usually to feed their OODA loop in ways that enhance getting along together. (The Four Horsemen themselves are kind of inverse here in that it's not their presence, but rather their absence, that is ominous.) But of course aircraft don't "dog fight any more. Now they are vectored in by ground, or sometimes Airborne radar until the on board targeting system takes over and directs the pilot into missile range, then notifies the pilot when a missile is locked on and will even launch the missile if required. Dog fights at modern interceptor speeds are impossible as the data processing ability of the aircraft controller is too low and the data processor often fails during high G maneuvers. :-) -- Cheers, John B. |
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#12
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The Four Horsemen
On Fri, 08 Nov 2013 17:44:56 -0800, Dan wrote:
snip Beyond just riding through the ditch and over the berm onto the parking lot and around the back between the dumpster and the downspout, the rider's attitude factors in what they'll get out of it. Sure the first time through some new experience even the most curious adventurer ought to exercise caution, but once he'd felt the experience of doing it, the fledgling bike ninja will go, "Bonzai!!!" at the next opportunity where his experience is applicable. I'm not sure shouting "Small tree!!!" will help the fledgling bike ninja in his or her quest for adrenaline rushes. -- davethedave |
#13
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The Four Horsemen
its take the lane
or get out of their way... pick |
#14
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The Four Horsemen
datakoll writes:
its take the lane or get out of their way... pick And of course I always do... pick. Generally, it's best to be out of their way - unless there's a reason to be in their way. There's the issue: What is reasonably necessary for one bicyclist is not for another. And that's just bicyclists - what is reasonable to a bicyclist may not be to the motorist, who has a very different set of incentives. Heck, many (most?) motorists don't think riding a bicycle for transportation is reasonable! And then Rules of the Road factor. The Rules of the Road are mostly geared for motor traffic. When I do something that is altogether reasonable but deviates from the Rules of the Road, motorists observing this think it's unreasonable (because they do not share my incentives and perspective, but they nonetheless "put themselves in my shoes" to judge my actions... and their perspective in this little foray into my shoes is that *they* wouldn't ride a bicycle on the road at all - duh - that's why they're in a car; and if they *did* ride a bicycle on the road they'd damn sure stay out of the way of cars.) So my "violation" of the Rules of the Road - even though it had nothing whatsoever to do with getting in their way, and completely without trespass on anyone else, makes me a Bad Person in their mind, deserving of ill regard, and they proceed to treat me so _even in violation of the Rules of the Road_ (in their ~"defense", they often don't even know the rules they're violating, because they pertain to cooperation with bicyclists which is simply an abstract, foreign concept to them and they can't understand how this issue actually even exists because why in the hell would anyone think riding a bicycle on the road for transportation is a reasonable thing to do... but they feel justified anyway because it is not them who is the aforementioned Bad Guy). I use the lane whenever it suits me, but get out of the way of others, unless on balance (there's that word :-) the situation (and that one) reasonably calls for me to use the lane anyway, in which case we need to apply the Rules of the Road and Social Interaction (it would be nice if they have Situational Awareness of e.g. the broken glass on the shoulder or in the bike lane or whatever my "reason" is for needing to "take" the lane, but they generally don't - at which point Monderman's wisdom - "When Grandma steps into the road you stop, because that's what decent human beings do" - should kick in. (Okay, I'm no Grandma, but I *am* the more vulnerable road user). As each individual bicyclist's idea of what is reasonable can vary, I do tend to defer more and tolerate the less than ideal shoulder or bike lane or whatever ~reasonable option will allow me to get out of their way, when other bicyclists would never consider it reasonable and demand the lane (which is their right and no mistake) - in part because, as I've said, I'm bound to pull some **** any minute now, and even though I'm not going to need their cooperation for it, it just wouldn't be cool at all to set the stage with a context of, "This according to the Rules of the Road". Know what I mean? |
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The Four Horsemen
Dan writes:
datakoll writes: its take the lane or get out of their way... pick And of course I always do... pick. Generally, it's best to be out of their way - unless there's a reason to be in their way. There's the issue: What is reasonably necessary for one bicyclist is not for another. And that's just bicyclists - what is reasonable to a bicyclist may not be to the motorist, who has a very different set of incentives. Heck, many (most?) motorists don't think riding a bicycle for transportation is reasonable! And then Rules of the Road factor. The Rules of the Road are mostly geared for motor traffic. When I do something that is altogether reasonable but deviates from the Rules of the Road, motorists observing this think it's unreasonable (because they do not share my incentives and perspective, but they nonetheless "put themselves in my shoes" to judge my actions... and their perspective in this little foray into my shoes is that *they* wouldn't ride a bicycle on the road at all - duh - that's why they're in a car; and if they *did* ride a bicycle on the road they'd damn sure stay out of the way of cars.) So my "violation" of the Rules of the Road - even though it had nothing whatsoever to do with getting in their way, and completely without trespass on anyone else, makes me a Bad Person in their mind, deserving of ill regard, and they proceed to treat me so _even in violation of the Rules of the Road_ (in their ~"defense", they often don't even know the rules they're violating, because they pertain to cooperation with bicyclists which is simply an abstract, foreign concept to them and they can't understand how this issue actually even exists because why in the hell would anyone think riding a bicycle on the road for transportation is a reasonable thing to do... but they feel justified anyway because it is not them who is the aforementioned Bad Guy). I use the lane whenever it suits me, but get out of the way of others, unless on balance (there's that word :-) the situation (and that one) reasonably calls for me to use the lane anyway, in which case we need to apply the Rules of the Road and Social Interaction (it would be nice if they have Situational Awareness of e.g. the broken glass on the shoulder or in the bike lane or whatever my "reason" is for needing to "take" the lane, but they generally don't - at which point Monderman's wisdom - "When Grandma steps into the road you stop, because that's what decent human beings do" - should kick in. (Okay, I'm no Grandma, but I *am* the more vulnerable road user). As each individual bicyclist's idea of what is reasonable can vary, I do tend to defer more and tolerate the less than ideal shoulder or bike lane or whatever ~reasonable option will allow me to get out of their way, when other bicyclists would never consider it reasonable and demand the lane (which is their right and no mistake) - in part because, as I've said, I'm bound to pull some **** any minute now, and even though I'm not going to need their cooperation for it, it just wouldn't be cool at all to set the stage with a context of, "This according to the Rules of the Road". Know what I mean? Look, *most* motorists are pretty reasonable and nice - with the "Grandma steps out... " - at least SA enough that there *might* be broken glass or something in the bike lane and that I may have a good reason for taking the lane but they'll be nice even if they don't know what it could be. But there are (more than) enough who aren't so nice. Good separate facilites take the bicyclists out of the motorist's way most of the time. Motorists would then, I'd think, be more inclined to appreciate the *occasional* need to share. But certain bicyclists really like "controlling the situation", and therefor can't abide the thought of a separate facility - even if it's quite a lovely one - because it takes away their power to assert control, so they rationalize all kinds of arguments - trotting out or even making up examples of bad facilites in order to damn the very idea of them. |
#16
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The Four Horsemen
Dan writes:
Rules of the Road. This is of course a huge, sprawling topic, of utmost importance to many (most) independent travelers; but my coverage here will be short. The Rules of the Road greatly affect Situational Awareness, because it *strongly* influences what other road users are *apt* to do. It does not constrain what is possible, but it heavily drives probability. (The SA rider still needs to pay attention - to get inside the head of others and consider how "ruled" they are by the Rules.) The Rules of the Road - in The United States of America, at least - are almost entirely geared for automobile traffic, so they are often the proverbial round hole for the square peg of a bicyclist. But wait! The Rules of the Road (pretty much) *only* apply to the road, which it but a very small part of the bicyclist's landscape :-) Golly I guess that's about all I have to say about this (for now), except that (and we'll get into this with the other closely related Horseman, Social Interaction) certain unwritten fundamental rules are always in effect. This just in: "The News also accompanied officers of the Special Constabulary, who have been tasked with targeting cyclists flouting traffic laws in a massive blitz." |
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The Four Horsemen
Dan writes:
Sir Ridesalot writes: snip I believe it was Quakers who when building wooden ships used square pegs in round holes because that stopped the peg from twisting loose in use. So, sometimes even a square peg in a round hole is useful. That is very profound and at the same time quite practical. I *like* it! Thanks! "Keep Portland Weird!" |
#18
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The Four Horsemen
Dan writes:
datakoll writes: THE HORSEMEN ARE HERE.... PROB IS 'situational' means you vs them in the bicycle environment. Yes, problem(s). Otherwise what's there to say? What we have are mixed modes with greatly different incentives. Prblems ensue. (It's what separate facilities address.) Itsnot really situational more end game. Of course! Situational implies a give and take, a 'good' balance. Sorry to argue, but "situational" only implies a situation. And yes, I'll agree strongly that balance is key. Here there is no balance. But there is. There is. SA is simply the first part - knowing what's going on and what it means. From there you get into consideration and Social Interaction and... "Bonzai!!!" I *often* back off from my "inclination". Often. But the end game will be what it will be. You can frustrate a person, but inside them is a locomotive that will not be frustrated - one way or another. Well, I'll admit to getting way out of balance... but it all balances out in the end game. Bonzai! That is, posing as a 'road warrior' is self destructive. Yes. True. But believe me when I say that I am more the real deal than poseur. I said Yes, True, because I see the self-destruction in taking that perspective. But what's the alternative? Toeing the line? |
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The Four Horsemen
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#20
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The Four Horsemen
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