Human Behavior

The Lost Art of the Turn Signal

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Over the last several years, I’ve observed a real decrease in the use of turn signals. This is to some extent a geographical phenomenon–some areas are much worse than others–but the general trend seems to be nationwide.

Indeed, the failure to use turn signals has reached such levels that it has to be significantly impacting the efficiency of traffic flow, as well as safety.

It’s tempting to put this down to an outbreak of narcissism so extreme that many people act as if they consider themselves to be the only conscious beings in the world. But even if one thought that all the other drivers were merely cleverly-programmed robots, wouldn’t it still be a good idea to let those robots know that you’re going to make a turn? Is there a strong form of solipsism on the loose?

This may sound like a trivial issue, but I don’t think it is. How can we have a society if we are not–literally–willing to lift a finger for each other?

On War, Comprehension and Persuasion

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There must be something in the water lately as I have been getting an upsurge of inquiries and public comments regarding information operations, public diplomacy, “soft power” agents of influence, 5GW and similar matters. There are other blogs I can recommend as being better on this score – Beacon, MountainRunner, Kent’s Imperative, Swedish Meatballs Confidential and Whirledview to name but a few. Also, I would suggest that interested readers search the archives of Studies in Intelligence, PARAMETERS, The Strategic Studies Institute, Combined Arms Research Library and the threads at The Small Wars Council. Genuine expertise may be found there and for discussions of theory and emerging trends, I recommend Dreaming 5GW.

That being said, I will offer my two cents anyway.

One point of agreement across the political spectrum and that of informed opinion is that the USG has not done a particularly good job of managing “the war of ideas” in the conflict with Islamist terrorism. Or against state adversaries. Or with persuading neutrals and even our own allies to our point of view. When you are having difficulty drawing even in global popularity contest with a crowd of bearded fanatics who put beheading videos on the internet, it’s time to admit there’s a problem.

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We’re Making Progess! Sort Of.

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Wont as I am to see the silver lining in every cloud, I can’t help but think that two recent racial episodes represent a sort of progress in racial relations.

In the Jena-6 case in Louisiana, a group of six black teenagers sucker-punched a white teenager and then kicked the crap out him while he lay unconscious on the ground. They did so after the white teenager made racially derogatory comments.

In the Duke non-rape case, a white, vote whoring D.A. framed a group of (mostly) upper-class white jocks for the rape of a black women. He appears to have been motivated by a desire to curry favor with local black voters.

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