Collective behavior

Driving on the freeway in Salt Lake City this week, I noticed a road sign similar to the one in the photo. (Of course, I could not take a photo while driving, so I had to create an approximate representation of what I saw!) However, when I first glanced at the sign, I thought it said, "FREE FOR ALL." Traffic is sometimes challenging in the area, but I would hardly consider it a free-for-all! That phrase brings up images of demolition derbies, government building riots, and similar craziness.

Some have supposed that this passage from the Old Testament book of Nahum represented a vision of the commotion of the last days, as seen by someone who had no context for our machinery and traffic conditions: "The chariots shall rage in the streets, they shall justle one against another in the broad ways: they shall seem like torches, they shall run like the lightnings." (Nahum 2:4) That sounds pretty much like a free-for-all!

Fortunately, the interaction between cars on our roads is normally pretty steady and mostly controlled. I often think about that. Each driver in each car controls a few thousand pounds of metal, a lot of mass with capacity for significant velocity, resulting in a lot of momentum. In effect, every automobile is a potential deadly weapon. If misdirected, the weapon can cause considerable destruction.

We drive around the streets with a critical assumption: we all agree to follow some basic rules. There are laws about what we do at a stoplight or stop sign. There are laws about yielding, about which side of the road we drive on, about proper safe speeds. In general, most of us carefully obey these rules; and so we all survive together. Sometimes those laws slow us down; we could get around town faster if we didn’t have to stop at the intersections, slow down close to schools, or yield to other cars. We sacrifice some of our personal freedom for the sake of the common good. We choose to obey because it helps all of us, collectively.

I #GiveThanks for the wisdom of appropriate collective behavior. I am grateful that we, as human beings, are concerned enough about those around us that we are willing to limit and control our own actions. We have the freedom to choose when we restrict our freedom. But the overriding concern is the collective welfare, not our personal convenience. It's not a free-for-all; it's a controlled-for-all. Fascinating concept.