Comments on: Difficulty Homeostasis

By: Calgary Dodge

Calgary Dodge — Fri, 13 May 2011 13:00:04 +0000

It’s a pretty dangerous habit when people try to maintain the level of difficulty when driving by trying to do other things rather than focusing on the road. Well, though the driver can memorize the route, each exit, curve or bump and even though there may be something new going on outside your car window still, the driver should make safety a priority.

By: gpsman

gpsman — Mon, 09 May 2011 13:17:56 +0000

“… you’re cognitively distracted which means you’re still looking out at the road but you’ve got things going on inside your head, you’re sort of thinking about things and as a consequence of the internal thought may not be attentionally aware of things that are actually happening in front of you.”

You can tell people that, but IME it rarely registers, and more rarely registers for any appreciable length of time.

By: Roger Frenticore

Roger Frenticore — Wed, 04 May 2011 19:35:21 +0000

This may explain why so many people still drive under the influence despite repeated warnings of its dangers.

By: Betty Barcode

Betty Barcode — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 20:57:03 +0000

I’ve never heard my gas price homeostasis argument presented elsewhere, so I don’t know how often it is accompanied by an excuse like “…so I’ll keep tooling around in the SUV.”

What I had in mind was not that people invent more excuses to jump behind the wheel when they have a more fuel-efficient car, but that they are far more likely to live farther from work, school, and their other daily activities

By: Josh R

Josh R — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 03:23:45 +0000

Eh, I tend to disagree with the idea of gas consumption homeostasis. Up to a point you can get more wasteful it’s true, but there are only so many extra trips you can make. Besides I mostly hear that argument made in a “And that’s why we shouldn’t bother ever trying to improve gas millage and I should just keep tooling around in my expedition.” vein, which makes me distrust it whenever it comes up.

By: Betty Barcode

Betty Barcode — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 21:32:12 +0000

In a similar vein, I think people have price homeostasis when it comes to the cost of gas. Give them zippy little cars that get more miles to the gallon and they will just drive more, until their gas pump expenditures reach a certain discomfort threshold.