Stepping Into The Present Light

I got a chance to drive around in a modern vehicle today. It was like being in the cockpit of a space ship from my point of view. I currently drive an ancient vehicle. So ancient is my car, that it's audio system consists of a radio/cassette player. To play music from my phone through the speakers in the car, I have to use an FM transmitter, or one of those cassette to audio jack adaptor things.

The car I drove around today, however, appeared to be running on fairy dust. It could pretty much drive itself in most situations while massaging my back. Each seat - driver and passengers - had their own climate control and other such fanciness.

My mind was kind of blown really. I had been in modern cars of course, living in London and having taken Ubers, of course I had. I just hadn't driven one until today. The contrast between my 20th Century car and the 2019 edition beauty I sat in today was just really incredible.

I love vintage things. I own many cameras from the 1950's, I own leather bound books, e.t.c., and sometimes I just don't see the point of upgrading, haha. Somehow I feel if not for planned obsolescence, I'd still be using my original Mercury 121 Motorola Flair [Shoutout to anyone who remembers this phone]. By the way I still have it, and it still turns on, but none of the sim cards would work as they've been divorced from the system many years ago.

Anyway, the point is this; I really enjoyed the drive around in the modern car today. One of the reasons I love the old cars is that I'm a control freak when it comes to driving. I want to control everything. I'm one of those people that really dread the day when autonomous vehicles become the norm. I'm like that guy William Adama from Battlestar Galactica.

So, I've been wondering if I'm living in the past. There's nostalgia - ala the hipster lifestyle, and there's refusing to let go of the past. Perhaps the time has come to let go a bit and let computers do their thing. In other parts of my life I have ceded some control (I finally let security tech store my passwords for me for example). Perhaps it's time to let the computer take the wheel of my car too.

After all, computers are way better drivers than humans, but to truly get the benefit of that, we'd have to eliminate human driving completely. If all cars on the road were computer driven, accidents would become extremely rare. There will be no drunk driving, no distracted driving (computers can send text messages and drive at the same time without issue), no fatigue, no ego, no road rage, and so on.

That is probably way, way in the future, but for now, as long as human beings are behind the wheel, I want to be the one navigating around them. I want to be the one actively slowing down because I can see the idiot across the lane is sending a text while changing lanes and cutting me off. I want to be the one to pull away from a hazardous situation to avoid the inevitable clash of inflated egos that occur once behind the steering of a car.

Today felt like going from a candle-lit room into an electrically lit one. I think that I may be ready to allow some AI assistance. I think I may be ready to step into the light of the 21st Century.

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Peace and Love ✌🏿
Adé