mekka okereke Jul 8, 2023

🤔 Do bicycles create empathy? Or do people that care about other people, tend to care about bikes?

Why is there such a big overlap between "bike infrastructure radicalized people," and "people that care about people that are different than themselves?"

Why is there such a low overlap between "people with trash hateful takes" and "people that want more bike infrastructure?"

Jason CardilloJul 10, 2023
Show threadajkandy
@mekkaokereke I don’t think bikes create empathy so much as cars erode it. Sealed in a pod, cut off from the surrounding environment, sensorially muted, and attention shifted. A sense of entitlement regarding road space. Not that drivers are evil, but poor city design post WWII bulldozed everything else for the car - rail, streetcars, main streets, the idea of the street as a shared space for everyone - they bristle if you mention this privilege.
Jul 10, 2023 at 2:42amIvory for iOS
Show threadmaegulJul 10, 2023

@ajkandy @mekkaokereke

Being pitted against the cars or subjected to them can galvanise a group though. When I started motorcycling, I was surprised to realise that, in my country at least, most motorcyclists are immediately your friends. Like we wave or nod to each other on the road or waiting at lights. There was a cultural aspect, obviously, having made the less common choice to be into bikes, but also we all knew we were the minority and the cars were basically out to get us.

Show threadAndrew DaviesJul 10, 2023
@maegul @ajkandy @mekkaokereke I used to bike commute in New York city (decades ago, it's improved since). We had a sort of informal bike commuter mutual support group at the office. Every morning we'd share our near death experiences with each other.
Show threadklausfiend has movedJul 10, 2023
@ajkandy @mekkaokereke I think this is a more accurate formulation. It would also explain why I respond so differently to beat cops on foot compared to ones in squad cars.
Show threadWinterbayJul 10, 2023
@ajkandy @mekkaokereke That reminds me a lot of this classic Disney cartoon where Goofy's behaviour inside and outside the car is very very different: https://youtu.be/mwPSIb3kt_4
Goofy - Motor Mania

YouTube
Show threadRob RicciJul 10, 2023
@ajkandy @mekkaokereke I fully buy this - my opinion of humanity is at it's lowest when I'm driving