Results for: Avatar Effect

The Avatar Effect: Why Drivers Suck

What I call the Avatar effect plays a pervasive (if unconscious) role on the road. Basically, it comes down to moral hazard: people are more likely to take risks when they feel they are shielded from the consequences of their actions. Especially when they feel detached from danger via avatars or proxies. Like Jake Sully (the crippled main character of Avatar), who uses a super expensive Na’vi hu

Read More

Learning to Drive... Poorly

There are quite a few vested interests, learning how to teach computers to drive. It is not just automakers and Google either; there are countless start-ups in various countries attacking our lack of computerized chauffeurs. Unfortunately, with all this focus on algorithms, people have forgotten to teach humans how to drive properly. Common commuters are the worst. They are egotistical, aggressive

Read More