fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
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User ID: 3415
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
I don't think you should implement bike lanes without stiff penalties for not using them (or for cars, stealing the space).
Tentatively down, although faith in western police to do a good job is low.
For now I see bike lanes as a waste of space that bicycles don't use.
It's tricky, adoption in the west is slow but growing. Very slow though, biking as a mode of transportation is climbing YoY in Toronto's core, but it's lower than I'd expect it to be given the massive utility (and traffic).
However, another reason they seem empty is because they are significantly more efficient. Bike lanes have wayyyyy higher throughput than car lanes, so you also don't see as many bikes because they're not stuck in traffic like you are (you're only seeing the same ~12 cars in your proximity), they're already gone.
If you live in the suburbs they probably are underused though. I don't have a dog in the fight of suburban living, if suburban residents want to have 4 lane each way mega roads (and the perpetual trickle of kids and old people being killed crossing them) that is their prerogative.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Do you live in LA/surrounding area?
The culture of "we don't let people in, so if you want to change lanes don't signal so you can swerve in an take them by suprise so they don't defend their lane" is one of the most ridiculous cultural own-goals this side of sub-saharan Africa.
Only Americans could design their society around cars and then get mad at each other for having the audacity to... drive cars nearby.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Few things scare me more than a bike whizzing out of my blindspot and across (or near) the path of my vehicle
Do we think bike lanes may help with lane interactions by giving them a separated containment zone?
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Do we think bike lanes may help with predictability by giving them a separated containment zone?
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Sorry I should have been more clear. I think that having things like "Bayesian reasoning" and "try to seek the truth, if you're wrong, adjust your understanding of the world" and "attempt to anchor your thoughts and arguments in real and truthful facts" are all great things to do. I think they make people make smarter decisions and be correct more often.
I don't think they're a silver bullet, and none of them will make you right when you're wrong. You can also justify stupid shit by dressing it up in smart language.
But I think people who incorporate such ideals/heuristics into their life critically think more, and thus it is useful. It's just that rationalists seem to lean into it a bit much (not "pay lip service but don't do it"). They, like most people, still overvalue their beliefs, see: the perpetual meltdown over p(doom).
Why not? People are not that bad at coming up with heuristics that work for them. They have their limit's, of course, and offer no way of resolving disagreements, but it's really not a bad way of looking for the truth.
I don't think you're trolling me (although if you are, bravo) but are you serious? You will struggle to be right about anything if all your evidence is just you noticing things that confirm your biases and ignoring things that show you may be wrong (or at least not right).
This is a first for me though. I've never seen someone say out loud "anecdotes and confirmation bias is fine, actually"
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
No one could ever comprehend the struggles of the American life
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
While I don't disagree, I'm not sure if naked reliance on anecdotes and confirmation bias is much better.
At least """rationalists""" (I really can't type this with a straight face) pay lip service to Bayes, updating their opinions in the face of truth, etc.
While they're still human, that at least forces one to think about their thinking occasionally.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
I don't really see the issue with having a short list of "countries worth defending"
My list is incredibly short, and it's getting shorter as western nations/political elites signal clearly that their values and mine are becoming more and more at odds
Basically every historical country isn't worth defending as of 2025, because human society and norms have changed since then, and now they'd be outdated.
If I lived in the 1800s, I'd like the countries around then, and shit on the countries from 1600 for being backwards idiots. But I don't live in the 1800s so instead I look down on them for being backwards idiots. I imagine the people of 2200 will feel that way about us.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
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yes, more for the habit, also 0 cost
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yes, risk/reward is so bad here (risk: permanently ruin someone's life, reward: save a miniscule fraction of your time)
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yes but only if we make speed limits actually reflect the limit (so like 125-130km/h) and then vigorously enforce above that with automated methods. I have always found it deeply ridiculous speed limits are actually speed limit + ~10-20% because now I have to think about what speed above the speed limit is below cop's threshold to do something about it. So stupid.
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yes, unless there's tons of traffic. If you are in the left lane slowing people behind you (and there's room in other lanes) you are consenting to being bullied. I just pass these idiots on the right though, not worth the negative vibes of tailgating and high-beaming people.
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now that I own a car in Toronto I have become ruthless. I let others in, and if you don't let me in and I need to get in, I am going. I don't aggro cut people off because I'm not risking my car getting smoked, but in busy cites you need to make your space.
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I try not to because it's good to have good habits and driving like an asshole is toxic to your vibes. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
You gotta give more details on how using your turn signals is harmful for you
Also what kind of BMW do you drive? My buddy just got an M3 with I think one of the last naturally aspirated (?) engines and it's such a monster.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
That bike lane discussion you linked to was so much fun.
Very illuminating however, your point about living in entirely different worlds really resonated with me. I haven't interacted with someone with such orthogonal views to mine in a long time. I can usually understand where people come from and why they think they way they do, but it was very hard here. The level of anger and reality denial was quite something.
Also very funny to see any pretense of "rationalism" or truth-seeking completely fly out the window to be replaced by personal anecdotes and confirmation bias.
Great time, would do again. I think my answer to "why bother" is because it's fun feeling self righteous anger and arguing circles around people. I'm happy I discovered this website.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
You can't tell me Adelyn Moore isn't hot AF with a straight face pls
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Her article on the gangbang has links to some of the fluffers twitter/fetlife profiles.
Also re-reading the article, one of the fluffers fucked ~30 dudes herself lmfao
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
The who/what/why doesn't really matter at this point though.
The point is the USA backed a regime change, and the end result 70 years later is Iran is no longer controlled by that regime, and HATES the counties involved in establishing that regime.
So what do we think will happen if we try it again?
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Yeah fair I misspoke
I think what I mean is I predict trying to replace illegal immigrant farm workers with American farm workers would reduce American agriculture competitiveness worldwide and make Americans very mad about the price of their food.
Hence why politicians love to talk a big game but never do anything to actually fix it (punish businesses who hire illegals)
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
I'm really not a gambler by nature but I'd be willing to put money down IRL that there is never any coordinated significant deportation of farm workers in the USA during Trump's term
Maybe a farm worker or 1000 will get inadvertently sniped as ICE roams around, but there's no shot they deliberately up the pressure on farmers. My basis for this reasoning is the fact red states don't bother to use e-verify or crack down on the American farm owners who freely choose to hire illegal immigrants, despite claiming they hate immigration and there being some relatively straightforward solutions they refuse to use.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
We agree on a lot, basically all of that
I just really push back on the biking is not rational piece. Even when streetcars are running flawlessly I can out bike them because they have to stop at every stop to offload/pick up, I don't.
I also never have to wait for my bike to arrive, although I guess you could spam so many vehicles headways were always <2 min but that's not economical or practical.
I also enjoy the fresh air and exercise in the morning, it's a great way to wake up.
Also transit doesn't run on residential side streets, so the 5-10 minute walk to get to transit (or get from transit to your destination) is a significant portion of overall trip time, which is totally skipped on a bike.
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Yeah I stand corrected on this, although I think farm labour has far too many negatives and will never pay enough to make Americans think it's worth it (demonstrated by the current situation) but with enough market distortions/minimum wage I'm sure you could get there.
Whether society is better at the end, hard to know, and we never will, because everyone in power, despite saying otherwise, loves exploiting Mexicans instead
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Yeah totally agree, just doesn't fit great with the economics of farm labour.
But maybe it would, we'll never know because it's easier to just exploit Mexicans
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Yeah fair enough
I've been vibe analyzing this so happy for feedback lol
Shame we'll never know because Trump backed off
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
Yeah that feels like a fairly safe bet. Timing of effect impacts becomes very important though.
We shall see! Or I guess we won't, given Trump gave up
fmac
Ask me about bike lanes
1yr ago
The parked car / bike lane interactions are impossible and stupid. I don't know if I prefer road/bike lane/parked car or road/parked car/bike lane, honestly they both suck.
The real issue is parked cars on major streets. I cannot believe we still allow that. It would be a huge win for traffic too. The fact ~6 people storing their cars at massively subsidized rates on public space can destroy the throughput of a road by creating bottlenecks where it goes from 2 to 1 lane is insane. I think new buildings should have underground paid parking so we can still have ample parking supply, and then we can clear out major streets and increase traffic throughput for all.
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