Flyover
Trying not to screw things up worse
Self-driving has 5 or 6 levels, ranging from (0) no self-driving at all, like a car from the 80s, up through (5) to where you can just get into the backseat and nap until you arrive at your destination. Most new cars today are at level 2 or 3 if they have the thing that helps you stay in your lane or brake faster to avoid rear-ending someone. Self-parking might be level 3 or 4. (I can't remember the exact scale and I'm currently being too lazy to look it up.) Cruise control is at level 1 or 2 I think.
When level 5 becomes widely adopted, that is where we will start to see changes in how houses, neighborhoods, cities and infrastructure are designed, and they will not be backward-compatible with non-self-driving cars, for the same reason Microsoft Word is not backward-compatible with typewriters. You come to Microsoft Word with an ink ribbon and say "Where do I put this?" and Word stares blankly and says "in a museum."
As always, there will be cognitive dissonance about level 5 driverless, with people simultaneously complaining about the new technology/expressing sentimentality for the past, while eagerly and mindlessly lining up to get the latest shiniest thing, or happily accepting when it is bought for them. Same for EVs.
Technology is always changing, both cars and the grid itself will respond to consumer demand, and people will adapt their concept of normal to whatever they're used to lately. The important thing then becomes not whether or not to get an EV but to remember that technology adoption is a choice, and it's usually better to make choices after thinking them through than because it's what everyone else is doing or because it's the path of least resistance (to whatever extent those things are different anyway).
Sometimes I'll use my old hand-powered tools instead of electric power tools, not because I actually think they're faster or do the job better (though they do that anyway in some cases) but to remind myself that it's a choice and that I value certain things over others.
When level 5 becomes widely adopted, that is where we will start to see changes in how houses, neighborhoods, cities and infrastructure are designed, and they will not be backward-compatible with non-self-driving cars, for the same reason Microsoft Word is not backward-compatible with typewriters. You come to Microsoft Word with an ink ribbon and say "Where do I put this?" and Word stares blankly and says "in a museum."
As always, there will be cognitive dissonance about level 5 driverless, with people simultaneously complaining about the new technology/expressing sentimentality for the past, while eagerly and mindlessly lining up to get the latest shiniest thing, or happily accepting when it is bought for them. Same for EVs.
Technology is always changing, both cars and the grid itself will respond to consumer demand, and people will adapt their concept of normal to whatever they're used to lately. The important thing then becomes not whether or not to get an EV but to remember that technology adoption is a choice, and it's usually better to make choices after thinking them through than because it's what everyone else is doing or because it's the path of least resistance (to whatever extent those things are different anyway).
Sometimes I'll use my old hand-powered tools instead of electric power tools, not because I actually think they're faster or do the job better (though they do that anyway in some cases) but to remind myself that it's a choice and that I value certain things over others.
