EVERYONE cares what others think - how do we react on the road?

rez333 · 03-20-2012, 11:40 AM

There's a million threads on Camaro5 that indicate that we care what people think. People will ask complete strangers what they think of their mods, or get upset when someone disses their car, or they can't resist being challenged at the light.

There are some self-righteous folks though who will reply "why do you care what other people think?" as if they are so immune from social approval that they surely must live at a monastry at the top of the mountain.

I asked myself that question this morning "why do we care what others think?", and so I leaned on Google to find me an answer:

http://psychcentral.com/blog/archive...-others-think/

There you have it: we ALL care what others think. Don't pretend that you don't. The amount that we care varies between person to person - some people are extremely sensitive and needy, and some people don't seem to care who they hurt. However for human beings to function as a society, it is inbuilt in us to care what others think otherwise there would be no social cohesion. Unless you're a raving psychotic - you care what others think!

Which comes to the point of my thread: Now that we understand how we are wired, how do we rationalize how we should behave on the roads? Based on the threads created on car forums all over the world, I would say that a sizable percentage of people who own high performance cars feel badass in their car and therefore get irked when challenged by some punk in a ricer or underpowered 3 series BMW. Many people can't resist the temptation to put the upstart in their place through some display of automotive power.

I have self-control, I assess the situation and safety of others before doing any hard acceleration; nevertheless the feeling of being irked still sits in me. I feel compelled to put the punk in their place, even though I don't necessary act on it. I wondered to myself whether it's possible to separate myself from society so I don't have these feelings any more, but I realized (after reading the article) that I am wired to care what others think - and this "caring" has merged with my feelings of being badass in my car, to create this hybrid emotion of being irked when challenged by punks.

Can I cure myself of this hybrid emotion?

Sir Nuke · 03-20-2012, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rez333

Can I cure myself of this hybrid emotion?

NO.....so don't bother.....deal with "WHO YOU ARE", and others like you will gather......ahhhhh like on a car forum. :{D

rez333 · 03-20-2012, 05:11 PM

There's a way around this emotion, and I suspect those self-righteous folks who say "why do you care what other people think?" employ this tactic, is through a class-superiority-mentality. If you think you're "better" than someone, than you can justify why you don't care what they think.

For example, if you're the President of the US and some homeless drunkard shouts verbal abuse, you can ignore it because you're "better" than them.

03-20-2012, 11:40 AM	#1
rez333 Drives: 2013 ZL1 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: St. Joseph Posts: 1,283	EVERYONE cares what others think - how do we react on the road? There's a million threads on Camaro5 that indicate that we care what people think. People will ask complete strangers what they think of their mods, or get upset when someone disses their car, or they can't resist being challenged at the light. There are some self-righteous folks though who will reply "why do you care what other people think?" as if they are so immune from social approval that they surely must live at a monastry at the top of the mountain. I asked myself that question this morning "why do we care what others think?", and so I leaned on Google to find me an answer: http://psychcentral.com/blog/archive...-others-think/ There you have it: we ALL care what others think. Don't pretend that you don't. The amount that we care varies between person to person - some people are extremely sensitive and needy, and some people don't seem to care who they hurt. However for human beings to function as a society, it is inbuilt in us to care what others think otherwise there would be no social cohesion. Unless you're a raving psychotic - you care what others think! Which comes to the point of my thread: Now that we understand how we are wired, how do we rationalize how we should behave on the roads? Based on the threads created on car forums all over the world, I would say that a sizable percentage of people who own high performance cars feel badass in their car and therefore get irked when challenged by some punk in a ricer or underpowered 3 series BMW. Many people can't resist the temptation to put the upstart in their place through some display of automotive power. I have self-control, I assess the situation and safety of others before doing any hard acceleration; nevertheless the feeling of being irked still sits in me. I feel compelled to put the punk in their place, even though I don't necessary act on it. I wondered to myself whether it's possible to separate myself from society so I don't have these feelings any more, but I realized (after reading the article) that I am wired to care what others think - and this "caring" has merged with my feelings of being badass in my car, to create this hybrid emotion of being irked when challenged by punks. Can I cure myself of this hybrid emotion?

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
The 2011+ Mustang Thread	GatorBlue371	General Automotive + Other Cars Discussion	11874	08-23-2011 12:30 PM
Something to make you laugh!!!	2010 2-Tone	Off-topic Discussions	50	07-02-2010 11:44 AM
road trip advice with c5?	rd-camaro	5th Gen Camaro SS LS LT General Discussions	12	05-17-2010 12:57 PM
1st road trip	ritchie57	5th Gen Camaro SS LS LT General Discussions	6	11-13-2009 05:58 AM
Road Tar	Justin	General Automotive + Other Cars Discussion	8	07-17-2009 01:22 PM

03-20-2012, 05:11 PM	#3
rez333 Drives: 2013 ZL1 Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: St. Joseph Posts: 1,283	There's a way around this emotion, and I suspect those self-righteous folks who say "why do you care what other people think?" employ this tactic, is through a class-superiority-mentality. If you think you're "better" than someone, than you can justify why you don't care what they think. For example, if you're the President of the US and some homeless drunkard shouts verbal abuse, you can ignore it because you're "better" than them.