Blog #4

I know we all take driving for granted because it is so much a part of daily life, and it's so easy to do. What we don't realize is how many calculations and interpretations we are constantly making when we are driving. According to what Tom Vanderbilt's research has shown him, "every two feet... the driver was exposed to 1,320 'items of information', or roughly 440 words, per minute. This is akin to reading three paragraphs like this one while also looking at lots of pretty pictures, not mention doing all the other things mentioned above- and then repeating the cycle, every minute you drive" (52). This amazing fact shows just how complicated driving really is and how incredibly fast the human brain works. This is also what makes it nearly impossible for robots to drive. Vanderbilt describes the things to consider when teaching a robot to drive, "Teaching a machine to do this [drive] presents elemental problems. Simply analyzing any random traffic scene, as we constantly do , is an enormous undertaking. It requires not only recognizing objects, but understanding how they relate to one another, not just at that moment but in the future" (53). This quote shows how years of research and high tech machines cannot even match the capacity of the human brain. Driving, which is super involuntary and easy for humans, is nearly impossible for machines.

Honestly, I am not enjoying this book so far. It is full of very interesting facts and solid research, but it is so disorganized. There seems to be absolutely no central theme or idea. It is extremely difficult for me to read large amounts at a time because I feel like this book is leading me nowhere. It reads like a bunch of notes and fun facts that have been squashed together and put in a book.