Lets change the world (of driving)

I made an unpleasant discovery upon arriving in Utah: people here don't dim their high beams when passing you at night. In Wisconsin, I, along with most other people, were taught at a young age to switch off our brights when approaching an oncoming car. (Note- the point of this bloog is in the last 7 paragraphs, if you know the stuff at the start, skip to the end)

This is common sense, the bright lights make it harder for the other driver to see, thereby endangering both drivers. While assholes, like all the people living in Utah, are common, the solution I have arrived upon to this problem is a rare gem of college learning applied to real life. I know, it sounds crazy, but hang with me.

This situation is a classic prisoner's dilemma. In the prisoner's dilema, to suspects are being questioned separately by the police. They don't know what the other person is going to do. If both Prisoners give up their partner, they will each receive 5 year sentences. If neither rats on the other they will each receive a one year sentence. But if only one gives up the other, that person will go free while the other receives a 10 year sentence. The key here is that they cannot communicate, so invariably they both rat and wind up with a worse deal than they could have if they both kept quiet.

In my quest to deal with Utah drivers who don't dim their lights, my first instinct when approaching a poo for brains who hasn't turned off their brights dim my lights and then do nothing. This is the equivalent of not ratting- I'm hopping he will not rat, I.E dim his lights, and we will both enjoy the benefits of not looking into bright lights.

But, in Utah, invariably the other person rats. I get my brights off before I can even see other cars, usually because I can see the light from their headlights coming around a corner or over a hill. My lights go off, theirs stay on. This was a weak solution. In my mind I figured I was being the better person. Even though I was suffering while they gained. The other person got to leave their brights on, giving them a better view and they didn't have to put up with my brights.

Unsatisfied with this state of affairs, I thought about flashing my lights at them- maybe they just forgot. But this doesn't always work, some people are just ass holes, or, more likely, they are dumb asses and don't get what you are telling them.

The other alternative was to leave my brights on all the time, the equivalent of ratting in the parishioners dilemma. This meant I would be guaranteed not to be ratted on and get screwed by not fighting back. But this was still not the ideal situation, the situation where neither of the prisoners rat. I want my lights off, and their lights off.

This is where my college learning went good. There is a strategy in the prisoners dilemma called Tit for Tat. If you are using this strategy you start off being nice to the other person- you don't rat on them, you turn off your brights. Then you respond based on how your partner acts. If they rat, you rat, if they follow your lead and don't rat, you continue not to rat.

Driving in the middle of the dessert I made the quantum leap of applying this strategy to my problem with Utah drivers. You see, unlike Prisoners who only get one chance to rat or keep their mouths shut, and who can't communicate with the other prisoner, when you are approaching another car, they can see what you are doing with your lights. In addition, the interaction occurs over a certain amount of time, not all at once.

So I began to apply to Tit for Tat strategy and a miraculous thing happened! It worked. As soon as I could see another car was coming, I would dim my lights. If they dimmed their lights, I responded by keeping mine dimmed. If they failed to dim their brights, I TURNED MY BRIGHTS BACK ON. That was all it took.

Not only did I feel better because I was being proactive, rather than just putting up with it, people got the message. Rather than just seeing me go from bright to dim, they would see me turn my brights back on, causing them serious annoyance. No longer could they take advantage of me- if they wanted me to suffer, they would suffer as well. In effect, they could control my brights with their own brights.

Of course there were some people who left their brights on. These are the people we should use to diffuse bombs in Iraq. With my tit for tat strategy I could be sure these people hadn't just forgotten, they got my message when I turned my brights on as I approached them. They just wanted me to suffer, and so they suffered with me.

The best part of this strategy is that it is contagious. People can see what I am doing, and hopefully they will act the same way. If everyone starts doing this the world will be a safer, happier place. People will start out acting kind, and kindness will be returned. People who want to be dicks will get thiers.

The only problem with this situation occurs when you face a group of cars, and only the person in front fails to turn off their brights. I don't recommend this strategy, its not right to punish the people behind the ass hole for actions beyond their control. I suggest a flash in this circumstance.

And there you have it, you can take control. I already feel better.