h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Nope. I shall resist. Good column again my different-sided neighbo(u)r!

Thanks!

I never wondered why people drove on whichever side of the road they were supposed to drive on.

The maximum extent of my wondering has to do with the width of railroad tracks, which seems to have evolved from the width of tracks for Roman chariots.

I don't wonder about the width of roads themselves. This seems quite variable, though you'd be a fool to drive an eight foot wide vehicle down a lane that's only seven feet wide. I saw some really narrow lanes in perugia, Italy, and I suspect that even narrower lanes exist.

The Roman road thing is also a myth.

Almost anything can be a myth.

People stay up late on dark nights, making myths about things. But at least I wasn't wondering about which side of the road people drove on....

You do you!

See, it's not about roads after all!

Well.....

http://magazine.engineerjobs.com/2015/3-engineering-urban-myths.htm

There were numerous competing standards, and apparently the Romans stopped using chariots before they sent armies out and needed standard tracks.

And, yes, it is a nice that President Bush accommodated his guests. He was an exemplar of good manners. I was sorry our immediate previous president could not have been on that level....

(I don't know if we could get minimal discussion, but at least I'm triying to deal with your main point.)

I would never have guessed.

I don't mind which side of the road you drive on, but there is an interesting question about our sense of identity.

I suppose we construct it from the experiences of our early years of life, as well as the values and ideas we learn from our families and friends. So, my identity might be formed from living in brick houses with gardens, having books and bicycles and pets.

Now I could go and live in a place where people live in skyscrapers. I would have to learn to adapt. My parents taught me tolerance and understanding others but I would miss my garden.And I would draw a line at eating cats!

The real problems arise when we start thinking that our way of doing things is better than our neighbo(u)r's. So maybe it's not so much tolerance as humility.

This has actually led to another column, MVP, so thanks.

In the meantime, I realise that I haven't given a link to Nanci Griffith's song. Which is much better than the column. So here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8kPv3w8h34

[I would never have guessed]

And yet you tolerate me. That should be the main point.

Interesting to see that the road side discussion still pops up despite mentioning this is not the point of the article...

Tolerance comes in all shapes and sizes. Driving on a certain side of the road has a very mechanical component to it and makes sense. When applied to less tactile concepts like culture, stuff can get hazy.
I find that tolerant people can have a lot of problems trying to stay tolerant when encountering someone that has thrown tolerance overboard. (Come to think of it, this also goes for the road side issue).

To add some narrow roads anyway: In Italy, my satnav once tried to guide my 1.85m wide car through a 1.8m wide alley. Since the width of the alley decreased over quite a long stretch, this was a bit problematic. I stopped when both my wing mirrors folded in from contacting the walls. Since the car was packed for our holiday (luggage blocking my internal rear view mirror), I then had to reverse blind to the point where the mirrors fitted again and my wife could open her door far enough to get out and guide me.

ouch!

Life is full of negotiations every inch of the way.

That must be a metaphor for something, but at the moment I can't think of what.

I know what you mean about tolerance confronting intolerance. I do not personally feel obligated to tolerate intolerance. Only to love people. They can leave their ideas outside.

"I do not personally feel obligated to tolerate intolerance. Only to love people. They can leave their ideas outside."

I can totally agree with that

Love is hard. I admire people who can love people they would otherwise want to hate. I do manage to find some redeeming features in most people, though.

Love comes with pain. If someone you love is ill, or unhappy, it hurts you too.

That's true.

The idea of loving people is itself an idea.

I'm not a misanthropist. I don't hate the human race. I want to like people, and I generally manage to do so unless they push me to the limit. If I can't like someone, maybe I can admire him/her.

I like you, Dmitri. I admire you. You have some great ideas. I don't want you to check them at the door. Where would he human race be without ideas -- preferably good ones like tolerance, respect for law, leisure time and the activities that people can pursue during that time.

There's also the idea of making videos of natural phenomona, accompanied by excellent music. I hope that idea will continue to prosper.