It may be critical to note that tracking estimates of the internal states of other entities often feels like just having a clue about what’s going on. If someone asks us how we came to our intuitions, without careful introspection, we might answer with “I just know” or “I pay attention is how!” or similar.
To unpack a mundane example, here’s a somewhat rambly account of some of what I’m tracking in my head while I operate a motor vehicle:
When I’m driving, I don’t actively scan through all the sounds and smells and tactile events and compare them with past experiences with this and other vehicles. But I sure notice if the steering is a little tight when my foot is on the brake! Likewise, I couldn’t tell you anything about steering and pedal angles, but I can note subtle differences in the way I’m operating the car when there’s reason to believe the road may be slick.
Interrogating these facts can reveal that I must be tracking things like the weather, what drive mode I’m in, the sounds of the engine and the tires on the road, the texture of the steering feedback, &c.; but I notice that actually catching myself doing that monitoring can be tricky—especially if I want to perform the task of driving without error. Doing so can detract from my ability to effectively monitor other things like the position of my vehicle on the road, the configuration of traffic in my immediate vacinity, the current distance to my next turn, the distance I’m keeping from the vehicle in front of me relative to my current speed and road conditions …
But monitoring an estimate of my own internal state is a skill that can be practiced too, and one I must develop if I am to drive safely! I can rightly think of my body-mind-complex as a component in the system I’m trying to operate here, and if the body is drowsy or hungry or the attention is variable in this moment I would do well to adjust my driving to compensate.
Add to this the process of continuously correlating the behavior of other driver-vehicle-systems with possible and likely future movements.
I’m not sure if driving is unusually complex, or if most things go this deep. (Somebody do walking or typing or eating and see if those activities are similarly complicated.) I do know I didn’t list everything I know goes into building my intuitions on the road. (Feel free to shout out the important things I missed.)
Driving is the most complex and demanding thing the median US resident does on a regular basis.
Some jobs, like playing sports professionally, surgery, courtroom lawyer, high-end chef are probably also demanding, I’ve never done any of those, but they seem like good examples of needing to monitor all sorts of different things and adjust to changes. No comment on how cognitively taxing they are compared to driving.
Belatedly, it occurs to me that all that is for highway driving. Local driving requires a whole different model. Though many of the inputs come from the same places, the processing is often entirely different.
It may be critical to note that tracking estimates of the internal states of other entities often feels like just having a clue about what’s going on. If someone asks us how we came to our intuitions, without careful introspection, we might answer with “I just know” or “I pay attention is how!” or similar.
To unpack a mundane example, here’s a somewhat rambly account of some of what I’m tracking in my head while I operate a motor vehicle:
When I’m driving, I don’t actively scan through all the sounds and smells and tactile events and compare them with past experiences with this and other vehicles. But I sure notice if the steering is a little tight when my foot is on the brake! Likewise, I couldn’t tell you anything about steering and pedal angles, but I can note subtle differences in the way I’m operating the car when there’s reason to believe the road may be slick.
Interrogating these facts can reveal that I must be tracking things like the weather, what drive mode I’m in, the sounds of the engine and the tires on the road, the texture of the steering feedback, &c.; but I notice that actually catching myself doing that monitoring can be tricky—especially if I want to perform the task of driving without error. Doing so can detract from my ability to effectively monitor other things like the position of my vehicle on the road, the configuration of traffic in my immediate vacinity, the current distance to my next turn, the distance I’m keeping from the vehicle in front of me relative to my current speed and road conditions …
But monitoring an estimate of my own internal state is a skill that can be practiced too, and one I must develop if I am to drive safely! I can rightly think of my body-mind-complex as a component in the system I’m trying to operate here, and if the body is drowsy or hungry or the attention is variable in this moment I would do well to adjust my driving to compensate.
Add to this the process of continuously correlating the behavior of other driver-vehicle-systems with possible and likely future movements.
I’m not sure if driving is unusually complex, or if most things go this deep. (Somebody do walking or typing or eating and see if those activities are similarly complicated.) I do know I didn’t list everything I know goes into building my intuitions on the road. (Feel free to shout out the important things I missed.)
Driving is the most complex and demanding thing the median US resident does on a regular basis. Some jobs, like playing sports professionally, surgery, courtroom lawyer, high-end chef are probably also demanding, I’ve never done any of those, but they seem like good examples of needing to monitor all sorts of different things and adjust to changes. No comment on how cognitively taxing they are compared to driving.
Interesting point, I had never thought of it before.
Belatedly, it occurs to me that all that is for highway driving. Local driving requires a whole different model. Though many of the inputs come from the same places, the processing is often entirely different.