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speaker’s phone March 26, 2008

Posted by ocmpoma in : society , add a comment

Earlier this month I talked a bit about cell phone use while driving, and how studies seem to indicate it’s talking that’s the problem, not using a phone. Cognitive Daily has a post up on a study that looks at the difference between talking on a cell phone vs. talking to a passenger. The results of the study are significant, but I have some reservations, as does Dave Munger over at Cog Daily:

Arguably, the topic of the conversation — a life-threatening situation — is one that primes participants to be looking for danger. I’d be interested to see additional studies with different, more benign conversation topics. Also, since both participants were licensed drivers, these passengers might be more likely to alert drivers to dangers than, say, a child might. The study also doesn’t address hands-free cell phone use. Perhaps this is just as safe as conversing with the passenger for this type of conversation.

In addition to those, my main reservation is that the number of subjects was 96, which isn’t a very large sample. But I found the paper very interesting, and, as I said, its results are significant even with the small number of test subjects. I’d be quite interested in reading more work along the same lines, as well as work into why there is a difference. At first glance I find it difficult to accept that our brains perceive spoken language differently depending on how much electronics are involved.

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weekly quote #24: John Gardner March 21, 2008

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It’s been a long week; as such, I’m going to wrap up my Friday by putting up one of my favorite quotes. I do think, though, that it requires a reading of the entire book to appreciate it. The quote is the last words of John Gardner’s wonderful Grendel:

“Poor Grendel’s had an accident,” I whisper. “So may you all.”

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weekly photo #75: Sunset March 19, 2008

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Sunset
I took this photo as the sun was setting over the Cheptsa River, which is in the Republic of Udmurtia, part of the Russian Federation. We were on a long (which means three weeks on-site) arms control inspection. This was our first Saturday on-site, or, rather, off-site, since we drove out to spend the day at a picnic. Sure, I remember the long hours inspecting, the tensions of cabin fever with nothing to do but read, play cards, or table tennis. But what I really remember is the slow-grilled shashlik and home-made strawberry compote — hands down some of the best food I have ever had.

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opinion-polling reality March 17, 2008

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In this post, we have The Austrian Economists on the media on the recession.

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weekly photo #74: Philips March 14, 2008

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Philips
This week’s photo is my third and final (at least, for now) shot of Philips Hall at my first university back in Pennsylvania. This is the walkway from the street side cutting through the building’s two wings and looking out into the quad, which is where I stood to take “Neogothica” and the windows and plaques in “The Great Ones“.

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weekly quote #23: Megan McArdle March 14, 2008

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Short but sweet: in a post about legalized prostitution, Megan McArdle writes:

“Your gut is not a good replacement for reasoning from first principles.”

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great balls of water and air March 13, 2008

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Effect Measure with a post, link, and picture of all the Earth’s water and air balled up to scale for, um, effect.

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Russian winter of discontent March 12, 2008

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Not all the voters in the recent election in Russia were as docile as some perhaps would have hoped, as this FP Passport post indicates by discussing write-ins on the ballots.

Another layer to the one pictured: the phrase ‘Za Konni’ written at the top, meaning “For Koni” as FP says, also sounds very much like the Russian word for “law” — ‘zakon’, and even more like the plural “laws” — ‘zakoni’.

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enjoy the silence March 12, 2008

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James Hrynyshyn over at The Island of Doubt has a post up on the danger of using a cell phone while driving. He makes a point to note that using hands-free phones makes no difference in the amount of distraction posed, and quotes a Carnegie Mellon study as saying that “[t]he findings show that language comprehension performed concurrently with driving draws mental resources away from the driving and produces deterioration in driving performance, even when it does not require holding or dialing a phone.” (emphasis mine -oc)

Now, I completely agree with the post: talking on a cell phone has been demonstrated by many studies to distract drivers and increase the risk of accident. The Island post states a 300% increase in the risk of collision; I’ve read, as I recall, that it’s almost as impairing as is driving under the influence of alcohol.

But I think it’s clear, as the quote shows, that the hazard described in the phrase ‘talking on a cell phone’ is not really posed by the last two words, but the first one. It’s not having a conversation on a phone that increases risk, it’s having a conversation at all while driving. If we are to support legislation making it illegal to use a phone while driving, especially if that legislation includes hands-free phones, then we must ban talking to passengers and probably having a radio in the car as well.

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