"you're a hypocrite if you drive stick shift and use cruise control"

[smileyeagle1021]

Seriously, I've lost count of how many times I've heard this. Apparently I'm a hypocrite because I prefer stick shift for the extra control, but I have no problem with using cruise control.
But Smiley, how can you claim to want more control when you surrender control to the computer for cruise control.
It's simple, and my coworker put it best, machines should work, people should think. Maintaining a constant speed is work, it is something that can be just as easily done by a machine as by me. Knowing when to hold a gear in heavy traffic rather than shifting into the overdrive gear requires thinking, knowing when to downshift because of road conditions to get more traction requires thinking, knowing when I can shift into a higher gear and low rev it to save fuel requires thinking, all of which is best left to people. Wanting control and using machines isn't mutually exclusive, it just means that I want control over the things which I can do better than a machine.
*/rant

[Mongo Skruddgemire]

I look at it like this. Pilots need to use the flight controls to take off and land. The most dangerous two parts of a flight and the parts that need human control and awareness to compensate for downdrafts, microbursts, wake vortices, turbulence from the heat rising from the tarmac, crosswinds, headwinds, shifting winds...and all the bazillion and one things that could interfere with a computer's ability to fly the aircraft.

However in the straight, level flight (the long and hopefully boring bit), the @#$%ing autopilot can do the work.

It's no different (save for perhaps the sheer scale) when driving. The hardest part of driving is starting and stopping in traffic and dealing with adverse weather and road conditions. That's what having full manual control of the transmission gives you. A better sense of the control. I'll do something similar with my Auto-Trans...just not as much control as a manual would give.

For the long boring bits on a highway, that's what the cruise is for. There is nothing like the feeling of breezing past a speed trap with the car dialed and locked on the correct speed. There is nothing like not having to divide one's attention between the road and the speedometer all the time for fear of drifting up. There is nothing like not being reminded of the fact you're slowing down by a trucker's air horn.

Hypocrisy? Well if it is then Autopiloting systems all over the world need to go Bye Bye and we can watch the upswing of plane and boat crashes as overworked pilots and helmsmen fuck up from all the fatigue and sensory overload.

[bara]

Im just trying to figure out why anyone would even care. I mean.. your car drive it as you will just dont cause an accident..

[protege]

For the long boring bits on a highway, that's what the cruise is for. There is nothing like the feeling of breezing past a speed trap with the car dialed and locked on the correct speed. There is nothing like not having to divide one's attention between the road and the speedometer all the time for fear of drifting up. There is nothing like not being reminded of the fact you're slowing down by a trucker's air horn.

I always use the cruise when on the highway. Not so much because of speed traps...but because of the better fuel economy. A constant 70mph uses less fuel than having the car's speed constantly changing. Get the car into 5th, flip the switch on the steering column, and enjoy 40mpg Around here, with the hills, 70-72 seems to be the perfect speed. Enough to climb the hills, and fast enough that the cruise isn't constantly messing with the throttle settings.

[smileyeagle1021]

Im just trying to figure out why anyone would even care. I mean.. your car drive it as you will just dont cause an accident..

You clearly have never worked with "car people"
Dear God... our maintenance people are super uber passionate about cars, and Jesus himself would have trouble saving you if they find out that you are not as passionate.

[HYHYBT]

It's just a matter of personal preference anyway; hypocrisy doesn't mean your likes have to be totally consistent logically. It means holding others to a standard you don't set for yourself.