timhebb
Well-known member
The media is part of the problem, certainly. But they really just represent a subset of the general low-information public (or in the case of Fox News, willfully mis-informed and mis-informing).
At bottom, I see the root of the issue being that EVs represent a far more profound paradigm shift than they appear to be on the surface to most people.
After all, EVs are barely distinguishable from fossil-burners to look at them, they get you from place to place, they consume "fuel" dispensed by a "pump." What could be so different?
So when the topic of conversation turns to the drawbacks of EVs - initial price, range, charging time - EVs suffer badly by comparison, and many people, sadly, leave the discussion there, never to revisit their opinions.
Only those who think and consider beyond this point can begin to understand the value of driving electric. Most of you reading this thread have thought deeper, of course, and don't need any further arguments to persuade you. But a vast number of drivers never pierce the information veil. And media outlets like Fox News give them permission not to make any effort to. Thinking is hard - why do it if you don't have to?
If thinking won't lead the masses to EV's then, what will?
The oldest motivator known, after fear, hunger and desire: social acceptance, sought through mimicking behavior. Imitation, emulation, copycatting, monkey see-monkey do. Get married, have children, take on mortgage, wear Uggs and Livestrong bracelet, fly flags promiscuously after national tragedy. Conformist peer pressure - so pernicious, so subversive, so deliciously persuasive. Makes us think we do things because we thought of doing them ourselves.
That is ultimately how the turning point will be reached, the transformation achieved. Apes copying apes, and discovering it isn't painful, after all, to make the change.
Am I cynical? No doubt, but I prefer to think of it as realism. And in this case, the basis for cynicism advances a cause that is more than worthy, it is critical.
So keep driving, showing off, talking up your EV. Each tangent of contact is a potential point of inception, a seed of growth. We are making, and driving, the future. Over the long term, Fox doesn't stand a chance against the compelling crush of conformity.
At bottom, I see the root of the issue being that EVs represent a far more profound paradigm shift than they appear to be on the surface to most people.
After all, EVs are barely distinguishable from fossil-burners to look at them, they get you from place to place, they consume "fuel" dispensed by a "pump." What could be so different?
So when the topic of conversation turns to the drawbacks of EVs - initial price, range, charging time - EVs suffer badly by comparison, and many people, sadly, leave the discussion there, never to revisit their opinions.
Only those who think and consider beyond this point can begin to understand the value of driving electric. Most of you reading this thread have thought deeper, of course, and don't need any further arguments to persuade you. But a vast number of drivers never pierce the information veil. And media outlets like Fox News give them permission not to make any effort to. Thinking is hard - why do it if you don't have to?
If thinking won't lead the masses to EV's then, what will?
The oldest motivator known, after fear, hunger and desire: social acceptance, sought through mimicking behavior. Imitation, emulation, copycatting, monkey see-monkey do. Get married, have children, take on mortgage, wear Uggs and Livestrong bracelet, fly flags promiscuously after national tragedy. Conformist peer pressure - so pernicious, so subversive, so deliciously persuasive. Makes us think we do things because we thought of doing them ourselves.
That is ultimately how the turning point will be reached, the transformation achieved. Apes copying apes, and discovering it isn't painful, after all, to make the change.
Am I cynical? No doubt, but I prefer to think of it as realism. And in this case, the basis for cynicism advances a cause that is more than worthy, it is critical.
So keep driving, showing off, talking up your EV. Each tangent of contact is a potential point of inception, a seed of growth. We are making, and driving, the future. Over the long term, Fox doesn't stand a chance against the compelling crush of conformity.