| End Time Warriors |
| Motorcycle Club "M/C" Protocol |
| Attention Limits |
Your radio may be one distraction too many
I have heard it argued by some who prefer not to ride in groups that group riding is
no more than playing 'follow the leader'. And since most of us that ride big bikes are
far from being simply followers, group riding is for 'the other guys'.
On the other hand, there is never a better time to see the fields you are driving past,
or smell the aroma of freshly cut grass, or to enjoy the sight of a couple of hot air
balloons in the distance than when everything is going right. Is this not a safety
conflict however?
Permit me to suggest that 'paying attention' is not only not the same as 'being alert',
it is almost the opposite - these are mutually exclusive concepts except as regards
to whatever you happen to be focused on. Indeed, letting your attention 'wander' is
very much the same as being 'alert.' There is a lesson to be learned with the
distinction.
Assume that you have a limit to how much your mind can pay attention to at any
single moment. You can be aware, for example, of traffic conditions all around you,
of how fast you are going, of the sounds your engine is making, of the approximate
time of day it is, of the words to the music you hear in your headset from your radio
or tape or CD, of the surrounding countryside unfolding around you as you drive by,
of the temperature, of how long it's been since you last ate or made a potty stop,
and of the general location and status of the motorcycles both in front and behind
you. It would seem to most people that there is no limit to how many different things
you can be aware of at any one time. This, because you scan these things quickly
and PAY very little attention to them, so long as each appears to you to conform to
what you expect of them.
The ability to notice that something is wrong is called being 'alert.' When, during
your attention scanning effort (i.e., while your attention is wandering) something
happens out of the ordinary, is unexpected, then a wondrous thing happens within
your mind - you FOCUS on the discrepancy. You PAY substantially more of your
attention to it. And now you find that your ability to be attentive to many things at
once has reached a limit!
For example, if you are driving down a freeway at 70 MPH and happen to notice that
a truck some distance ahead of you has just blown a tire, then you will be so
completely focused on that truck and what is around it as well as your reactions to
that event that you will almost certainly no longer be able to notice the scenery to
the side of the road, nor are those hot air balloons able to get your attention any
longer, even if one of them were to fall out of the sky.
What we have discovered is that not only is there a limit to our ability to pay
attention, but when our attention is focused our ability to be alert to other things is
diminished. THAT is dangerous!
When we have to focus on some aspect of our riding we are forced to diminish the
wandering of our attention. For example, if it is raining and after dark we tend to
narrow our visual focus and concentrate on what we see ahead of us. At this time we
do not have the ability to let our attention wander very far for we have very little
attention left. Indeed, if we then discover that we are lost the very first thing we will
all do is to slow down so that speed is no longer consuming any of our attention - we
have already exceeded our limits.
This is no time for us to have a radio on or be listening to a tape!
That is the message here:
In any situation in which you must focus your attention you must at the same time
reduce as many distractions as possible.
 If you are riding an unfamiliar bike, make sure the radio/tape is off and that
you do not test any other limits (such as high speed or steep lean angles.)
 If traffic suddenly increases or becomes 'weird', hit your mute button and
reduce speed if possible.
 If the weather suddenly turns bad, hit your mute button and reduce speed if
possible.
Clearly your radio can become one distraction too many.
I have heard it argued by some who prefer not to ride in groups that group riding is
no more than playing 'follow the leader'. And since most of us that ride big bikes are
far from being simply followers, group riding is for 'the other guys'.
On the other hand, there is never a better time to see the fields you are driving past,
or smell the aroma of freshly cut grass, or to enjoy the sight of a couple of hot air
balloons in the distance than when everything is going right. Is this not a safety
conflict however?
Permit me to suggest that 'paying attention' is not only not the same as 'being alert',
it is almost the opposite - these are mutually exclusive concepts except as regards
to whatever you happen to be focused on. Indeed, letting your attention 'wander' is
very much the same as being 'alert.' There is a lesson to be learned with the
distinction.
Assume that you have a limit to how much your mind can pay attention to at any
single moment. You can be aware, for example, of traffic conditions all around you,
of how fast you are going, of the sounds your engine is making, of the approximate
time of day it is, of the words to the music you hear in your headset from your radio
or tape or CD, of the surrounding countryside unfolding around you as you drive by,
of the temperature, of how long it's been since you last ate or made a potty stop,
and of the general location and status of the motorcycles both in front and behind
you. It would seem to most people that there is no limit to how many different things
you can be aware of at any one time. This, because you scan these things quickly
and PAY very little attention to them, so long as each appears to you to conform to
what you expect of them.
The ability to notice that something is wrong is called being 'alert.' When, during
your attention scanning effort (i.e., while your attention is wandering) something
happens out of the ordinary, is unexpected, then a wondrous thing happens within
your mind - you FOCUS on the discrepancy. You PAY substantially more of your
attention to it. And now you find that your ability to be attentive to many things at
once has reached a limit!
For example, if you are driving down a freeway at 70 MPH and happen to notice that
a truck some distance ahead of you has just blown a tire, then you will be so
completely focused on that truck and what is around it as well as your reactions to
that event that you will almost certainly no longer be able to notice the scenery to
the side of the road, nor are those hot air balloons able to get your attention any
longer, even if one of them were to fall out of the sky.
What we have discovered is that not only is there a limit to our ability to pay
attention, but when our attention is focused our ability to be alert to other things is
diminished. THAT is dangerous!
When we have to focus on some aspect of our riding we are forced to diminish the
wandering of our attention. For example, if it is raining and after dark we tend to
narrow our visual focus and concentrate on what we see ahead of us. At this time we
do not have the ability to let our attention wander very far for we have very little
attention left. Indeed, if we then discover that we are lost the very first thing we will
all do is to slow down so that speed is no longer consuming any of our attention - we
have already exceeded our limits.
This is no time for us to have a radio on or be listening to a tape!
That is the message here:
In any situation in which you must focus your attention you must at the same time
reduce as many distractions as possible.
 If you are riding an unfamiliar bike, make sure the radio/tape is off and that
you do not test any other limits (such as high speed or steep lean angles.)
 If traffic suddenly increases or becomes 'weird', hit your mute button and
reduce speed if possible.
 If the weather suddenly turns bad, hit your mute button and reduce speed if
possible.
Clearly your radio can become one distraction too many.
Check List
Group Riding
Closing The Door
Rubber Band Effect
Road Captain
Ride Your Own Ride
Not Playing Follow The Leader
Attention Limits
Before You Dismount
Coffee, If You Need It.....
Lower Back
Accident Management
After The Accident
Group Riding
Closing The Door
Rubber Band Effect
Road Captain
Ride Your Own Ride
Not Playing Follow The Leader
Attention Limits
Before You Dismount
Coffee, If You Need It.....
Lower Back
Accident Management
After The Accident
Eph. 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do
exceedingly abundantly above all that
we could ask or think according to the
power that works in us.
exceedingly abundantly above all that
we could ask or think according to the
power that works in us.