My Thoughts on Rider Education (long)

Message

Brackstone · Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:42 am

These are the things that I see contribute or retract towards motorcycling or any skill as a whole:

Talent: A natural proficiency in what it is you are doing.

Some people tend to pickup certain things faster than others. For whatever reason nobody knows but these people usually rise to the top quickly on their own merits.

However there are plenty of people who think they possesses the talent to do anything and everything. I'll get into that later.

Education: Provides you with the ability to perform skills.

People who seek to educate on their own merit are often fantastic people. If I had to pick I'd rather be friends with over-educators (even though they are more annoying) than under educators. Why? Well I hate ignorant people, there I said it.

Just to clarify, there is a fine line between ignorance, and just being dumb.

Dumb is Jessica Simpson
Ignorant is someone who is a member of the KKK

Under-Education: Due to a lack of not caring or thinking you have great talent. Someone just skirting by. You know who these people are. You either work with them, or ride with them, or call them on the phone for technical support.

These people usually don't care or just want enough information to get by. Normally it's because they don't feel they really need anymore help because they are naturally gifted and everything they touch turns to gold.

These people I believe are the people who will most likely be involved in high speed crashes or drink and ride etc.

Over-Education: People who are absolutely obsessed with being 100% perfect. These people will over think everything.

You know who these people are. The people who take 30 minutes to pickup which color stapler will go with their desk best. They throw milk out 2 days early because 0.1% of the time some sort of bad reaction can happen that kills 0.00001% of the population. They know all this because when they bought the fridge for the first time in their life they bought books on "Dairy Mechanics" and took a weekend course at the local community college entitled "The Dangers of Dairy in your fridge!" in order to greater understand this menace.

These people are most likely to get injured when a situation is presented to them that requires quick thinking such as emergency braking to avoid a collision infront of you.

Once they realize this situation is happening they quickly, but carefully, reach into their back pocket and find the list of instructions that tells them exactly what to do. Once they begin reading they end up smacking face first into whatever it is stopped short in front of them.

Then they create a Story Board and a Venn Diagram with a Flow Chart kicker to greater understand how they can avoid this in the future. Possibly form an investigative panel with their Over Thinking friends.

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If you're still with me and haven't replied TLDR!!!11!!! You're probably going "So what are you saying here Brackstone?"

Well basically what I'm saying is what I think we really need is, ugh I think I'm gonna die when I say this, positive reinforcement. Oh phew I'm still alive, I felt like such a optimist when I said that and I'm a pretty big pessimist.

Why am I saying this?

Because under-educated people will always skip out on any safety training as long as it's optional. But over-educators will always opt for that training. So what we need to do is give the Over-Educators positive reinforcement and make them feel good about riding! Help them feel safe so they will abandon their obsessive nature and just learn to relax and enjoy the ride!

#2 Unread post by **MZ33** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:14 am

You're probably going "So what are you saying here Brackstone?"

Well, yeah, now that you mention it.

Because under-educated people will always skip out on any safety training as long as it's optional. But over-educators will always opt for that training. So what we need to do is give the Over-Educators positive reinforcement and make them feel good about riding! Help them feel safe so they will abandon their obsessive nature and just learn to relax and enjoy the ride!

Okay, so what are you saying? And does this tie in to the discussion in a previous thread about how to get more people to participate in rider training, which, when you alluded to starting a new thread, is what I thought you meant.

TEvo · #3 Unread post by **TEvo** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 11:14 am

Agree but have a semantics quibble with instinct.

Should probably be relabeled as "talent". The correct response to some scenarios while riding a motorcycle goes against natural human instincts (what Keith Code terms, survival reaction).

Brackstone · Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:17 pm

MZ33 wrote:
You're probably going "So what are you saying here Brackstone?"
Well, yeah, now that you mention it.

Because under-educated people will always skip out on any safety training as long as it's optional. But over-educators will always opt for that training. So what we need to do is give the Over-Educators positive reinforcement and make them feel good about riding! Help them feel safe so they will abandon their obsessive nature and just learn to relax and enjoy the ride!
Okay, so what are you saying? And does this tie in to the discussion in a previous thread about how to get more people to participate in rider training, which, when you alluded to starting a new thread, is what I thought you meant.

It doesn't really tie in because that thread is about how to get more people to participate in rider training. Instead of debating the futility of trying to get more people to get training (I think it's impossible) in that thread and disrupting it I figured it'd be better to start another thread to allow people to debate if it's even possible to do.

I felt this post on that thread would be more inflammatory than anything.

Brackstone · Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:18 pm

TEvo wrote:Agree but have a semantics quibble with instinct.

Should probably be relabeled as "talent". The correct response to some scenarios while riding a motorcycle goes against natural human instincts (what Keith Code terms, survival reaction).

Good point and done!

TEvo · #6 Unread post by **TEvo** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 12:21 pm

I heard Florida was in the process of or already has made it mandatory to do some sort of basic rider training course before the DMV will issue a motorcycle endorsement.

This begs the question... will some folks even bother with the endorsement?

Anyone familiar with the laws and the situation in Florida?

#7 Unread post by **Skier** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 3:09 pm

TEvo wrote:I heard Florida was in the process of or already has made it mandatory to do some sort of basic rider training course before the DMV will issue a motorcycle endorsement.

This begs the question... will some folks even bother with the endorsement?

Anyone familiar with the laws and the situation in Florida?

As far as I know, the law requiring a Motorcycle Safety Foundation course completion before getting an endorsement is in effect and the course providers are absolutely swamped.

I've no idea how this effects the amount of non-endorsed riders, but there's plenty of ways to combat that. Washington state's "Endorse Your Sport" campaign has been reasonably successful, combined with their no endorsement means your bike is impounded policy.

ofblong · #8 Unread post by **ofblong** » Wed Jan 28, 2009 9:25 pm

uhh when you say call tech support are you saying that I am under educated because I am considered "tech support" even though I am an Journeyman Industrial Mechanic that has a degree? I do care about what I get called to because if I dont care

1. I may lose my job.
2. My bonus check will suffer (not that the company has to give me one).

I am assuming you arent talking specifically about someone like me but just thought I would clarify

.

Brackstone · Wed Jan 28, 2009 10:18 pm

ofblong wrote:uhh when you say call tech support are you saying that I am under educated because I am considered "tech support" even though I am an Journeyman Industrial Mechanic that has a degree? I do care about what I get called to because if I dont care

1. I may lose my job.
2. My bonus check will suffer (not that the company has to give me one).

I am assuming you arent talking specifically about someone like me but just thought I would clarify .

Nah I'm not referring to you, I work tech support too. I'm talking about the people who just read stuff off the screen and don't actually know what they are talking about. But they make it SEEM like they know what they are talking about.

ofblong · #10 Unread post by **ofblong** » Thu Jan 29, 2009 1:30 am

Brackstone wrote:
ofblong wrote:uhh when you say call tech support are you saying that I am under educated because I am considered "tech support" even though I am an Journeyman Industrial Mechanic that has a degree? I do care about what I get called to because if I dont care

1. I may lose my job.
2. My bonus check will suffer (not that the company has to give me one).

I am assuming you arent talking specifically about someone like me but just thought I would clarify .
Nah I'm not referring to you, I work tech support too. I'm talking about the people who just read stuff off the screen and don't actually know what they are talking about. But they make it SEEM like they know what they are talking about.

well I dont look at computers. instead I have to fix broken parts, replace broken bolts, etc etc etc lol. Although sometimes computers do help me to "troubleshoot" a problem

.