[Emvi]

"What MIND doesn't know, EYES cannot see"

I came across this adage about 15-20 years ago and it keeps popping up in my mind time and again. Each time it does, it doesn't fail to teach me something. Something that I find trifle, may not actually be all that trifle for others. Something I deem significant, actually turns out to be trifle for others. Putting things into perspective, I am plainly talking about varying perspectives of life, person to person. Without dwelling too much into philosophy, I will try to restrict myself to a few topics like automobiles, electronic gadgets and home appliances, focussing mainly on automobiles.

A majority of us own automobiles, two wheelers and or four wheelers. But, how many of us know the key technical specifications, features and other common attributes of the vehicles we own. Well, I assume most of us, BHPians, are pretty well informed about most things if not everything. When I say technical specifications, I am talking about the aspects like engine capacity, power ratings, tyre/rim size, fuel tank capacity, recommended tyre pressure etc. I know quite a few people in my circle, who just have no idea about the features their vehicles come with. Majority of them absolutely have no clue about the readings displayed in Multi-Information Display/Touchscreen infotainment unit. It is not uncommon to meet people who are even unaware of how many kilometers their vehicles have actually clocked or who are not sure of the registration number and variant name of their vehicles. This reminds me of few interesting past instances.

1. A light hearted trick played on a Mahindra "jeep" owner by one of the mechanics in a FNG long, long ago. My dad was the witness to the incident. The vehicle owner had visited the workshop for a running repair. The mechanic told the vehicle owner that the "bearings of the silencer need replacement"! Poor fellow who only knew to drive and nothing much about his vehicle, actually believed his words! And as expected, everyone present in the workshop burst into a loud laughter. Yes, in this particular case, the person might seem too lame that he believed such a story, but in general, a lot of people don't know much about their vehicles or in other words, they are not keen to know.

2. A businessman known to me visited our home in his Mitsubishi Pajero sometime last year. I had seen his Pajero quite a few times on the road, but I never knew it was his. As the conversation unfolded, I casually asked him the details about his vehicle. His response was simple. He said the only thing he knew about the vehicle was it's name and nothing else!

3. My cousin residing in Dubai purchased a Wrangler about 18 months ago. Back then he had called me to break the news. Congratulating him, I asked him the power output figures and engine displacement of his latest acquisition. He had absolutely no idea about it and laughed it off. He said, I should be the one knowing it better than him. To be honest, I actually don't have much knowledge about the vehicle. Continuing our conversation further, he told me about the tyre upgrade he carried out. And when I asked him about the rim/tyre size, do I need to say anything further? Yes, you have all guessed it right!

4. Recently I came across a Maruti Omni which had 3 different brands of tyres out of 4! The interesting part was, the owner of the vehicle had absolutely no clue about it.

No matter the segment of vehicles people own, such people are not bothered about these "trifle" things as long as their intended purposes are served.

Now talking about electronic gadgets and home appliances, it is again quite common to see users having less or no knowledge about them. Elaborating further, not everyone is aware of the screen size, hardware of their mobile phones/laptops, tablets
or televisions. Storage capacity of a refrigerator, capacity of a washing machine or a microwave oven, power consumption of home appliances are generally not known to a lot of users. I have even seen people who are unaware of the brands of the gadgets/home appliances they use!

Nothing wrong in it, whatsoever. We tend to ignore a lot of things which we actually see and use everyday, if we have no inclination towards them. For example, an auto enthusiast might be thorough with all the specifications of the car that the person owns, still, the same person may not be aware of the exact graduations of the speedometer/tachometer in his/her vehicle! Mind you, instrumentation panel is never out of sight in an automobile. Human mind is peculiar in its own way. We see "n" number of things around us everyday, but we grasp only those things which our mind directs us to and we tend to ignore other things completely! This is where the varying perspectives come into the picture. For few, knowing everything about they use or own is so important that, knowledge about the products dictates the buying decision or the usage. And there are people, who just don't break their heads much as far as technical know-how is concerned and are just happy to own and use products which look good superficially to their eyes and(or) if they are recommended by someone. Probably "Ignorance is Bliss" for such people.

WHAT MIND DOESN'T KNOW, EYES definitely CANNOT SEE!

[FrodoOfTheShire]

Sharing a similar anecdote - My uncle bought the Vitara Brezza few months before I bought the EcoSport. He was very impressed with the EcoSport's looks as well as the fact that it has a tailgate mounted spare wheel. He specifically told me that it's good that Ford has provided a spare tyre for emergency purpose and was disappointed that Maruti Suzuki hadn't in his Vitara Brezza! I was shocked but then I asked him if he has actually checked under the boot floor, which as it turned out, he hadn't. He had just assumed that most cars came without spare tyre. What was hilarious was that he had owned a Wagon-R before the Vitara Brezza. I guess he had never had a flat tyre during his Wagon-R ownership.

[gkveda]

Human being did not know that he was breathing oxygen until Joseph pristley discovered it. Even today, a child born newly does not know it breathes oxygen but it survives.

The above is the argument people who are unaware of information around them justify their ignorance. There are several things around us that we are unaware of. But, we try to "know" information to only that extent that our brain is capable of understanding. There are facts around us that we need to just "see" and remember. There are several phenomena that we can analyse and infer. There are some complex mathematical equations that certain phenomena adhere to and we can derive them and master them.

But there can be only few that can "look" at some of these and understand to the extent their brains are capable of.

Second dimension to the above, Coming to the automotive world, if a car is considered a body of knowledge, there are people who through out their life, struggle to just learn sitting in the car adjusting to the dynamics of the movement of car when it runs. It is not an exaggerated statement. I have seen my neighbour grandmother struggling to sit in the car while car is in the move. I have seen people who struggle to sit as pillion on bikes and scooters.

There are engineering graduates and IT people who have not been able to drive the vehicle in spite of attending driving schools classes more than in 4-5 batches. And even after several years of experience, I have seen those people struggle to drive cars easily. It doesn't mean that they are not intelligents. It doesn't mean that they are not interested in learning. It is just that their brains are not capable to pick up ONLY driving skills. (Nothing more or nothing less than this statement)

On the contrary, there are people who have never been on driving seat, drives the vehicle with ease in the first go. Driving will be in their blood. There are people who are interested to know the mechanics of the car and grasp the way mechanics repairs the vehicles within minutes of observation. There are people who open the critical parts and repairs the vehicles. But this does not mean that they would know the information about the vehicle specifications.

So, overall, what I am trying convey is two points

1. The brain grasps only to the extent it is capable of. Although there's a ocean of knowledge in front of our brain, it consumes only what the hands can pick up from the ocean.

2. Information is completely independent of knowledge. Knowing specs about some car, knowing the numbers about certain phenomena does not make one knowledgeable. Knowledge is something that the brain derives from the information that we possess.

[V.Narayan]

Every human being is born with a different and unique set of skills, aptitudes, IQ, etc. Some have high IQ some more modest ones. Over life we develop EQ. Hence we often come across intelligent people with high IQ but weak EQ. And then further along the road of life we develop wisdom which is IQ+EQ+Experience mixed with the humility to learn from our mistakes and risks taken. Some have a well developed spatial aptitude and eye-muscle co-ordination-i.e. those of us who take to driving. Some don't have it. And so on, I could go on as the variety of human skills and abilities or lack thereof is almost infinite.

On top of all the above is interest. Almost four decades into my marriage my lovely wife will insist on asking me what ingredients do I think have gone into a food dish she has lovingly placed on the dining table. And all my IQ or knowledge cannot fathom more than one or two of the five ingredients. And of course I get a rap on the knuckles for still not being able to answer after all these years. :-) . My wife can't tell a Maruti 800 from a Mercedes Benz - almost literally. Most of the threads on aviation I have written over three fourths just flows out from memory only for the remainder I need to read up an old book to double check a number or name. So I may know a lot about one kind of gadget but far far less about another. For example. I never bother to learn all the million variations on touch screens of my cars - my driver knows but I don't.

It all boils down to aptitude, need, time & interest. It isn't about being superior if you are wired into the numbers or mechanics of a gadget or a car or a plane. Same with the skill of driving. I would value wisdom, compassion for others, mother's love, ability to teach and uncommon common sense but not a person's ability or lack thereof on knowing about gadgets.

[locusjag]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Every human being is born with a different and unique set of skills, aptitudes, IQ, etc.

This has to be the bottomline for this thread!

Let's take me for an example. On the very first driving lesson that I took in 2011 in a driving school's Santro, the instructor and other students in the car watched stunned as I drove like an expert - steering, acceleration etc. (I did struggle with the clutch and gear but the instructor took care of that and asked me to do the rest and I did it.)

In the 10 years that have followed, my American friends have seen me drive and they had remarked that I could easily drive an 18 wheeler, given the smoothness and discipline with which I drive. My car's passengers will never feel forward, backward or sideways G forces; the old people in my joint family prefer me to drive them around.

And yet - when fellow member Captain Rex took me offroading with Arka's Terra Tigers in Chennai, I lost my nerve. I was completely out of my depth in the offroading event. I discovered that I'm no true 4x4 enthusiast but I'm an MPV guy who loves to drive his people around through long distances.

Another instance - Captain Rex was toiling away under the hot sun to fix his Racedynamics kit onto my TUV 300. He found that I'm an expert bystander once the car's bonnet is thrown open. I couldn't do anything to save my life - changing a fuse, swapping a wheel...none of it. And I'm okay with that. This is who I am, a poor man's Jason Statham-esque Transporter

[TrackDay]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Every human being is born with a different and unique set of skills, aptitudes, IQ, etc. Some have high IQ some more modest ones. Over life we develop EQ. Hence we often come across intelligent people with high IQ but weak EQ. And then further along the road of life we develop wisdom which is IQ+EQ+Experience mixed with the humility to learn from our mistakes and risks taken.

It all boils down to aptitude, need, time & interest.

This is so true. In the end all of us are unique in our own ways. We are the sum total of our experience and the journey that we have been through. Whenever I travel by air, I check which model aircraft the carrier is flying on that journey. I don't mind taking an indirect flight just to experience an A 380 or 747. And this is something only those who love aviation will understand. We gain knowledge through age and understanding with fellow human beings. As a child I always use to lie down and look under our cars to see where the 'battery' is, because I thought like my RC toy cars, road cars too must have their AA batteries beneath the car !

[SS-Traveller]

Originally Posted by Emvi

"What MIND doesn't know EYES cannot see"

Maybe the reverse is more applicable in today's times:

"What the EYE doesn't see, the MIND doesn't remember"

I think I am reasonably aware of cars and what needs to be done to keep them shipshape. Yet, there are so many times I've tended to ignore routine maintenance, even a routine cleaning, over the last year and more. If I cannot see my car, I don't remember to do those routine jobs.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

On top of all the above is interest. Almost four decades into my marriage my lovely wife will insist on asking me what ingredients do I think have gone into a food dish she has lovingly placed on the dining table. And all my IQ or knowledge cannot fathom more than one or two of the five ingredients. And of course I get a rap on the knuckles for still not being able to answer after all these years. :-) . My wife can't tell a Maruti 800 from a Mercedes Benz - almost literally.
It all boils down to aptitude, need, time & interest.

Again, in these times, one is inclined to develop new interests. Food is one such. I am lucky to have a Cordon Bleu chef teach me at first hand, the various finer points of cooking, flavours, textures etc. Interest supersedes all else.

I wanted to learn about the finer points of driving, some 7 years ago. This was after I'd been driving for almost 30 years, and never killed myself / anyone else, or totalled a car. Finding the right place & person to learn from took time, but once I learnt, there was no going back to my old style of driving.

Let's give an example of how what the MIND doesn't know, the EYES cannot see - an explanation of how vehicles often collide at road junctions, despite being able to see each other very clearly:

The picture is self-explanatory, and if one's mind does not understand this scenario, the eye does not see the approaching vehicle at all. Pilots, especially fighter pilots, are taught to understand this relationship between two objects approaching each other at an angle.

[narayans80]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

On top of all the above is interest.

This is all it is about. If you are passionate about things, it'll make you do things which you never imagined you could do. Personally experienced it, started off as an avid traveller born in a family who weren't interested in cars. Started off with road and train travel, used to remember the TTC bus routes and train time table on fingertips. Then was pushed into learning driving at 30 and there hasn't been no turning back since then. Today I do ambitious 1000 km a day drives, at an age most of them give up on long distance driving. Over this time, I did pick some theoretical knowledge on vehicle maintenance, so I can keep my travel passion rolling without breaking the bank.

That brings up the second point exposure. If you have to be an hands on guy, you need some guidance, serious time at staring exercise that gets you into the comfort zone of experimentation.

There is also necessity that will teach you things, but at a limited scale than what you would if you took the interest

Originally Posted by locusjag

This is who I am, a poor man's Jason Statham-esque Transporter

My kind of guy

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by SS-Traveller

The picture is self-explanatory, and if one's mind does not understand this scenario, the eye does not see the approaching vehicle at all. Pilots, especially fighter pilots, are taught to understand this relationship between two objects approaching each other at an angle.

Same is true for mariners and yachtsmen. Transferring that knowledge into looking at a radar screen is useful too. Understanding in what kind of mode it works is necessary too.

Jeroen

[ABHI_1512]

This thread just reminded me of a question I often ask myself. I am very fond of cooking and often wonder that how come two dishes taste different while using the same ingredients and using the same process ??

Why is it that a Wasim Akram could swing the cricket ball the way he wanted to while many of his ilk struggled with the same ?? But while Wasim Akram could swing the ball didn’t mean Glen McGrath was not a great bowler just because he couldn’t !!

What I am saying is that one doesn’t have to know every little bit about the car to be called as the informed one. It’s true that many folks are just oblivious about their own car but at the end of the day, if they don’t have any problem in their day to day running of the car, it doesn’t matter whether they know about the coil spring or not !!

I have a friend who has owned a car for around ten years but he doesn’t know anything about the car at all. He just drives and whenever he faces some problem, calls his mechanic and gets his job done. Of course, he is not a guy who takes long drives but he loves to travel nevertheless. So, it boils down to one thing and that’s your affinity and inquisitiveness about anything.

The one who is interested in knowing more will always find a way out and the one who doesn’t, will always be content with whatever one knows. But to discriminate between the two is not what we should be doing in the forum. But yes, it’s my personal opinion that one should know the basic things about the car when one takes long drives so that one doesn’t get stranded in some obscure spot !!

P.S- I have seen many guys who know every technical bit about their cars but still can’t use the handbrake without making the noise

[jithin23]

This depends on the interest of the individual and the effort to nurture their interests. Most of my friends own cars but don't know what's the tyre pressure for their car or what kind of bulb needs to be used if a headlight bulb is fused. Knowing some things and not knowing some things does not measure intelligence.

Some of my friends who are girls ask what's ABS or Traction control. If they ask me about makeup, I'm zero at it

A person can't know everything and everyone can't know everything. It's totally fine and accept the individual to what they are and everyone is unique and no judgements on that! If they want to know about travel or vehicles, they know whom to call and I'm happy about it

[AirbusCapt]

There is a thought process I disagree with. Whenever a person operates an automobile, let's call him a operator of that automobile, he/she needs to know the basics of that particular vehicle for a safe and efficient operation. One can't say 'i know nothing except the name' and get away. If the owner is always sitting in the backseat then it makes sense.

[SKC-auto]

Today came across this old survey.

"Four out of five BMW 1-series drivers think their car is front-wheel drive, according to the firm’s CEO Norbert Reithofer."

https://www.autocar.co.uk/car-news/m...-think-its-fwd

[asm3899_CHD]

It all depends on a person's hobbies and interests. For instance, I am an automobile enthusiast and gather as much knowledge as I can not only about my own cars but other cars also. But, I know nothing about my Samsung phone or my laptop. I don't even know the name of my phone model, only know that it is a Samsung.

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by locusjag

My car's passengers will never feel forward, backward or sideways G forces; the old people in my joint family prefer me to drive them around.....He found that I'm an expert bystander once the car's bonnet is thrown open. I couldn't do anything to save my life - changing a fuse, swapping a wheel...none of it. And I'm okay with that. This is who I am, a poor man's Jason Statham-esque Transporter

Same here. Friends and relatives, everyone compliments my smooth driving. Plus being a teetotaler, I would be the assigned driver for all college trips. So much so, for a while thought the evil eye may jinx and cause accidents. My friend's mum would gush over how smooth and calm I drove compared to her son's rash driving. (he would roll his eyes as I may have pulled some vomit inducing G forces on corners earlier that day)

But, when it comes to repairing something or stuff really technical, my eyes would glaze over. Don't get me wrong. I know how to check fluids, change tyres, jump start, maybe even change oil. I could drive and find something amiss or feel that this or that is wrong. But I can't do any DIY or know anything with nuts, bolts, tie rod, bush, ball joint, bleeding, fuse etc...Sometimes I feel real shallow as an enthusiast. My first TeamBHP meet. BHPian justin.das was enthusiastically showing his engine compartment and all the works he did, the DIYs et al. All I could do was stand there politely and nod. Fortunately I took my kid bro with me. Being an automobile engineering graduate, he engaged and kept justin.das on a roll.

But in my defense, I just love to drive. May not know how to change a coil spring, but know all the types of suspension layouts. Don't know how to change the brake discs but know how to correct a slide. May not know the compression ratio of my car's engine, but could list out the variants and features of a model that may have stopped production decades ago.

Depends on interest and chance. My dad's car knowledge revolves around Japanese and American cars. And his knowledge of car models ends in the late 1980s. Roughly the same time he started his own business in Riyadh, hence except for his beloved Cressida, rest all were viewed from utilitarian POV. Ending up in the weird situation where he can explain to me how cruise control and torque converters works, but MPFi and ECUs are difficult for him to comprehend. He could go on about the different models of Toyotas, Hondas, Cadillacs, GMCs and Benz of the 1980s, but haven't heard about Volkswagen or Audi till late 2010s.

Maybe most non-car people feel about cars like how I do for smartphones. Will research intensively for two months before buying a smartphone. After that, till the phone is no longer serviceable, I am blissfully ignorant of anything regarding smartphones.