[MBTI General] For all types: do you like driving a car?

[PuddleRiver]

I don't enjoy the act of driving. I think the function it uses is Se. I have very little of this when tired which makes driving a concerted effort. My mom loves driving and I think she is an ISFP. It could actually use a bit of Te as well. I think that is what I rely on most when driving. I think mostly of the physics of driving, so when I project a scenario based on current speeds and directions, I can focus on that system and be fine, but sudden changes can throw me off. I also have to watch to not get stressed if there is a system that makes sense to me for how the cars to function (for example the zipper effect when heavy traffic is merging onto an interstate), and then the actual vehicles are behaving randomly, it's hard to know what to expect and I get rather anxious about that.

This describes how I feel about driving quite well.

 

[Kyrielle]

So I am the only one so far who doesn't love driving? Maybe because there is a social pressure to want to drive, so the others with an orientation like me are just staying quiet? Or maybe it actually is a little rare (although our sample size thus far in the thread is meager).

I don't like it much either. Just hadn't stumbled across the thread yet.

Mostly it's the constant need to pay attention to a ton of things at once and the constant concern that I'll space out and hit someone...or that someone else will space out and hit me. I have very little trust for other people in cars because I don't really trust myself.

I think the only time I actually enjoy the act...is maybe in brief moments of driving at night when I suddenly notice the way the light is in the car and how the night feels. But I don't think that has so much to do with driving as much as it has to do with being in a car at night.

 

[DigitalMethod]

But then the actual vehicles are quite random, it can be disconcerting.

Vehicles are quite like tools in my mind, they aren't really random at all. The only times they are random are during... rare occurrences that honestly require some bad luck (like a tire popping).

My opinion is that vehicles aren't random.
People are random.

As a defensive driver, it takes energy to guage every possible scenario that can go wrong. I like being able to maneuver my vehicle well around tough spots, but it is more pleasant if I'm the one in control and not tons of unpredictable steel on every side of me going 75+mph. If all the other cars were operating on computer chips in one coherent system, I think I might love driving once I could know the ins and outs of that system.

I completely agree.

 

[scattershot]

I LOVE to drive. I've been obsessed with cars and driving since I was a little kid - told my dad on my 6th b-day that I only had 10 more years 'til I could get my license.

As long as I'm not tired, I can drive all day and have a blast doing it. And 5 years in Southern California has gotten me used to traffic jams. I have satellite radio in my truck, so I'm happy just sitting there.

 

[something boring]

I usually end up zoning out if I know where I'm going and suddenly I'm at the destination. Kinda scary....I don't remember getting there....but I did!

I have this same experience pretty frequently. I've come to accept it as some sort of introverted talent... I floated there... lol

 

[mysterio]

I’ve had my share of driving jobs, and the worst was being a messenger. Anyone with a car and insurance can pretty much get hired on the spot. You’re on your own in your car all day doing pick ups and deliveries throughout the metro area, with no one to put up with. If that sounds too good to be true, it’s because it is.

The dispatchers give you radio you have to leave turned on in your car and answer whenever they call. You’re stuck with these assholes yelling at you every 5 minutes, demanding to know where you are and why you’re taking too long. That’s their prodding stick, to always make you feel like you’re going too slow. “Wtf? You should have been there a half hour ago, what were you doing all that time, playing with yourself?” They never believe your excuses for any kind of delay, true or false. Then you’ve got all your car expenses, gas & repairs. Not to mention speeding and parking tickets, the latter because you end up in situations downtown in the city, where to make time you have to take chances and park in sections where even your messenger sign doesn’t give you immunity.

Now if you were living in the future when we finally get the air cars we’ve been waiting forever for, then this would definitely be a cool job.

 

[SillySapienne]

I love riding in convertibles, and on motorcycles, and, if I trust the driver, I absolutely love, and prefer riding shotgun.

Whenever I am driving in a car, I can't help but to daydream, (which is great), listen to loud music, (which is also great), and have borderline OCD thoughts about potentially getting into a fatal, or fatally wounding car crash, (which is not great).

Whenever I get into a car, or on a motorcycle, I have to let myself go, and realize that if my time comes, it comes.

But, boy oh boy would it be awful to hit someone, or some animal, or to get into a car crash and witness someone I love die, while managing to survive with a mangled face and one arm and a leg. :/

 

[Cimarron]

Do you like driving? When I ask this, I don't mean liking it for the "FREEDOM" or flexibility it gives you. I mean, do you like the actual physical task of driving? Do you find it easy or hard to concentrate on everything around you? Do you enjoy the sensations of driving?

And what functional strengths do you think most facilitate safe driving?

I don't like driving, and I prefer others drive while I take a passenger seat. The number one reason I don't like driving is having to deal with so many other cars on the road. On a virtually empty road, I have no problem with it. The interaction with people, and their unexpected movements and decisions are what make it frustrating and sometimes a little closer to danger than I'd like.

If Se is used for handling a lot of information at once, and responding quickly, then that one.

 

[Valhallahereicome]

Also, can't forget blaring high-energy music while you're cruising down the highway

Damn straight!

I love driving. I'm pretty good at the whole spatial aspect of it, although it is easy for me to get lost if I don't know the neighborhood. The risk part is actually fun, and I probably tend to take more risks than I should. It's great to weave in and out of various obstacles to get exactly where you want to go, kind of like playing a video game.

Makes sense that it would use a bit of Se and Ne. I do tend to tune out my surroundings sometimes and then come back with a start: Oops, this is a very heavy metal vehicle surrounded by heavy vehicles and best to pay attention instead of daydreaming.

 

[simulatedworld]

I absolutely cannot give up my stick shift. Yeah, you laugh at me when I have to shift gears in heavy traffic, but you're astonished at how I can make my car do pretty much anything I want it to do, all the time.

Plus, it's fun!!

Also, can't forget blaring high-energy music while you're cruising down the highway

I'm not really astonished at anything other than your ability to put your car in the wrong gear for your current speed. The computer in an automatic transmission shifts gears more accurately than a human could ever hope to.

 

[pecan111]

driving...

i use to like driving a long time ago, but am way past that now..i am a very good driver and use the rules of the road...just learned that from the beginning(strange, being an entp and following the rules...that now is odd!!)
too many idiots on the road...i just want to get there and run in/out and get back..

I do LOVE riding my motorcycle....!!! its an incredibly pleasurable, focusing but unfocusing ride...

i will say that i long for a car like an Audi S4 i once drove...man, that thing was like a rocket and its agility and speed were so damn fun!! haven't had that feeling in any other car. a true sport chassis and an absolute hoot to drive...too bad it was someone else's

 

[SillySapienne]

I've driven an Audi A4 and a BMW 3 something, special and fast.

:yawn:

I drive like a granny, anyhow.

The Audi I could and can handle, the BMW, on the other hand, is way too fast, you like barely graze on the gas peddle and you're suddenly going 90 mph, me no likey, at ALL!!!

 

[pecan111]

The Audi I could and can handle, the BMW, on the other hand, is way too fast, you like barely graze on the gas peddle and you're suddenly going 90 mph, me no likey, at ALL!!!

Aw...no likey....i am afraid i am a speed freak for sure at times..


did you drive the S4 or the A4? i had an A6 which was a nice car, but the sport version (think they call them R6 or RS6) was a souped up version of the standard sedan....it even had a little sport car wheel and just had the NEATEST feel...i could maneuver like a snake in traffic and at 90mph!!!

just a blast to drive!

 

[SillySapienne]

The A4, it's my sister's car.

And I am not a speed freak, but I sure do love motorcycles!!!

Bleh, I haven't been on one for a couple years, damn shame!!!

 

[Kalach]

I don't like driving. Haven't driven myself in 15 years. I don't even much like being in cars. I like bike.

If forced to comment meaningfully, I sometimes say cars, buses and trains are about the destination, but a bike is about the journey.

The next thing to get myself is a motorcycle.

 

[speculative]

Driving? Oh hell yes.

[youtube="rs-jAImScms"]The infamous Ken Block video[/youtube]

Those who can't drive, ride shotgun. If they dare...

[youtube="Q90UYt-fbsk"]Best of WRC 2000[/youtube]

When you're reading off a logbook to avoid hitting a tree sideways at 90 mph, I would imagine that takes a slightly different function than your average day-to-day driving. The driver is probably using one set of functions, the navigator another.

WRC forever...

 

[wildcat]

Do you like driving? When I ask this, I don't mean liking it for the "FREEDOM" or flexibility it gives you. I mean, do you like the actual physical task of driving? Do you find it easy or hard to concentrate on everything around you? Do you enjoy the sensations of driving?

And what functional strengths do you think most facilitate safe driving?

Why am I asking? I drove for about 5 hours today and pondered this question. So I'm tossing it out here!

Find another amusement.

I am out of line.
No apologies.

In America many people actually need a car.
You neglected the public system of transport.

Europe is another thing altogether.
We have no need for private automobiles.
There is an excellent system of public transport all across Europe.

Air is a scarce commodity.
It does not extend upward in the condition it exists in the ground.

In early times people did not differentiate between sky and air.
Do they differentiate between sky and air today?
No.
They think the atmosphere reaches up to heavens.
The atmosphere however is held close to Earth's surface by the action of gravity.

Life is not the product of oxygen.
Oxygen is the product of life.

Life is left.
Preservation is to take care of what is left.

 

[Amargith]

nope, absolutely dislike driving cars

 

[PeaceBaby]

I posted this before bed last night, thanks for such good responses!

I can't speak for others, but for driving I do not use S so much as Ne. I don't see what is, but I see what could be. If there is an intersection coming up I don't look at the cars near the intersection so much as continually think ahead in time by 20-30 seconds and think how much time I need to slow down for the intersection, what if the light is turning yellow should I go through or not (this is before I get to the intersection, at a point in the future) and the likelihood that someone is going to run the red light and smuck into me as I go through the intersection. If I see a minivan near a school, I don't so much see the minivan as see the future possibilities of what the minivan will do. It may stop suddenly in the middle of the road, and either a kid will run out of the van to join other kids waiting for the schoolbus, or a kid will run out of the minivan to be dropped off at a friend's house, etc. ...

So, while driving I am sensing the tactile feel of the steering wheel, the road noise, etc., but I am focused mainly on future possibilities of what will happen next...

I relate to this post. I find I am very focussed on everything going on around me, and what others might do at any given moment. All the possibilities. I feel like I am using Ne & Se all the time. The intensity of focus can be tiring if the drive is a long one, like yesterday.

i use to like driving a long time ago, but am way past that now... ...i just want to get there and run in/out and get back..

But there are moments where it's a pleasure to feel absorbed in the connection between myself, the environment and the responsiveness of the car.

Find another amusement.

I am out of line.
No apologies.

In America many people actually need a car.
You neglected the public system of transport.

Well, I was hoping to avoid moralizing on the car as a mode of transportation in this thread, but I suppose it is inevitable.

Do we over-rely on cars? Absolutely.

Could the majority be using more environmentally resposible vehicles? Yep.

And you're right, the modes of public transport in North America are not well developed outside of urban centres. Many people live in underpopulated areas where public transportation has yet to make inroads (pun intended LOL!)

If I had taken the train yesterday for my appt, I would have driven for half an hour to get to the train station, taken it for an hour and a half into the city, then taken the subway - bus for another hour to get to the Dr's office.

 

[laintpe]

I like long, quiet car rides (esp with changes in scenery), I don't like driving myself though... especially with my tendency to daze out...forget what side of the road i'm supposed to be driving on.. etc. I've been told that it is amusing/terrifying by those who I have driven.