The most misused invention ever to be misused.

[Ogyshi]

Simple enough. We all know the world isn't perfect. We all know some objects just *aren't* used for they should be. For instance, kitchen knives for murder and glass bottles for contraception (I've heard of someone doing this..). A few inventions make my list as being particularly badly misused, such as plastic, guns, and the number one on my list.. cars.

I've wrote a whole freaking essay for class and had to cut out a *lot* of ideas about why I hate cars to fit my word limit. For starters, they pollute. They make our air ******** horrible. That is obvious enough but apparently isn't convincing enough to a lot of people. How about this: cars are the primary influence on urban sprawl. Because of urban sprawling, most of our casualy visited locations and amenities are too far away and that *forces* us to use cars. Those of us who drive anyway. It also makes our cities look *horrible*. The quality of architecture and urban design is seriously degraded. Quality of life and community is lost as well, as the roads push us farther away from each other and no one walks and talks on the roads anymore. Rather, we drive 10 miles in a car passing thousands of people without even so much as saying "hi." All thanks to zoning laws... which is thanks to what? Cars.

Now cars are pretty freaking useful though. I would only think they are good for traveling from city to city or in rural areas. (however, we would benifit more by a good public transport system). Just if your interested, I would recommend the book "Carfree cities" by Crawford. That book was so beautiful it put butterflies in my stomach.

Cars is just the top of my list. You may share what you think is the worst invention ever in 3.. 2... 1..  

[Ogyshi]

agreed agreed agreed.

People are in an entoxicated love affair with their cars as they are a symbol of wealth. But.. we'd save a *lot* of money if we didn't produce millions of cars each year, spend thoousands of dollars on gas, and a huuge amount of money on taxes that maintain the roads. Craaaazy.  

[Taeryyn]

I'd say cameras are pretty misused. Capturing a moment is one thing; taking a million shitty pictures of oneself out of sheer conceit and vanity is another. What else are cameras used for? Blackmail. Spying. Boooo.

Photoshop's misused. Instead of simply being used for incredible artistic feats, it's now the reason that even photographic evidence isn't immediately trustworthy.

As for cars, meh. I live in an extremely car-unfriendly city. The roads and buildings were built before cars were really mainstream. As a result, the roads are extremely narrow and poorly laid out, there's almost nowhere to park, and very few people who live here bother owning a car.

But the idiots who do own cars need to learn to ******** drive. I don't know how many times I've nearly been hit when crossing the street (while there's a red light for cars and a walk sign for me!) in broad daylight.  

[Ogyshi]

I would love to live in a city like that, Taeryyn. It sounds good, (At least, from that little slither of information).

And yeah, the photoshop is a good example.. It's also the reason people stress over their appearance more than ever on account of photoshopped magazine models. ..And just because this is an online forum where I can do this easily, I'm going to share this video related to that note that I came across yesterday that I found interesting.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hibyAJOSW8U
Honestly, I thought this woman looked better *before* the the photoshopping. But whatever.  

[Taeryyn]

Eh, the only downside is the city is essentially divided into 4 hubs (originally four different villages), and although each individual hub is pedestrian-friendly, it's quite a bit of a walk from one to another. x3 Oh well. I could probably walk through the entire city in under 3 hours. And if you do need to drive anywhere, and you aren't from the city, it's a nightmare. Two-way streets suddenly becoming one-way, round-abouts, some streets are one way in two different directions, poorly-placed stop-lights...

And that video is interesting, but it makes me sad. sad  

[Ogyshi]

..One way streets in two different directions? Please bear with me if I say that's a little confusing.. lol  

[Taeryyn]

It is. You can't enter the streets from either end. you have to enter from the middle, and either go left or right.

We have several of those.  

[Yanike]

Wow! I'd love to know a city like Taeryyn's. It'd be a fresh change of pace. Recently had a run-in with a car lately while crossing in a crosswalk. Apparently people don't look any more, but I'm alive!

I'd say computers are misused now. I hate having to clear my computer of viruses/tracking cookies. Plus all the people that phish and get all that personal information... no bueno.  

[Saverio C.]

Right! Before cars cities where beautiful, clean smelling, wonderful places to live with large open streets and things where always in close proximity! Cities are cleaner now then ever before.

Urban sprawl is caused by only one thing, and it is not cars. It's urbanisation that gives us the urban sprawl. The more people there are the more things that are needed, and well things aren't always pretty. If less people moved into cities then we wouldn't have such ugly land scapes. In fact if people moved away from cites the entire area from Washington to Boston would be much better off. However urbanisation is how the world works and should work as we move to a tertiary economy.

Blaming cars for this is like blaming guns for crime. Public transportation isn't a solution at all for city wide travel. I don't want to live by someone else's schedule. Public Transportation is only good for rush hour because everyone is going to the same place.  

[Ogyshi]

I know cars isn't the *only* thing to blame. But cars contributed to urbanism, which, as you agree Saverio, is responsible for urban sprawl.

But cars is the reason we have parking lots and wider streets that produce the bleak dismal effect we see. Cars is the reason business districts are as noisy as they are, which is why shopping districts are not integrated with residential areas-- People didn't want to listen to the noise. Cars more readily bring people from a wider area to shop in one spot, requiring larger and larger malls and larger and larger parking lots. Henceforth, small corner stores can't thrive and all of a sudden we found ourselves in this situation. Urbanism can't happen unless people can move around as effortlessly as they can in a car.

And if cities are built ideally, we won't need public transportation very much, as most of what we need would be in walking distance.

We can't pinpoint exactly why things are the way they are, as even an advanced study would have uncertainties. I just think cars certainly helped a great deal in screwing us up.  

[Erverain]

Most misused invention of all time has got to be fire. What started out as a way to cook a delicious meal ended as a tool for warfare and arson. And don't get me started on its mixture with napalm... That in and of itself was practically an act of evil intention.  

[Saverio C.]

A city where everything is in walking distance is no city. The whole point of a city is a agglomeration of people and business. We have had wide streets for an eternity in cities. Before cars it was horses and trains. People have been traveling to get their needs since before writing and will continue too. People have traveled to the city for ages to get their needs fullfilled, and will continue too. Cars may help urbanisation but they are not the cause, nor the main reason cities are growing. Nor will removing cars slow the cities growth. The city is where Humanity does it's work, it is where the jobs are, and it's where the stores are. That's how it's been for over 9,000 years (I forget when the first agricultural revolution happened so I am just using writing ).

It is laughable that you talk about a corner store not being able to survive when it is part of the problem. We don't need more people in the corner stores, we need more big stores in the projects. foods at corner stores are more expensive then at the "evil" shopping centres. They are part of a the problem, in the slums. If you have a car you can get the best deal on items. Cars are a form of freedom. You want to take that away for masturbatory aesthetics.  

[Taeryyn]

Saverio C.

It is laughable that you talk about a corner store not being able to survive when it is part of the problem. We don't need more people in the corner stores, we need more big stores in the projects. foods at corner stores are more expensive then at the "evil" shopping centres. They are part of a the problem, in the slums. If you have a car you can get the best deal on items.

It's not just slums/low-income neighbourhoods. sweatdrop My part of this city doesn't have a large grocery store, or really any large stores. The layout just doesn't support it.
We do have an incredible farmer's market that's open year round, and I love it to death, but there's some stuff that you just can't buy there. Not to mention, it closes at 5 every day, and isn't open Sundays.

Can I walk to another section of the city where all the big stores are? Yes, it's about an hour's walk each way, which isn't a big deal, but you try carrying a full grocery order both ways, especially in the winter. There is the bus, but trying to fit even one bag with you onto a crowded bus isn't fun. You could take a taxi and pay $9+ for a single trip.

There are corner stores, yeah, and I do frequent them more than I like, because a lot of times, I don't really have a choice. I don't mind supporting people in my neighbourhood, but getting gouged sucks. Most of the corner stores here go to the bigger stores, buy stuff in bulk, and then resell it for a lot more.

So yeah. Pedestrian-friendly is all well and good, but sometimes it really helps to have a drive somewhere. x_X There're pros and cons to each side.