Something that’s bothering me lately is the extent to which people,
especially in the bike movement and on my cycling, have been arguing
within themselves. And not in a nice way. In a mean way. You’re either
with us or against us. You’re a primadonna if you want a follow-car.
You’re not a fun person if you don’t like the Naked World Bike Ride.
You’re a progressive nazi if you don’t want to try to find some
sponsorships.

In programming, it’s called an if-then statement. You’re on or off. It
is or it is not.It’s very binary, or digital.

But I read this very interesting article about Aristotle, and his
concept of things that are vs. things that can be.

A rock is a rock is a rock. And you can measure it, analyze it, dissect
it with a series of yes/no, on/off, 1/0 questions.

But the other type of “thing” is about things that can be. A group of
people, for example, may be a bunch of dysfunctional grab-asses. But
they can be a well-organized, politically savvy group under different
circumstances. Maybe it’s leadership. Maybe it’s a cultural change
around them. Maybe it’s just a way of communicating that cuts to the
core issues. Issues, as in plural. Because the opposite of digital is
analog, defined as having an infinite number of variables.

Sound like anyone you know?

I really believe that there’s something rather analog about person, much
less a group of people. So many histories. So much baggage. So many
little prejudices, such as not trusting people who make more than $8.45
an hour. Or feeling like people who just started riding are doing it
because it’s cool, whereas you’re doing it because it truly MEANS
something.

And then there are the little problems of simply communicating. Some
people express their opinions strongly and forcefully. Other people need
to think and weigh in. Some people genuinely feel it’s their way or the
highway. Whereas others would feel awful if the group lost its strong
voices, and to avoid rocking the boat, they say nothing

Anyway. If I had one wish for Christmas, it’d be for the patience to ask
more questions of my friends and teammates, and listen to their infinite
number of variables. I’d wish for a more analog Christmas.