Date: Thu, 16 Jul 1998 15:58:28 -0400
Reply-To: "John S. Cronin" <john.cronin@OIT.GATECH.EDU>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <Vanagon@vanagon.com>
From: "John S. Cronin" <john.cronin@OIT.GATECH.EDU>
Subject: Re: Vehicle 'personalities'
In-Reply-To: DavidM <dmc@CYBURBAN.COM> "Re: Vehicle 'personalities'" (Jul 16,
3:29pm)
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
On Jul 16, 3:29pm, DavidM wrote:
> Subject: Re: Vehicle 'personalities'
> Jim Arnott wrote:
> >
> > Once again, I find myself following a thread with amusement. Do my VWs
> > have feelings? I don't really know.
>
> No they don't. Only the owner has feelings which may be projected
> (irrationally) onto the vehicle. For instance, if you complete a long
> journey without problems, you may think "that van has been good to me",
> or when it breaks down a few times in succession, you may think "its got
> it in for me". All of this is of course nonsense. As many people have
> said here, if it is maintained well it is more likely to be 'good' and
> if not, more likely to 'misbehave'.
> I suppose you can think of different vehicles as having different
> 'personalities' but it is really just their mechanical reactions to the
> way they are built, driven and maintained.
I think you can say the same thing about human beings too though. After
all, a human being is just another mechanical/electro/chemical machine.
David, you just seem argumentative. If the VW peeple want to believe
their VWs have personalities or souls or whatever, what real difference
does it make to you? If you think them delusional, is there any harm
in allowing them to indulge these particular delusions? One of the many
reasons I like VW is the interesting people who seem so loyal to them.
Often these folks are quite helpful. Of course, they don't take criticism
of their vehicles well, and you have been critical. And then you take
great exception with their beliefs (ie in the personalities of their
cars, karma, etc), yet get offended when they lash out against that.
I assure you they see you as being every bit as aggressive against them
as they seem against you. And they ARE trying to tell you something -
if you are just looking for reliable virtual zero maintenance machine
like a Civic, Accord, Corolla or Camry, then perhaps the VW is not for
you - that is their advice. VWs are kind of a cult car. Members of
said cult are often the best source of knowledge etc about keeping
your VW running. If you are not comfortable dealing with the VW cult,
then, as you pointed out, since they need regular maintenance, and since
good mechanics are virtually impossible to find, maybe you would be happier
with something else.
Personally, I think both sides of this argument are being a bit intolerant.
just my $0.02...
--
John S. Cronin phone: (404) 894-6164
Office of Information Technology Operations and Engineering 0715
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332
Internet: john.cronin@oit.gatech.edu
| 
