Social Norms, AC Transit Style

"They shouldn't even let those high school kids on these nice buses--they'd just mess them up!"

Such was the vibe on the cushy, coach-style transbay NL bus, which runs during commuter hours on weekdays. Meant to entice commuters to San Franisco with comfy seats, smooth travel, privacy and wireless internet, the buses follow the regular NL route, and therefore benefits those of us traveling within the East Bay as well.

I take the NL frequently, and since our class is at 9:30 AM, when I take it to school, sometimes I score the Nice Bus. As any public transit user knows, buses are great for people watching, can provide wild and unexpected assaults on the senses, and are the locus of a distinct set of social norms. You can talk loud, but if you're talking TOO loud--on the phone, to yourself--the driver may interrupt you, for the sake of the bus. You can smell like weed, but you probably won't get away with smoking it for too long, before someone says something. You should get up for elders and people with strollers, and you should sit in an empty set of seats before you plop down next to a stranger. You can open the window above your seat, but it'd be odd to go around and open all of them. Small talk with fellow bus riders is acceptable, but full-on conversations are subject to scrutiny by your partner and onlookers--the chat should be consensual and appropriate.

Needless to say, these norms are tested on the bus every day. But when I ride the Nice Bus, it's a different world. People are quiet. The outside world dulls to a hum. The seats are paired on either side of the aisle, and when you're sitting down, you can't see the rest of the bus. Eye contact, for better or worse, is eliminated. Someone talking on a cell phone becomes a noticeable noise factor. And people take out their laptops! I can't imagine someone taking out their laptop on a regular bus--they would look foolish and naive, a high-maintenance commuter at the very least. But this is who these buses are created for, at least hypothetically.

This morning, as our Nice Bus pulled up alongside a regular bus, I looked down into its interior. People were standing over others, avoiding eye contact as bodies accidentally staggered around with the lurch of the bus' brakes. From our insulated ride, music from headphones or cell phones was inaudible, but clearly, folks were rocking out. A stroller lingered in the way of the aisle, and people chatted with friends and family.

Strollers and wheelchairs cannot easily fit on the Nice Buses, if they can at all--so there is a limiting, exclusivity that goes beyond the intended goal of the commuter bus. But other than that, anyone can get on--yet they behave completely differently once they're there! The cues seem to work--the quiet, the privacy, the air of privilege. The woman who I overheard saying the quote at the beginning of the entry was onto another realm of social control: everyone could ride the Nice Bus, but not everyone deserves to. Bits of graffiti sometimes appear on the backs of seats, and certainly private seats could encourage questionable behavior. Maybe it does. But operation: social control seems to be working for AC Transit so far.

Listserv Drama in Action Part II

I had a real-life experience with parking drama, and the social deviance that good people will resort to!

I was driving home from a concert with my girlfriend and her two housemates. Their neighborhood is difficult to park in, and when we began our first circle around the block, he pointed to a white car near their house, and told a story about the car's owner. Supposedly, he informed our driver that he couldn't park there because it was technically his driveway, even though his car was often parked there, and there was no usable garage. He was "moving things," and told our driver to park somewhere else. When we finally found a spot, we were sort of in the red of a fire hydrant, and so our driver unloaded us passengers and headed off for another go-round. As he drove off, his partner began daydreaming about their own non-driveway, which has a curb cut to the street, but ends in a garage converted into a first-floor apartment. "We should make that OUR parking spot!" she grunted. "We'll nail up a little "No Parking" sign, and the city will take care of the rest, because they'll be parked in a driveway!." Someone else chimed in, "but then they'll ticket us too...." She had an even better idea: "We'll carry around the little placards in our CARS, we'll each have one, and hang it up every time on a nail we'll put there!" As we trudged the extra blocks to the house, the evil plot was unfolded with a fervor familiar to any listserv reader. But it quickly went the way of other listserv nastiness--into a puddle of potential compromise, and ambiguity: Digesting that last point, my rational minded girlfriend chimed in, "but eventually one of us will forget, and then WE'LL get a ticket." Oops.

"I guess so.
It was a good idea.
...Maybe still."

Parking brings out the worst in people: confirmed.

Game Theory Annotations and Thoughts

YouTube Game Theory Videos

Ellickson, Robert. Order Without Law. Chapter 9.

Intro to Game Theory 2009 (Econ 223 Lecture 1). John Fountain, University of Canterbury.

Game theory was developed to mathematically analyze the potential moves of poker players, based upon their beliefs about what OTHER players will do. The theory is aimed at the Nash Equilibrium, in which a compromise is reached that pleases all parties. The thinking and choice-making that occurs in the process of games is informative beyond that simple goal. Game Theory describes the behavior required for equilibrium to occur, and the choices that may result in payoffs other than that which is welfare-maximizing.

It is assumed that human players act selfishly and rationally, leading to an order based on "unleashed" self-interest. During the Cold War, this assumed rationality was a way to approach the U.S.’ moves, which involved "incorporating [the] enemy into your own thinking." In Prof. Fountain’s lecture, he uses game theory to describe the “game” played between professors teaching a class and students attempting to pass.

*Does this leads to the assumption that if everyone is thinking rationally, they will all be playing the same "game," and considering the same "moves?" If so, then that adds another layer of rationalizing, in which you must consider the factor of likelihood that others will make a choice based on the moves and consequences, and your own potential moves. Oy!

In the cold war example, the U.S. military used game theory to convince the Russians that if they were to attack, the U.S. was capable of great destruction in return. This resulted in what the video calls a "delicate balance" called the "equilibrium of terror." It is interesting to think about this equilibrium in the context of the Nash Equilibrium, the simplified version of which results in each party getting what it desires. What was the desired "move" in the Cold War, on the part of either side? Neither wanted the world blown to oblivion, but to make matters more complex, neither wanted to be the first NOR the second to act! Game theory dilemma!

John Nash: "Stability through suspicion and self-interest"
-tried to apply game theory to all human interaction and behavior
-showed that this kind of system did not have to result in chaos, if the equilibrium could be reached
-"separate optimization"
-idea that each player is separate and alone
-but all of the actions work together in a common--not cooperative space--to create equilibrium
-prisoner's dilemma to show how selfishness would always lead to the best outcome
--rational choice always to betray--at worst, got diamond, at best got diamond AND money. if you trusted, you could lose everything. the "sucker payoff"
-but what if both parties do this?

Political implications of game theory: a society based upon self-interest that would not result in chaos may instead lead to suspicion and distrust. This is a manner of social order—perhaps in this case, the social ideology of game theory is a form of social control. Even when Nash was institutionalized for paranoid schizophrenia, his model of choice-making continued to be influential on cold-war era social control and methods of order.

For example, game theory was applied by R.D. Laing to family dynamics, aiming at the underlying suspicious between family members. British and American economists also used Game Theory to generate a “fundamental truth” about human behavior and intentions as strategic and self-interested. This had a detrimental effect public faith in the benevolence of government acting in a public interest. Game Theory has been further extended to encourage a kind of empiricism that greatly essentializes the rationality of humans.

Listserv drama in action

Before I go on, anyone reading this who is not Dan or I must go RIGHT NOW to the Donald Black link on the syllabus and observe how excellently that man is dressed. And coiffed.

Ok, now we can begin.

I was reading the local newspaper today, having my taco in the local taqueria, in between thesis projects, when I noticed a column that was PHENOMENALLY apt for this semester's final project. This mini-article follows another about a recent shooting in front of Laurel Lounge, on MacArthur Blvd, in the middle of the Laurel. Here it is:

Neighborhood Reacts

News of the shooting created an immediate and heated exchange on the Laurel Village listserv. Residents living within blocks of the bar pointed out an ongoing "atmosphere of crime" at the MacArthur Blvd. intersection near the bar and angrily questioned the level of security provided by the owner. Others defended the owner by pointing out that the business participated in no apparent illegal activity and was not responsible for criminal or nuisance activities near the bar that predated his ownership. The charged listserv discussion elevated into demands to stop name-calling and for deleting subscribers for violating listserv guidelines prohibiting abusive language.'

Arising from this were calls to come together as a community and to create a better neighborhood for all. Another subscriber highlighted what was good in the neighborhood— the Saturday farmers market, the "Space" at Laurel Jujitsu, and a range of good and diverse small businesses, retail stores, and eateries.

Some called for participation in the resident walking patrol, Feet on the Street. Neighbors meet Thursdays at 7 p.m., except the second Thursdays of the month, at the Laurel Hardware parking lot (4024 MacArthur) to walk the boulevard, strengthen community ties, and show support for the businesses. Police officers often join the group.

(Source: http://macarthurmetro.org/200911/lma/3768)

This is such a lovely, distilled version of our project!

Keywords I picked out:
-immediate and heated exchange
-residents living within blocks of the bar
-ongoing "atmosphere of crime"
-questioned level of security by owner
--> others defended owner
-demands to stop name-calling
-->deleting subscribers for violating listserv guidelines
-arising from this--"calls to come together and create a better neighborhood for all"
-called for participation in the resident walking patrol

In three short paragraphs, the Metro paints a vivid picture of the arc of this listserv dialogue. Although simplistic and not aimed at theorizing anything, I recognize a similarity between the arc of tension and resolve here, and in our data. At first, there is a general flurry of comments, a generalization of the problem to other issues in the neighborhood, and then people begin to fall into camps. In this case, it was those who criticized the owners, and those who were sympathetic. The "elevation" that is described is a particularly interesting moment; I saw this in our listserv data as well, and it seemed to involve a frenzy of people referring more to other posts than offer new information. As this article describes, eventually some people called for calm and community, and the positivity began emerging. The neighborhood boosting was followed by a concrete suggestion, that people participate in the resident walking patrol.

I'm going to keep this "arc" idea in mind as I continue to work with the data. I'm becoming more and more interested in the "shape" of these conversations.

To come!