Culture: Let’s Get Logical

Posted by Steve Lettau

on Apr 23, 2015

MAY 2015 - The Rotarian Magazine

It’s been a rough couple of decades for rational thinking. I doubt that future historians will view our current time as a second Age of Reason. I’m not being hipsterishly pessimistic here by proclaiming that the sky of civilization is falling; I’m merely pointing out that Americans used to work hard to be informed so they could reach rational conclusions about political and social issues. But no longer, it seems.

Here’s what I mean:

In New Jersey, it’s against the law to pump your own gas. There are no self-service pumps. Despite various studies that conclude that gas prices would drop as much as 8 cents per gallon, New Jersey citizens have fiercely fought back against any effort to repeal this archaic 1949 law. That’s why all New Jersey politicians eventually abandon any support for self-service pumps.

Why do New Jerseyans persist in this seemingly irrational behavior, which actually costs them money?

The arguments for the ban include the following: The price of gas in New Jersey is already among the lowest in the country, so what’s a few cents more? Pump attendants would be put out of work. Physically challenged motorists aren’t able to pump gas themselves. It’s dangerous for motorists to operate gas pumps.

There are reasoned responses to each of those objections. The millions of people who pump their own gas in the 48 states that allow self-service pumps (Oregon also bans them), for instance, belie New Jersey’s worries about the ability of its citizens to safely operate a pump.