Monday, 24 August 2015

The 20 mph war on our council web site


There's now a battle of petitions up on the council web site


The scrappers: , "scrap the 20 mph limit and restore common sense",

We love the use of "common sense" in the title. "Common sense" means "obvious to the person making the statement". Yet, as we look throughout history, "common sense" meant the sun went round the earth. Galileo's Heliocentricity hypothesis was considered so heretical the common-sense regime at the time (Catholic Church) sentenced him to death. That's what common sense means: superstition over rational thought.

The retainers, "Keep and Extend 20mph limits"

These want the limits retained, extended, and maybe even enforced. We will call these "the people who believe Newton's equations about momentum and kinetic energy".

There we have it then, two factions: those who reject the physics of RTCs on the grounds of "common sense", and those who care about people walking and cycling round the city.

It will be interesting to watch the numbers. the flat-earthers have the support of the local paper, and a three month head start in the petition.

As of June August 23:

Flat earthers: 7421
Progressives: 1053

This is something we'll be keeping an eye on.

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