Chaos Theory

A month or so ago I read that a new style of bike lanes are coming to Chicago. They are modeled on those recently installed in New York and many cities in Europe. (See the picture below of a protected bike lane in Paris.) Rather than having bicycles serve as a safety buffer for parked vehicles, parked vehicles will serve as a safety buffer for the cyclists. The bicycle lanes are also much wider so that cyclists won’t have to worry about getting “doored” by a parked car. While I recognized that this is inherently safer for bicyclists, I hadn’t thought about another point until I read it in Barbara Brotman’s column in the Chicago Tribune: these new bike lanes tend to attract saner bicyclists; you see grandparents and grandchildren cycling at a leisurely pace rather than just bike messenger wannabes. I commented to some friends that it made sense. You put people in a crazy situation and you foster crazy behavior. You put them in a saner situation and you foster saner behavior.


Later I realized that I could be understood to be implying that people are simply the product of their environment, which is not what I meant. And that prompted me to think about the discussions of nature versus nurture, which usually go awry. Those who argue that nature determines all point to people raised in Dickensian conditions who still turned out all right. Those who argue that the environment is determinative point to how improved living conditions have reduced crime.

What gets lost in the whole nature/nurture debate is that both nature and nurture serve as limits. The nature of something will determine what that object is capable of; the environment will help determine which of those possibilities comes to fruition. But an object cannot go beyond its nature. A rose bush will always be a rose bush; perhaps it will be a scraggly one or a beautiful one, but it will never yield peonies or give birth to calves. The environment in which that rose bush resides may hinder it or foster growth, but the environment cannot make the rose bush achieve things that it is incapable of. Thus, a rose bush with a hardy nature may do well in a poor environment, while a rose bush with a defective nature will not flourish under even the best conditions.

Thus, no human being can outperform his or her true potential. If sometimes we are surprised by what we deem extraordinary behavior (such as horrific crimes or heroic feats of valor), it indicates that we had not previously considered the full range of human nature. As creatures of God designed originally to reflect His image, we have almost angelic qualities of a rational mind and appreciation for the good. As fallen beings, curved inward on ourselves, we also taint everything with our sin and are capable of great evil. Moreover, as creatures made by God to be social beings, it is our nature as humans to be nurtured by other humans and to take seriously the environment in which we find ourselves. But as creatures created to be individuals rather than thoughtless cogs in a wheel, we will not always listen to other people or conform to their ideas.

And so we come back to the question of bicyclists on the road. What is the range of possible human behavior while on two wheels? Will anyone be a perfect bicyclist, always observant of the rules of the road, courteous and gracious and forgiving of motorists without exception? No. Our fallen nature will not permit that. But aside from that, there are plenty of other options. One is for bicyclists to cultivate their sense of fairness and behave decently while on the road. Another is for bicyclists to use their sense of fairness to chastise bad motorists, but to ignore that morality in their own case so that they can ride selfishly (since it is somewhat to their advantage). That route, the way of hypocrisy, is rather common, both on and off the road, since it allows people to enjoy the fruits of selfish behavior while savoring the feeling of moral indignation at others. One more option is simply to engage in boorish behavior, perhaps now and then trying to excuse it as what is necessary to survive on the road.

Given that range available in human nature, it is easy to see how chaotic situations can breed chaotic behavior. We don’t need much more than our sinful nature to get us to sin, and so it doesn’t help when other people (whether obnoxious drivers or fellow cyclists behaving badly) give us a good excuse to manifest that sinfulness. Of course, we may recognize that our behavior is counterproductive and resist the temptation. Not every bicyclist is trying to drive in as wicked a manner as possible. But chaos does make the temptation all the more alluring. By the same token, a saner environment can encourage saner behavior, if for no other reason than it allows people the chance to flaunt their self-righteousness. Self-righteousness doesn’t pass muster with God, but at least it allows for a more pleasant bike ride.