Safety Tips from Safety Director

Mental Systems

We live in the computer age. These machines have become a part of our lives. You may even own a computer, even if you don’t, things like Macintosh, IBM compatible, RAM, and hard drive are household words. Remember when ‘nets’ were used to catch fish, and traps were used to catch ‘mice’?

We generally associate computers with what they do more than what they are. Few people deal on a daily basis with the complex programming that ultimately becomes the word processors, spreadsheets, databases, or games that you use. The logic—even the language—would baffle most of us.

But some would say that there are only three things you must know to understand computers. First computers are dumb. Without input, they can do nothing. Second they are literal. They must be told exactly what to do and how to do it. Third they are fast. They perform calculations at impressive rates.

Riding a motorcycle is mostly mental. Your brain managers the time and space that makeup your riding environment. Mental systems are used for this purpose, just as a computer uses software programs for tasks such as word processing. But there are some big differences between your brain and a computer. Unlike the computer, you can decide what needs to be done. You are also capable of making decisions or even deciding if decisions need to be made. A relatively simple computer would operate the controls enough to make a bike start, turn, shift, and stop. But even the most elementary tasks in riding a motorcycle on a street require levels of processing that the most advanced computer could not handle.

On the street, no two situations are ever the same. Your ability to process the information and manage time and space are based on countless sources of input that include experience, knowledge, skill training , and accurate interpretation from your senses. It sounds like a complicated situation, and it is! It’s possible for much of the routine processing to take place subconsciously. It can become nearly automatic. Your brain, however, is capable of bringing critical information and the need for management into your consciousness.

Think for a moment how computers receive information. Very often, it’s through a single source—most likely the keyboard. The computer uses this information with data already on hand to accomplish a task. But when you ride a motorcycle, your main source of information comes from your vision. Not only from what you see, but from your ability to place meaning on what you see. That’s the mental system.