Have you ever watched an aerial performance of the Blue Angels or the Thunderbirds and marveled at their ability to fly in close formation while doing aerial acrobatics?  Do you ever tune in on Labor Day weekend to watch the excitement of the Indianapolis 500?  Dozens of racers, shoulder-to-shoulder speeding around a controlled track in suped-up, high performance vehicles, are always exciting to watch from the comfort of our living room sofas.  Wow!  That type of driving coordination must take years of practice to achieve.

Personally, I am not as impressed with that type of highly-trained unity as I am constantly amazed by another more commonly-experienced exhibition of human  team work—freeway driving.  Think about it.  Hundreds, even thousands of cars containing drivers of different races, cultural backgrounds, nationalities, and ages, many speaking different languages, with different purposes and mind-sets, all charging along the freeway in a mad unison.  These people are diverse, they are seldom trained drivers, some are more experienced and better at driving than others, and some are even questionable at having passed the driving test for their licenses, but they are all part of a great cooperative team.  Collectively, they are capable of moving at speeds of 80 miles an hour or more in close juxtaposition, sometimes six lanes across, within feet of one another’s fenders and bumpers.  They adjust their speeds up and down, staying in rhythm and harmony with their comrades as they tear down the highway in one continuous phalanx.  If you listen closely, you can hear them all breathing in unison.

Except for the occasional hyper-focused driver, when you have the luxury of glancing in one direction or another, you will see drivers on their cell phones, texting, fidgeting with their CD players, engaged in animated conversations with their passengers, eating, applying make-up, shaving, programming their GPS LIBies (Lady In Box), and indulging in a variety of other individual distractions…but they are still functioning as part of the Team.  What blows my mind is the casualness, the taking it all in stride, the ease with which these drivers assume that each day they will be able to accomplish the great feat of freeway driving as they leave their homes, arrive at their destinations, and then return home safely once again.  I am frequently astounded, not by the occasional spectacular crash (obviously caused by some radical), but by the relative lack of them.   It is beyond my comprehension that the whole Team exercise is, on a daily basis, a rousing success, and is accomplished without the aid of a coach or choreographer. 

When taking my rightful place among the freeway herd, many times I have been lead to ponder the questions, “What is it about the human race that makes us so successful at freeway driving and other activities requiring precision movement of the masses (ever been in the lock-step queue for the Coliseum parking lot exit after an Oakland A’s game)?”  Is there some ancient cue programmed into our human DNA that has imbedded within our race a deeply-ingrained instinct to behave in unison with a herd, one that prompts us to habitually act with a strong spirit of cooperation?  Is it in our nature to be pack animals and seek complex societal relationships and be comfortable moving within them?  If one considers herd animals (watch a cattle stampede—the way they jump, turn and swerve in unison), it is easy to dismiss higher intelligence as a possible reason for our success.  Finally, I sometimes wonder, if there is other life in space and we someday connect with it, will we find that we are the only intelligent species to enjoy this particular talent?  Are we the pilots of the universe?

 As I swing out from the freeway entrance ramp and into the fray, I often say silently (or, when I am alone in the car, out loud), “OK, team, let’s get this done.  Everybody heads up now.  You there, let up on the gas a little so I can squeeze in.  That’s right, lady, don’t come over into my lane until I’ve cleared the front of your car. Yep, we’ve got it; you’ve successfully assimilated me into the mix.  Thanks so much for your cooperation.”