A year in the life of a city bike.
At one point the people who run Hudson Urban Bikes, a bike rental company in the West Village, wondered what would happen to a bike if it was left chained to a post in the city for one year, and they took a picture of it each day to document its progress. The bicycle began its experimental journey equipped with all necessary equipment plus a basket, water bottle, splashguard and a few other goodies.
For quite a while the bike sits quietly chained next to a host of other bikes, retaining all of its accouterment. Then, on day 160 all of a sudden the water bottle goes missing. Then a few weeks later on day 212, both the lock and the basket walk off. From there things really begin to deteriorate, and it’s not long before the seat is missing, followed soon after by the front tire, splashguard, and handle bars.
Finally the forlorn frame itself disappears.
To my mind, this experiment cleverly mimics several aspects of dishonesty. People are basically fairly honest most of the time, but at some point they are tempted to cheat or take one small thing, or they see someone else do so. Over time this works through them, and maybe they take another small thing. After a while, this becomes habit, and people begin cheating at full throttle, and next thing you know, the whole bicycle is missing (figuratively).
That said, I think it bodes well that the bike lasted as long as it did, particularly after the lock was removed. It seems we can rest a little easier knowing that people, for the most part, don’t cheat as much as they could, or as much as we would expect them too, rationally speaking—after all, just think of how many people walked by the apparently free, unlocked bike and ignored it.
The Honest Truth About Dishonesty: How We Lie to Everyone - Especially Ourselves
The same person chancing their luck? Or many different people?
I suspect there is another dynamic in play. While the bike has no pieces missing it looks as if it is owned by somebody, and so taking anything from it would be theft. Once, however, the bike is seen to sit around with pieces missing, the assumption is that it has been abandoned, so taking any bit of property does not feel like theft any more (in the sense of depriving someone of an asset they expect to use).
If you want to see another perspective on bike theft this article is enlightening.
It was interesting to read about the bicycles role in the underground economy
“Stolen bicycles have become a solvent in America’s underground economy, a currency in the world of drug addicts and petty thieves. Bikes are portable and easily converted to cash, and they usually vanish without a trace—in some places, only 5 percent are even reported stolen.”
http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor-adventure/biking/Who-Pinched-My-Ride.html?page=all
There is also a cultural issue. I’m pretty sure that if you would repeat this experiment in the Netherlands, the bike wouldn’t last that long. Especially with that lock.
Even if it would last a while, after about 30 days, it would probably be removed by the police.
Reblogged this on Mental Printing and commented:
Nice reflection about the human being.
If I that bike were on my street, I would have noticed it had not been touched and was languishing there and assumed it abandoned, especially once all the accouterments disappeared. I would have taken it and thrown it out. Is that thievery?
Hey, I think that was my bike!
I guess the Nixon administration was when the basket disappeared.
Here we are with no bike at all.
I think the basket disappeared much earlier.
Introduction of federal income tax was the trigger.
Dan, with regards to dishonesty in general: I bet there are many rich people who would jump on the Warren Buffett bandwagon (support raising taxes on the top 1%, especially given that we are the 5th *worst* in the world for economic inequality) except they are afraid of being ostracized by their tribe. So they are dishonest in how they accord themselves… because they’re afraid of being lonely and feeling unloved (!?!) Have you covered that?
This reminds me of the ‘broken windows theory’ http://www.inschoolsolutions.com/improvement/broken_windows.htm that I read about in grad school. When something looks together, intact, it stays intact and respected longer.. It even has implications for web sites and coding
well I would relate the cycle story with human temperament..we all tend to adopt the dishonest ways only when we are assured that there is nobody to check us. take for instance corruption..it is least seen in nations where it most restricted.
related:
http://transportationnation.org/2012/06/11/most-abandoned-bikes-wont-be-removed/
I vote for the “get the trash off the street” approach. Well before 160 days had passed, regular passers-by had noted that the bike never moved. The tires start to go flat. Trash accumulates in the spokes. In most subdivisions in the US, a similarly non-changing car would be towed.
The fact that the bike disappeared in parts, step by step, suggests dishonesty. If it had disappeared in toto, overnight, would it have struck you as any different?
I find “abandoned” candy wrappers and cigarette butts on my property every day. Waiting for their owner to return and reclaim them hasn’t worked yet.
Several homeowners in my neighborhood have taken to moving the grass on an empty & neglected home down the street. Are we stealing his “hay” or doing something to maintain our own property values?
They broke the lock just to steal the front wheel and left the frame there??
I’m surely not the only one to have noticed this, but I think it’s quite fascinating that everything went downhill for this bicycle when the tires appeared flat. I think it’s true for many things that are left ‘abandoned’: If a house, car, or bicycle sits there neglected, it becomes consumed, kind of like a colony of ants carrying away a piece of cucumber that fell off your sandwich.
Interestng reflection.
“living in a den of thieves
and its contagious
and its contagious” – regina spektor
Reblogged this on mjgudestein.
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