Car clubs, stupidity, and the paradox of cognitive stratification

[CTinline-six]

I have more fun meeting up with a bunch of friends and going for a cruise somewhere or wrenching than I do at car meets.

The last few car meets I went to seemed about as petty as the comment section on Youtube. I think it has more to do with society as a whole than car meets in general. Go to any large event and you are bound to see some idiots.

[davis449]

Originally Posted by SakhirM4

That's really a shame. The Tejas Chapter, BMW CCA is nothing like what you describe in your experiences. The active members are a wonderful group of people that are like family.

Please do not take what I said personally. My diatribe was in no way directed specifically toward the BMW CCA. It's me, man. It's just me and the place I'm in at this point. Believe me, I've thought about joining these past few years.

[jaye944]

no mate I disagree,

I ran a Porsche Chapter in London UK
and I "try" and run a group of guy;s here in Toronto, meeting up for a drink

I g'tee it's not a wanking session, we don't admire each otters watches
but we chat about cars, bmws, food, tech, guy shit

Originally Posted by ASAP

I personally think that car meets and their overall value are a dying breed...

It used to be enthusiasts would come out and discuss mods and different cars etc...

Now it's really either a bunch of clowns that make everything look bad or the richer guys where the meet is really a round jerk off session for guys wearing Gucci glasses and ripped jeans. At least this is what I see in Miami... just my $.02... havent been to a meet in ages and personally I think the automotive culture at this point is completely overplayed... with Instagram, youtube and overall media there are two many so called experts and opinions from people that really dont' know anything... that it's almost not worth even remotely dabbling in. I don't even mod my cars anymore outside of maybe a tune as I prefer a ready out the box setup.

[jaye944]

There's a few car meets around me, but boys I have BIG BALLS
I turn up at a none BMW meet, civic's, stang's , whatever
then walk around the cars and chat shit about them, then tell em, bet they wished
they had a real car (like mine) and not some toy, with gazillions of mods to get it to my car;s standards

I also insult there mom's , tell them I've screwed there sisters (in the back of my motor) and invite them to jerk of to the sight of my car driving away.

I'll be honest, I did end up in hospital once and run off the road twice

but I like to live dangerously

[TheHouseWon]

In a 128i

Originally Posted by ASAP

I personally think that car meets and their overall value are a dying breed...

It used to be enthusiasts would come out and discuss mods and different cars etc...

Now it's really either a bunch of clowns that make everything look bad or the richer guys where the meet is really a round jerk off session for guys wearing Gucci glasses and ripped jeans. At least this is what I see in Miami... just my $.02... havent been to a meet in ages and personally I think the automotive culture at this point is completely overplayed... with Instagram, youtube and overall media there are two many so called experts and opinions from people that really dont' know anything... that it's almost not worth even remotely dabbling in. I don't even mod my cars anymore outside of maybe a tune as I prefer a ready out the box setup.

Nailed it.

In the '90s/early '00s meets were a great place to see/learn things that weren't available on Google or any hosted video service. Now that everyone has smart phones that take hi-def video and the fact that there are a million forums out there where you can find any conceivable combination of parts and statistical results of adding them, car meets are pretty pointless.

At the end of the day, more times than not, it just ends up turning into a giant group of bozos trying to 1 up each other; when there's a mob of people, mob mentality always takes over.

[Never_Enough]

Car clubs = hard pass for me. I founded & ran a car club back in the day. At one point, some of the tools (We were all young) wanted to overthrow me lol wtf

[CTinline-six]

Originally Posted by Never_Enough

Car clubs = hard pass for me. I founded & ran a car club back in the day. At one point, some of the tools (We were all young) wanted to overthrow me lol wtf

LOL

When I was in college I made the mistake of joining the campus car "club". It was ridiculous. Basically all the kids were there just to show off how nice of a car their parents bought them. Some kids even rented cars for the show from friends. My GF at the time knew next to nothing about cars and she was like this is stupid even I know more than these guys do.

I asked one guy with a 335i what mods he had done, he said something about adding more boost to the supercharged V8 when it was clearly an N54.

[Never_Enough]

Originally Posted by CTinline-six

LOL

When I was in college I made the mistake of joining the campus car "club". It was ridiculous. Basically all the kids were there just to show off how nice of a car their parents bought them. Some kids even rented cars for the show from friends. My GF at the time knew next to nothing about cars and she was like this is stupid even I know more than these guys do.

I asked one guy with a 335i what mods he had done, he said something about adding more boost to the supercharged V8 when it was clearly an N54.

[TheHouseWon]

I had a mustang guy tell me his Coyote V8 was the same as my S63tu. At first I thought he was joking, and I said, "Sure, they are both 8 cylinders." He insisted, though, saying they were identical; that his engine was the product of a partnership with BMW.

#uhOK

[Torgus]

Originally Posted by The Wind Breezes

TL;DR: is a high IQ car club a good or bad idea, and what should the cutoff be?

I live in a major city and there is always a car, truck or bike meet going on every night of the week. Some of them are gigantic with hundreds of participants and all the dumb shit that accompanies a group like that. It should go without saying that the things these people do, could be done better and more safely.

So, for a thought exercise let's consider a car club where entrants must meet a minimum level of intelligence. This brings us to the first issue, which is that it's unclear what cutoff would make the most sense: it's best to be as inclusive as possible but the most interesting things tend to happen well inside the top 1% of ability which would probably be way too restrictive even in my large city.

How can you screen people? Many potential candidates will have already taken a intelligence test with high g-loading, including the AFQT, SAT, and standard IQ tests. Not all prospects will have taken one of these tests but it's disproportionately likely that the very bright will have taken at least a SAT as those people are very likely to try college. SAT is not as heavily g-loaded as you would like, but there may not be any realistic alternatives.

Let's return to car meets. What's the point of a car meet? Sure, there's the show, the meet and greet, the brag, the trading. But, the interesting things are the hooliganism and street racing. The problem with current car meets is the people doing this stuff appear to have little to no concern for the consequences of their actions and proceed accordingly.

The advantages of picking a group of hooligans and street racers from the top centiles (or top centile) of cognitive ability are obvious: for a given degree of driving skill, and with a little planning, these folks are likely to get away with doing some really crazy shit, while drawing less attention to their activities. Reasons for this include better judgement, greater knowledge of police procedure, and considerably more robust employment of technology to defeat radar, lidar, and even track the helicopter. That custom configured, homebuilt autonomous aircraft could be used to help or even supplant spotters goes without saying. The idea is to avoid scrutiny, not evade the authorities after they make contact.

That all sounds pretty good until you realize that what's being described is a criminal conspiracy. So are regular car meets, but the degree of poor organization and large quantities low-hanging fruit means the cops don't need (or care) to go there. Yet. So, the paradox: although the highly intelligent are, ceteris paribus, much better suited to carry out the kind of "action" that goes on at a car meet, they are also much less likely to ignore the potential consequences of participating in what is essentially a crime ring, and would probably be...uninterested in participating. The whole thing falls apart. That's not to say that these smart people would necessarily be against a little hoonage as long as it is more loosely organized.

I am interested to hear what the forums think of a car club of the cognitive elite that does NOT make an effort to significantly organize illegal stuff. Would there be any point to it, or would it be a bunch of dry, self-interested autists blathering on about the powerpc instruction set or exactly how many microliters per stroke are ideal for a LS1?

What should the cutoff be for a high IQ car club? Is it a good, bad, or terrible idea? I'm leaning toward terrible. Your thoughts are welcome.

[MCS]

Funny/interesting thread. More of a study of group think/mob mentality.

A IQ limit or threshold for entry does not preclude stupidity, especially when in a group and social atmosphere.

Think of the stupid stuff that happens in a fraternity house - Any fraternity house not just the "stupid schools"

Anytime there is a group in a social atmosphere in which members of the group feel comfortable showing off or conducting acts that are viewed as fun or socially acceptable within the circle - risky acts escalate.

Case studies/examples in point: Fraternity or Sorority house parties, bachelor or bachelorette parties, Country club parties, Corporate brew-hahas/boondoggles, the list goes on...

[xander_g]

Nevermind car clubs, there should be iq tests if you want to vote and have children

[TheHouseWon]

Originally Posted by xander_g

Nevermind car clubs, there should be iq tests if you want to vote and have children

And a minimum net worth

[EL Jeffe 5]

Originally Posted by ASAP

I personally think that car meets and their overall value are a dying breed...

It used to be enthusiasts would come out and discuss mods and different cars etc...

Now it's really either a bunch of clowns that make everything look bad or the richer guys where the meet is really a round jerk off session for guys wearing Gucci glasses and ripped jeans. At least this is what I see in Miami... just my $.02... havent been to a meet in ages and personally I think the automotive culture at this point is completely overplayed... with Instagram, youtube and overall media there are two many so called experts and opinions from people that really dont' know anything... that it's almost not worth even remotely dabbling in. I don't even mod my cars anymore outside of maybe a tune as I prefer a ready out the box setup.

They say this comes with age, Next Prius starts to look appealing

[Archie Bunker]

Originally Posted by JamesWWIII

Secondly, the entire OP seems to be up its own ass and an exercise in mental masturbation. But that doesn’t seem to have deterred you in previous posting...

This made me laugh out loud, mainly because every post I read from OP makes me want to throw up. Maybe not the highest IQ, but quite lofty for an internet troll.

[Mandi90TT]

Originally Posted by Archie Bunker

This made me laugh out loud, mainly because every post I read from OP makes me want to throw up. Maybe not the highest IQ, but quite lofty for an internet troll.

Yeah, the OP is generally pretty far up his own ass. Just far enough that I think he might be a troll, but still the possibility he believes his own BS.

[F32Fleet]

I knew people with IQ's over 150 that were complete @sshats. Zero common sense.

[iminhell1]

intelligence,


I merely just have to look up cars leaving C&C to kill that idea. One would think that the smarter people would drive nicer cars, generally a higher IQ/education results in more money/better job/career.
Nope. There are dumbshits in all ranges of income and levels of hp/cars. IQ does not make anyone less prone to stupid shit.


The 'meets' (street shit) I attend (very rarely participate in) I try to be the voice of reason and an adult. There are many who don't like my opinions, but they do bend to my ways in time. I am a stickler for safety, I don't want to see anyone hurt, anything damaged and I also don't want to see any less fun being had.
My thoughts are rubbing off on the younger ones. So in that regard I am quite pleased.

So I feel that excluding anyone is a bad move. The group should be used for good. Get everyone on the same boat that safe is #1 priority. The lower IQ ones will fall in line and teach others the same. Once it's implemented it's fairly easy to maintain. The group will self police and it all becomes polite and peaceful.

Right now we are allowed to meet late night at a local tech campus lot. Both the city and the local PO approve. And both know what goes on afterwards. It's tolerated so long as it's kept controlled and as safe as it can be. That good relationship did not come easy though.