Mind Control

Singaporean drivers are really 'kiasu', or being scared of second place. From parking lot snatching, reckless overtaking, speeding, many would do anything just to put themselves at an advantage. And my father had these experiences first-hand quite recently.

Like the chinese saying goes, know your enemy well and you will triumph. Mind control isn't really a far fetched concept from sci-fi thrillers, it exists in everyday life, with many 'reactive' personalities falling victim under the control of more 'proactive' beings.

I think J.K. Rowling has put it pretty well in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, that mind-control (Imperius Curse) only works to the self-unaware victims with weak willpower. The first thing to avoid mind control would be to be aware of your actions, and knowing that they come as a result of your will, not of others, which is what I'm going to illustrate below.

Mind control on the road.

1) Drive on the first lane
2) Wait for a seemingly innocent driver on the first lane
3) Signal to go into the first lane

The result would be drivers anxiously speeding forward just to not get overtaken. Before long, a line of cars in front would be tail-gating and you'll have the whole empty stretch of road behind you, perfectly safe for changing lanes. A rather comical sight.

Patient and more self-aware drivers do not suffer this kind of 'mind control' however. It's like the rest of the drivers have this mentality of not letting others overtake them pre-programmed into their minds.