Interesting article from the NY Times that looks at unusual research findings that seem to fly in the face of reason. He looks at surprising medial statistics of class presidents, Academy Award-winners, and drivers, among others:

“Life is a marathon, not a sprint,” he read, adding, “A great deal of mischief occurs when people are in a rush.”

To that end, he studied the psychology around changing lanes in traffic. In an article published in Nature in 1999, Dr. Redelmeier and Professor Tibshirani found that while cars in the other lane sometimes appear to be moving faster, they are not.

“Every driver on average thinks he’s in the wrong lane,” Dr. Redelmeier said. “You think more cars are passing you when you’re actually passing them just as quickly. Still, you make a lane change where the benefits are illusory and not real.” Meanwhile, changing lanes increases the chances of collision about threefold.

via Scientist at Work – Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier – Debunking Myths of the Medical World – NYTimes.com.

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