[thesweatersnog]

I haven't posted on here in a while, but this has been on my mind and I thought this was the best place to share it.

I just want to say that when doing Uber/Lyft I "feel" closer to the butterfly effect then I have any other point in my life. In any large market there are so many riders so many drivers on both platforms and the rides you take are arguably the single largest factor in determining the rides you will have later in the day, due to positioning. The light tap of the screen to accept the ride is so similar, metaphorically speaking, to the butterfly's wings flapping in the analogy that I am reminded of it many times throughout the day. The People you meet, the conversations you have, the good and the bad, I can't help but think how everything that happens for the rest of the day is going to be different than it would have been if I didn't accept this ride. I know I'll forget 95% of the people to get my car, never meet or talk to 98% percent of them again (The 2% is because I try to network). Unless something drastically good or bad happens (think $100 tip or vomit all over the back seat), most of the repercussions from the days working choices fizzle out when you decide to stop working for the day and go home. But even then I think there is still some small imprint left in our lives, whether its a flirty compliment from an attractive passenger, or backseat driver giving you a bunch of red lights.

And before anyone says it, I know that the matching system is of course very complex, sophisticated, and engineered to be the exact opposite of random, but honestly there is only so much Uber and Lyft can control. They can't force customers to ride, they can't force drivers to work (yet), they obviously can't control things like the weather, traffic, co riders, fraud ..etc. it really is much closer random than it is a controlled situation.

An interesting side note: I take screenshots of any request that I'm going to accept, before I accept it. But every once in a while as I am going to take the screenshot I'll accidentally decline the ride. Of course I'm mad at myself whenever I do that, not only because I lost the ride but because I've now changed the course of the entire rest of my day from whatever it would've been, unless of course you believe in fate, in which case don't worry about the vase.

I guess I don't really have a point to make, just find it interesting.

for those unfamiliar with the term Butterfly Effect:

Simple Definition: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=butterfly effect

"full" concept: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect

halfway decent movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289879/

 

[daave1]

In all seriousness, I think about this too. I wonder at the beginning of my evening, where the wind is gonna blow. I've also declined some rides on accident, only to get something(or someone) much better and more interesting. That's some heavy chit, man...

 

[Uber's Guber]

ZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzz....huh, wha?..... somebody say something???

 

[whiskeyboat]

That randomness is the appealing part of the gig. No session is ever the same and the next crappy ride or great ride is one ping away.

 

[SEAL Team 5]

ZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzzzZZZZzzzz....huh, wha?..... somebody say something???

I fell into such a deep sleep that I reversed the life cycle and morphed from a butterfly back into a cocoon.

 

[upyouruber]

I haven't posted on here in a while, but this has been on my mind and I thought this was the best place to share it.

I just want to say that when doing Uber/Lyft I "feel" closer to the butterfly effect then I have any other point in my life. In any large market there are so many riders so many drivers on both platforms and the rides you take are arguably the single largest factor in determining the rides you will have later in the day, due to positioning. The light tap of the screen to accept the ride is so similar, metaphorically speaking, to the butterfly's wings flapping in the analogy that I am reminded of it many times throughout the day. The People you meet, the conversations you have, the good and the bad, I can't help but think how everything that happens for the rest of the day is going to be different than it would have been if I didn't accept this ride. I know I'll forget 95% of the people to get my car, never meet or talk to 98% percent of them again (The 2% is because I try to network). Unless something drastically good or bad happens (think $100 tip or vomit all over the back seat), most of the repercussions from the days working choices fizzle out when you decide to stop working for the day and go home. But even then I think there is still some small imprint left in our lives, whether its a flirty compliment from an attractive passenger, or backseat driver giving you a bunch of red lights.

And before anyone says it, I know that the matching system is of course very complex, sophisticated, and engineered to be the exact opposite of random, but honestly there is only so much Uber and Lyft can control. They can't force customers to ride, they can't force drivers to work (yet), they obviously can't control things like the weather, traffic, co riders, fraud ..etc. it really is much closer random than it is a controlled situation.

An interesting side note: I take screenshots of any request that I'm going to accept, before I accept it. But every once in a while as I am going to take the screenshot I'll accidentally decline the ride. Of course I'm mad at myself whenever I do that, not only because I lost the ride but because I've now changed the course of the entire rest of my day from whatever it would've been, unless of course you believe in fate, in which case don't worry about the vase.

I guess I don't really have a point to make, just find it interesting.

for those unfamiliar with the term Butterfly Effect:

Simple Definition: https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=butterfly effect

"full" concept: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Butterfly_effect

halfway decent movie: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0289879/

Zzzzzzzzzzzz!!!

 

[UberPressident]

i need money can i have some of yours
i can tell u are sweet
i sat on a butterfly and feel bad

 

[ftupelo]

No, just realize that over time, if you give enough rides, the curve of your returns will follow a normal Laplace-Gaussian distribution just like any other ants. You will have some good days and you will have some bad days, but with a large enough n, we all end up in the same place. I will concede that our own actions can skew that distribution to a certain degree in one way or the other. Where one’s distribution will not be a bell curve is when it comes to tips, which can be influenced by many factors, including the drivers physical beauty and attractiveness.

 

[Uber Crack]

Wow I've thought about this exact same thing often. I sometimes won't stop and take a break because I don't want to alter my pattern for the night. A few times I've had a small delay for some reason and I've come across an accident that just happened and I wonder if I hadn't had that delay, would I have been involved in that? Sometimes I feel as if I'm somehow being looked after. It's the weirdest feeling but I like it.

 

[Mista T]

If I didn't have that guy taking that crap ride only 8 blocks away, I wouldn't have gotten that banging airport run with the awesome rematch.

If I hadn't passed on that 12 minute pickup, maybe I wouldn't be sitting here in the boonies picking my nose for the last 15 minutes waiting for a ping, reading some shit about butterflies.

 

[Wonkytonk]

Of course I'm mad at myself whenever I do that, not only because I lost the ride but because I've now changed the course of the entire rest of my day from whatever it would've been, unless of course you believe in fate, in which case don't worry about the vase.

Well you can stop worrying about that. Truth is that was simply the one action that brought you back on track to what your day should have been after the thousand and one previous unrelated actions you took to sidetrack your intended day previous to that. So you're all good.

You're welcome.

 

[DocT]

I fell into such a deep sleep that I reversed the life cycle and morphed from a butterfly back into a chrysalis.
View attachment 232793

FIFY

What is the difference between a chrysalis and a cocoon?
Butterflies hatch from a chrysalis, a life stage made of a hardened protein. A cocoon is spun from silk and surrounds the pupa of many moths.

Don't worry, I had to learn this from my daughter when we "adopted" caterpillars. We set the butterflies free at a botanical garden.

 

[Patrick R Oboyle]

You sir.. Just Blew my mind..

 

[Julescase]

I think about this every time I drive; how, with each random ride request and acceptance/declination, I'm altering the course of my day. Every ride you complete brings you to a new location, which then effects your subsequent ride options. With each "No thanks" we respond with, we're missing out on something that could be amazing and has the potential to change our life (prolly not tho), but we just have to be secure in our decisions and accept where our choices take us.

If anyone here hasn't seen the film "Sliding Doors" with Gwenyth Paltrow, I recommend it. It's on Netflix. Kind of an interesting twist and related to the general concept of this thread.

 

[SEAL Team 5]

With each "No thanks" we respond with, we're missing out on something that could be amazing and has the potential to change our life.

Yea, you could be missing out on picking up a person at the airport that has just returned from West Africa infected with the Ebola Virus. That could be amazing and will definitely change your life.

 

[MadTownUberD]

Yes it's an effect...but in a small city like mine I return to one of a few "home bases" (honey holes) pretty regularly. Especially at regular times in the morning. But yes when I drive in Milwaukee I feel the effect more...much larger land area and of course population.

 

[Uber Crack]

I think about this every time I drive; how, with each random ride request and acceptance/declination, I'm altering the course of my day. Every ride you complete brings you to a new location, which then effects your subsequent ride options. With each "No thanks" we respond with, we're missing out on something that could be amazing and has the potential to change our life (prolly not tho), but we just have to be secure in our decisions and accept where our choices take us.

If anyone here hasn't seen the film "Sliding Doors" with Gwenyth Paltrow, I recommend it. It's on Netflix. Kind of an interesting twist and related to the general concept of this thread.

I love that movie!! Yes it's very relevant and mind opening. I also recommend.

 

[macinmn]

I like alternative history stories (Man in the High Castle), etc, and think about how such minor things can end up having significance, so I like this post. Even before driving Uber, the yellow traffic light was always my go-to as an a example of a simple life changer we all encounter. So many more yellow lights now. So many busy nights you get a terrible trip and nothing seems to go right in the chain reaction after that, or you cancel a trip at just the most opportune split-second time where you get a fantastic rider in its place, or you were taking a leg stretch break when it's slow and didn't hear it pinging and missed accepting it.

Obviously these things are happening all the time, in our non-Ubering time also, but I think activities like Uber make you become more aware of these random events.

 

[Spork24]

Did you smoke pot for the 1st time or something?

 

[Uber Crack]

Here's a sliding doors type thing that happened. Two weeks ago I picked up two drunk females from a bar. They asked if I'd mind if they had a cigarette before they got in the car since I was 30 seconds away from the ping. I said alright, and I waited a few mins while they smoked.

On the way home on the freeway we were stuck behind a fatal accident for about 45 mins. It had just happened minutes before. No medical help or police had arrived yet.

It got me wondering... What if they hadn't had that cig? Would I have been involved in that accident? It also came in handy for when they vomited out the doors since we were stopped. No puke in the car.

I'll never be irritated at a pax finishing a cig ever again.