The Question and Answer Board

[By Any Other Name]

Yes, London cabbies are brilliant, and in a parallel universe
grubmaster obtains fame, without the fortune, as one.

London cabbies take the world's toughest taxi exam [called "The Knowledge"]
and are not impressed [with] satellite navigation systems, preferring instead
to rely on their own brain power.

So says Bob Oddy, general secretary of the London Taxi Drivers' Association.

"Regardless of the salesmen's hype about these machines they cannot match
the knowledge and experience of a good cabbie," Bob Oddy said.

"The Knowledge" test is so tough, it takes up to 34 months of study to pass,
and studies have shown that the brain of successful applicants actually enlarges,
but the added pressure is temporary as these new cells migrate to parts of brain
that serve limited useful work functions, like BBQ brain cell skills that are forced
out of the left ear.

But studies of London taxi drivers, the before and after obtaining the license,
have identified that these folks initially have a larger hippocampus than people
not associated with superior navigation, programming and race car driving skills.

"The Knowledge" is still going to have the advantage for the next 10-15 years,
but by then hopefully these humans will have retired at an early age before them
robots and "Its Alive" machines take over the human tasks of thinking & driving,
leaving the area of extreme emotions to then be taken on full-time by humans.



r:o)se