Your Most Absurd Pet Peeves
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Yes! It pisses me off when people don't know the difference between "search" and "research". You use Google to do a "search" and you do "research" in a lab, or a library with tons of books and equipment and many, many hours of hard work. A doctor I went to see once had a coffee mug that said: "Don't confuse my medical degree with your Google search!"
Mircea
Hardly anyone does research. Almost everyone, including most STEM professionals, have to decide whom and what to trust. And it's getting harder, because it has become increasingly clear that a lot of sources are full of crap. It's been obvious in politics, journalism, and economics for a long time. But even "trust the science" has now become a red flag for "you'd better look into this yourself and try to figure out if it's propaganda". Your arrogant doctor with his mug is no different. I doubt he ever takes the time to evaluate what his cohort, guild organization, or guild journal tells him.
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The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. -
Hardly anyone does research. Almost everyone, including most STEM professionals, have to decide whom and what to trust. And it's getting harder, because it has become increasingly clear that a lot of sources are full of crap. It's been obvious in politics, journalism, and economics for a long time. But even "trust the science" has now become a red flag for "you'd better look into this yourself and try to figure out if it's propaganda". Your arrogant doctor with his mug is no different. I doubt he ever takes the time to evaluate what his cohort, guild organization, or guild journal tells him.
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The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing.Greg Utas wrote:
Almost everyone, including most STEM professionals, have to decide whom and what to trust
That's scary! You are describing an almost religious society in which each one has their own beliefs and there are no proof based facts. "Alternative facts" are echoing in my mind :omg:
Greg Utas wrote:
Your arrogant doctor with his mug is no different.
I have other doctor friends and I know they read medical journals and try to keep up with what's new in their field. I'd like to believe that the one with the mug was doing the same... You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one :laugh:
Mircea
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Greg Utas wrote:
Almost everyone, including most STEM professionals, have to decide whom and what to trust
That's scary! You are describing an almost religious society in which each one has their own beliefs and there are no proof based facts. "Alternative facts" are echoing in my mind :omg:
Greg Utas wrote:
Your arrogant doctor with his mug is no different.
I have other doctor friends and I know they read medical journals and try to keep up with what's new in their field. I'd like to believe that the one with the mug was doing the same... You may say I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one :laugh:
Mircea
The essence of science is the evolution of "proof-based facts". Around 1900, Rutherford spoke of the "death of physics"--that it had all been pretty much figured out. Soon afterwards, Einstein showed up. There is often a general consensus based on what is currently "known", but even that is subject to manipulation. Unfortunately, more and more areas are getting politicized.
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The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing. -
The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
I share most of the ones mentioned later in this thread, but one not mentioned yet that really gets my goat: When somebody of note dies (eg Nelson Mandela) the media (esp. rolling news TV) will not only ignore anything else happening around the world, no matter how important (esp. to those involved), but will spend all its time finding people to interview to ask either for their reminiscences about the person concerned - whether they knew them or not! - or their thoughts about what other people who might have known that person are feeling about other people who might have known that person are feeling. (Recursion: see Recursion.) Surprisingly, this didn't happen as much as I expected when Prince Philip and The Queen died, possibly because there is both more respect for them and there was also plenty of other stuff associated with their deaths to cover. For Mandela though, we ended up with the rediculous situation of someone who had never met or known him asking another perosn who might just possibly have glanced at a photo of Mandela on a newspaper page once many years ago (perhaps whilst looking over the shoulder of a commuter on the Tube) being asked what Mandela's family were feeling at the moment etc. (Repeat endlessly until something more newsworthy comes along, like the presenter dropping their pencil etc.) This carrries on still in a minor way, with long, insensitive interviews with people who have suffered some tradegy, not with the aim of improving the victim's lot, but because it makes for 'good' emotional TV and hence draws in the rubber-neckers to increase viewing figures. (Think of the coverage of that poor woman with mental health issues who drowned recently.) ... AND another thing! This trope (adopted by just about every media co now) of sending someone to stand outside a building (often in the dark/and or rain etc) with a TV crew to tell you something that the studio presenter could easily report, or which that same reporter could have said in the studio. I'm not talking about on-the-ground live-coverage/breaking news stuff here (eg reports from Kyiv etc), but when there is - for example - a ministerial or business statement. Some poor reporter and team is sent to relate the contents from outside a closed office building, or No 10 with only Larry the Cat and the policeman for company. Such a waste of time and money. --- Sorry, I'll get me coat...
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The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
While it doesn't drive me up the wall to quite the same degree as your hatred for miniature golf does I do have a huge annoyance with A.D./B.C. and have had it since I learnt what they stood for. "Anno Domini" is a neat sounding phrase in latin. Few may mean what it actually stands for, "in the year of our lord", but most everyone know it signifies year >0. On the other hand "before Christ" is just plain English. Why mix languages? Latin does have the term A.C., "ante Christum", to mirror A.D. but it doesn't see any use and there's no English "after Christ" term that's ever seen use as far as I know. This weird mishmash of languages is stupid and I hate it.
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While it doesn't drive me up the wall to quite the same degree as your hatred for miniature golf does I do have a huge annoyance with A.D./B.C. and have had it since I learnt what they stood for. "Anno Domini" is a neat sounding phrase in latin. Few may mean what it actually stands for, "in the year of our lord", but most everyone know it signifies year >0. On the other hand "before Christ" is just plain English. Why mix languages? Latin does have the term A.C., "ante Christum", to mirror A.D. but it doesn't see any use and there's no English "after Christ" term that's ever seen use as far as I know. This weird mishmash of languages is stupid and I hate it.
The modern usage is CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era) with CS starting at the same point as AD did. It's been in limited use since the 17th Century, but is gaining traction in the modern Woke / Inclusive society we are (slowly) transitioning to: The Origin & History of the BCE/CE Dating System - World History Encyclopedia[^]
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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The modern usage is CE (Common Era) and BCE (Before Common Era) with CS starting at the same point as AD did. It's been in limited use since the 17th Century, but is gaining traction in the modern Woke / Inclusive society we are (slowly) transitioning to: The Origin & History of the BCE/CE Dating System - World History Encyclopedia[^]
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Does CE/BCE recognize the number zero? Or does 1 follow immediately after -1 on the number line? As far as I can see from easily accessible sources, it appears as if the 'pagan' CE/BCE notation still does not recognize zero. So it is nothing but a relabeling of the Christian, religion based, calendar - not, as Wikipedia claims, "BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms". Astronomers are scientists. They seem to be able to cope with the number 0: Astronomical year numbering[^]. If we are to replace AC/DC with anything non-religious, this would be a far better choice (considering that Unix epoch doesn't span the entire time range that we want to cover :-))
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Re the traffic, I don't doubt the truth of it, it's just that every single radio traffic reporter, on every station appears to use the same wording "... sheer weight of traffic." Nobody ever says simply "Weight of traffic" or "Heavy traffic" or even "Rush hour." Makes me wonder if they all go to Traffic Reporting school where they are drilled in the mandatory phraseology. And whilst I'm on it, here's another that is becoming very prevalent around this area. Drivers now seem to think it is too much trouble to turn the wheel on their power steering car to turn right properly. Almost every day, if I'm waiting to turn right at a Give Way, and someone is approaching from my left, wanting to turn into the street I am exiting, they stop and usher me out so they can turn into my street on the wrong side of the road rather than apply the few extra degrees of steering wheel rotation. On a wide junction I've even had someone turn in on the wrong side of me over the Give Way sign. And the Royal Mail can have some too. Important documents arrive Friday apparently having just about survived what appears to be an attempt to put them through a shredder before they dunked them in a puddle. I now have paperwork scattered around the house to dry. Meanwhile, friendly Postie is ringing the bell to ask if I have a package he's mislaid. I know the guy it was meant for and he lives on the other side of the road at the far end of the street, so, even if he was out, why would I have the package when there are 50 houses closer by he could have left it with? But no, the machine says I have it, so that's that. Probably get billed for it soon ... :(
Rich Leyshon wrote:
And whilst I'm on it, here's another that is becoming very prevalent around this area. Drivers now seem to think it is too much trouble to turn the wheel on their power steering car to turn right properly.
Oh, yes, this to the n'th power. Also, people driving micro cars who think they're 12 feet wide and have to drive 3 feet from the kerb straddling the centre line. Don't get me started on drivers who simply pull a U-turn when there is traffic approaching from both directions, expecting everyone else to stop to accommodate them.
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"off of" Often when reading a novel, if I come across this grammatical turd, I dump the book and never go near that author again. I can say no more, I could explode with anger just seeing the words in my own post.
So old that I did my first coding in octal via switches on a DEC PDP 8
Clumpco wrote:
"off of"
Also the closely related misuse of "should of" or "could of" as in "I should of gone home early".
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Does CE/BCE recognize the number zero? Or does 1 follow immediately after -1 on the number line? As far as I can see from easily accessible sources, it appears as if the 'pagan' CE/BCE notation still does not recognize zero. So it is nothing but a relabeling of the Christian, religion based, calendar - not, as Wikipedia claims, "BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms". Astronomers are scientists. They seem to be able to cope with the number 0: Astronomical year numbering[^]. If we are to replace AC/DC with anything non-religious, this would be a far better choice (considering that Unix epoch doesn't span the entire time range that we want to cover :-))
trønderen wrote:
If we are to replace AC/DC with anything
In the beginning ... :-D A much better system.
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Does CE/BCE recognize the number zero? Or does 1 follow immediately after -1 on the number line? As far as I can see from easily accessible sources, it appears as if the 'pagan' CE/BCE notation still does not recognize zero. So it is nothing but a relabeling of the Christian, religion based, calendar - not, as Wikipedia claims, "BCE and CE are religiously neutral terms". Astronomers are scientists. They seem to be able to cope with the number 0: Astronomical year numbering[^]. If we are to replace AC/DC with anything non-religious, this would be a far better choice (considering that Unix epoch doesn't span the entire time range that we want to cover :-))
"Year zero" doesn't exist in CE/BCE - it follows the numbering convention of BC/AD exactly because that is common usage, and way too much confusion would result if you had to change "2023" to "2022" to fit in a year zero! And if it change the BCE numbers, that would cause confusion as well because all the textbooks would be a digit out as well. Personally, I'd adopt the Federation Stardate system (if I understood it, which I don't) :D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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I just had to correct someone that claimed they "researched" something online. I told them they consumed content online.
Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
You were probably wrong. RESEARCH: NOUN the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions: "we are fighting meningitis by raising money for medical research" VERB investigate systematically: "she has spent the last five years researching her people's history" "the team has been researching into flora and fauna" When one reads a web page and directly uses the information found, that is consumption. When one reads numerous pages, especially when not all agree, and forms logical conclusions based upon what was read, that is research.
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"Year zero" doesn't exist in CE/BCE - it follows the numbering convention of BC/AD exactly because that is common usage, and way too much confusion would result if you had to change "2023" to "2022" to fit in a year zero! And if it change the BCE numbers, that would cause confusion as well because all the textbooks would be a digit out as well. Personally, I'd adopt the Federation Stardate system (if I understood it, which I don't) :D
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
OriginalGriff wrote:
if you had to change "2023" to "2022" to fit in a year zero
Astronomers never suggested that. They treat 1 BC as year 0 by their scale, and BC 4, say, as their year 3. Very few of our everyday time stamps refer to years BC with single-year precision, and are unaffected by the adjustment of n BC being adjusted to n-1 BC. There are not very many textbooks making exact time references 2000 years back in time. Probably the most significant ones are those contradicting the religious scriptures, e.g. pointing out that Herod died 4 BC - it doesn't matter if we call that year -3 - they don't fit the Jesus myths anyway. On the other side of the line: Quirinius became a Legate of Syria AD 6, but that was before Jesus was born. So Jesus was born both (at least) 4 year BC (or year -3), but also at least 6 years into the AD era. I know that this does not affect believers, but to me it just strengthens the idea that the birth of one specific religious preacher should not control our calendar, especially when it provably couldn't have had happened the suggested time.
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trønderen wrote:
If we are to replace AC/DC with anything
In the beginning ... :-D A much better system.
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You were probably wrong. RESEARCH: NOUN the systematic investigation into and study of materials and sources in order to establish facts and reach new conclusions: "we are fighting meningitis by raising money for medical research" VERB investigate systematically: "she has spent the last five years researching her people's history" "the team has been researching into flora and fauna" When one reads a web page and directly uses the information found, that is consumption. When one reads numerous pages, especially when not all agree, and forms logical conclusions based upon what was read, that is research.
It was an article from thedailybeast.com I wasn't wrong.
Check out my IoT graphics library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/gfx And my IoT UI/User Experience library here: https://honeythecodewitch.com/uix
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The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
Well, I'll have to think hard about that. Living in Texas (and prior to that, Mexico City) I have a lot of logical pet peeves...so much so that I have found many kindred spirits among the Germans. At the moment I can only think of airports. I know they're necessary for trans-oceanic commute and maybe some transcontinental routes (Houston to Vancouver as an example), but I'll avoid the hours and frustrations of security at all costs if I can find a train or drive to my destination.
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The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
Lately, some morning news shows are turning into the Home Shopping Network toward the end of the show. And the hosts, who are usually very experienced news anchors, have to feign wonder and interest in all the 'fantastic' products - which are all 1/2 off!! Incredibly annoying!
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The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
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The usual pet peeves that we all have in common are pretty straightforward. But, what about pet peeves that you have that others don't? What's something that drives only you up the wall, while other people are just fine with it? I have a few absurd pet peeves. Whenever I think of miniature golf, my inner dialogue explodes into a vulgarity-laden tirade. I don't know anyone else who shares the same experience. Even just driving past a miniature golf course is enough to compel my thoughts into darkness. Don't get me started on that stupid windmill thing! Every miniature golf course has one. Just thinking about it makes me want to set it on fire. I get this image in my head seeing it engulfed in flames while its windmill continues to rotate, as though it's still taunting me. And then there's the putter they give you. That thing is nothing but a device of torture. It's like going to a restaurant and ordering a bowl of soup with nothing but a pair of chopsticks. By the time I get to the last hole, my blood pressure is through the roof and I hate the entire world. Upon completing the last hole, what's your reward? They take away your golf ball! Once it falls into the hole, it disappears, and that's it. It's like you can hear them whisper into your ear. "You're done now. Give us back our golf ball and go away!". I don't understand. I need to return the golf club to the front desk anyway. I might as well return the golf ball, too. Do they think I'm going to steal their golf ball? Do they think I'll inadvertently forget to return it and mistakenly bring it home with me? If they're going to take my golf ball away, why not rip the golf club from my hands and punch me in the face?
My favorite bit is the 18th hole abduction pearl clutching. I don't hate mini golf, but I did always have a sort of :( about that whole take my ball thing too. I have not always been so zen but thinking on this topic, I'm more monk-like than I would have guessed. These little things? I have near no capacity to care for even when totally reasonable. I was buying something and dealing with a salesman on a call and he could hear the ticking of my very old oven clock. He said it would drive him nuts. In the distant past I had considered cleaving the internals apart until I could excise anything clock like in the hopes of leaving any heating bits in tact. For years though, I hadn't much noticed it or thought of it until he said something. But I have thought of what is definitely my most absurd pet peeve. People with narrow eating preferences and a stubborn reluctance to try anything new. It's absurd. Why should I care what they want? It's an annoyance borne of frustrated love really. You just want to share with someone "hey this stuff is easy to love huh?" Maybe it isn't so absurd. Stuffing something in your mouth is just so easy. It's almost literally all we do for like our whole second year of life. The annoyance, I think, is the implicit "no, if it risks connecting with you on any sort of level I will not consume even a bite of anything you deem tasty". This hasn't crossed their mind, generally... probably. Somewhere deep in the folds it was rolling around my dome though.
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People spending an eternity attempting to eat food using only a fork when a perfectly serviceable knife is in front of them. If I asked you to dig a hole, would you eschew for proffered shovel and look instead for a pair of tweezers?
I'd amend that to "people using the nearest tool to do a job rather then the actual, appropriate tool that is designed for the job and is just over there". Herself is in this group, which explains a set of cheap and nasty basic tools at the front of my tool cupboard where she can see it first ... I then hover them up from anywhere she might have used a tool because they never go back where she got them. Which is another peeve of mine! :mad:
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Any traffic jam with no obvious cause being described on the radio as “due to sheer wight of traffic.”
Trouble is, it';s pretty much accurate: the higher the traffic density, the more likely a jam is, because one set of brake lights going on, slows X cars down in response, and they slow a further Y, and "slowness wave" propagates back through the traffic getting slower and slower until some traffic does stop, even momentarily. Which makes more people stop, and you rapidly build a jam for no reason other than the amount of traffic. It's weirdly beautiful to watch in models, but frustrating if you are driving!
Rich Leyshon wrote:
TV announcers who for reasons I cannot begin to imagine, feel the need to tell you what is about to happen in the programme that you are about to watch.
On W, we watch Masterchef Australia. And just before the program starts, and sometimes during the advert breaks they show an advert for the program we would be watching if it wasn't for your stupid advert!
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
Quote:
Trouble is, it';s pretty much accurate: the higher the traffic density, the more likely a jam is, because one set of brake lights going on, slows X cars down in response, and they slow a further Y, and "slowness wave" propagates back through the traffic getting slower and slower until some traffic does stop, even momentarily. Which makes more people stop, and you rapidly build a jam for no reason other than the amount of traffic. It's weirdly beautiful to watch in models, but frustrating if you are driving!
I don’t know if this happens in the UK but here in the states I’ve frequently been in traffic jams where it turns out the actual accident was on the other side of the median (otherwise known as traffic going in the opposite direction) and the only reason you’ve had to sit in an hour long backup is because of all the rubberneckers who come to a complete stop so
