Restlessnes Keeps the Pedal to the Metal

Restlessness keeps the pedal to the metal. To offer a suggestive analogy in this vein: several years ago there was a recall on some Toyota vehicles. Evidently the cars would be given to sudden and uncontrollable acceleration.

Terrifying. But as Malcolm Gladwell uncovered in an episode of his podcast Revisionist History, in most instances people did not even try to use the brake pedal. When the gas pedal malfunctioned, they panicked—and kept pushing the…