Jaywalking

There is something deeply disturbing about societies and individuals people who refuse to cross the street on a read light, regardless of the presence of traffic. To me it somehow seems like an abdication of reasoning. I understand an ironclad crossing the street rule where small children are concerned but why do adults docily wait for the green man? I feel that the man or woman who waits for the green man in the absence of traffic is in some fundamental way diminshing their humanity. They are manifestly NOT interacting with the real world but ONLY with socially constructed norms and symbols. The abdication of common sense involved in the refusal to cross the road when it is obviously safe to do so makes me wonder in what other ways such individuals are prepared to abandon their capacity to think to social convention. Mindlessness really disturbs me. Of course I realise that we all need automatic conditioned responses to get through the day. But the danger arises in letting our mind go entirely to sleep. I feel that in my own life I struggle with conditioned behavior. Generally I am NOT good at the sort of tasks that dont involve explicit thought. Locking the door, remembering my glasses, kicking a soccerball are all difficult for me. I struggle to learn not only new motor skills but also intellectual skills and disciplines that require the internalisation of complex structures. It just doesnt stick. In short my autopilot simply doesnt work very well.
While this is regrettable I also think it sometimes helps me to see the idiocy automatic responses can produce. An inability or unwillingness to think lies at the root of an awful lot of evil in the world.

I wonder about how capable those who await the green man are of thinking independently about politics, education, morality, bringing up kids...