Quote:
Originally Posted by PaleMelanesian
Sure, each item may not be measurable in the context of a whole tank. There's a lot of noise in daily driving that drowns it out. However, most of these items are measurable and verifiable as beneficial on their own in controlled testing. They ARE beneficial, and adding all of them together adds up to something useful. Drops in a bucket, maybe, but eventually you can fill a bucket with drops.
There's a reason the title is "The little things".  |
Expression of an OCD behavior makes the subject feel better. That's why the behavior is repeated constantly.
Doing any of the things described may not do any harm, but it doesn't provide any measurable benefit either. Those who do it will provide rationalizations that theoretically there should be some benefit. That leads to
a belief that there must be some benefit, even though it is not realized in fact. Unfortunately, in the case of actual MPG gain, the sought after benefit is either negligible or inconsequential. The only benefit is in the validation of the self-reinforcing OCD behavior: it makes you feel good about doing it, and so you continue doing it despite any evidence of actual benefit.
In any event, apparently those who do these things have lots of company here.
