2020 was the year of social distancing. But a lot of that was on a motorcycle – we all try to make the best out of the situation. There is this 50-mile stretch west of Olympic Forest, which always eluded me, but I managed to explore it this year. In that process, I also experienced a sunset at Ruby Beach – one of those moments that gets engraved in the mind. Stayed at this rather rustic lodge after a six-hour ride through the peninsula. It was well-furnished, lacked WiFi, and had erratic cell coverage — but cheap wine, decent fish n chips, and silence were enough.

There is definitely something inexplicable about riding. There are actual full-length documentaries and books providing explanations, but most of it resembles romanticism. Reasons have to be simpler because it’s just one of those visceral impulses, and in that sense, quite similar to other recreational activities.

But more than the sights, with a motorcycle, we get to absorb the journey, not just the final destination. Such a journey often includes cold showers, gravel, dirt, unstable drivers, texting and driving, and anything else nature might decide to fling. The motivation for enduring all this is the same visceral impulse, to experience the delights and travails of a journey. It’s something our ancestors endured every day before the comforts of modern civilization, but now we get a glimpse of that from riding a well-engineered machine.

In general, there must be something innate that prompts us to journey – it’s likely that exploration aided survival in ancient primitive environments. A popular actor states in an apocalyptic movie — “People who moved survived… Movement is Life”. Needless to say, in the current world, we cannot take it literally. But, in general, movement can enable survival through adaptation. Whether it’s moving for work, learning a new skill, or reading a new theory to solve that problem. All qualify as movement, because they help us adapt in a changing world. Such an adaptation requires some planning, and that planning requires at least some stable factors. What differentiates modern civilization from the primitive past is simply the presence of some stable social factors in an otherwise unpredictable system.

A simple example would be contractual agreements. If you order groceries, there is a high probability that they will be delivered. On top of these simple and stable factors, we construct complex plans that enable adaptation to unexpected events. Essentially, that grocery might help us study for a test, run a marathon, or become a chef. In other words, the law and surrounding institutions provide stability in an unstable world. Not stability of outcomes — we actually don’t know whether we will pass the test, win the marathon, or become a great chef. But the law provides us with tools to pursue elaborate goals constructed on simple, reliable factors. When applied equally to all, along with guns, the law also deserves to be termed ‘the great equalizer’. Equality before law enables the best of the plans, best of the minds, and in that process, the most complex of civilizations to emerge.

“Of all multi-purpose instruments it is probably the one after language which assists the greatest variety of human purposes. It certainly has not been made for any one known purpose but rather has developed because it made people who operated under it more effective in the pursuit of their purposes.”— Friedrich Hayek

In essence, that orderly framework of laws and norms enables an increasingly sophisticated order, where solving problems tests our higher levels of cognition. Here, survival typically does not demand that we embark on a primitive journey or exploration. Instead, our movements are largely metaphorical. Yet it also provides stable, well-engineered machines and recreational tools to relive a glimpse of that primitive past. Like toys fulfilling our last remaining primitive instincts. For all practical purposes, irrelevant and yet adding value to our existence. In a larger sense, the law is integral to life’s events and for realizing our overall vision.

Republished at ridermodel.com