Originally, I was thinking of titling this, “You Know How To Do WHAT???”, but I realized there’s a slightly different tack I want to take on this. I’ll still start from that perspective, though, so hang on – there’s a convoluted path to get to that “self-selecting community” conclusion.
You Know How To Do What???
Ok, it was too good a headline to completely throw away.
I am the proud possessor of a pilot’s license; specifically a PP–ASEL license (Private Pilot – fixed-wing aircraft, Single-Engine, Land). This is as compared with, like, a helicopter or balloon, multi-engine, or a seaplane – to explain the ASEL part. And the “private pilot” part means I can’t fly a plane for hire, just for fun.
Basically, it’s the “lowest” level small-plane license you can reasonably get.
After several years of training (and a few interruptions due to life happenings), I qualified for it, passing the test, in mid-1995.
For multiple reasons (which I won’t get into), I’m no longer qualified to fly, and I’m medically-unfit to fly in any event.
One cool thing, though, is that I still have the license – it doesn’t expire. I can’t use it without being medically certified as fit to fly and a recent-enough check by a flight instructor that I’m still skilled to do so. But the license is sitting in my logbook, which is in my flightbag hanging out in my closet.
And You Can Also Do What??
In the mid-2000s, I learned to ride a motorcycle. In retrospect, I wish i’d learned to do so at least a couple of decades earlier (as it would have made some of my lengthy commutes a lot more fun).
And, while it, too, is a skill I’m no longer able to use (a different sort of “medically-unfit”), I still have the endorsement on my license. It’s a little “M” there listed under “Endorsements”.
While That’s Cool – What’s The Point Here?
Yes, they’re both very “fun” skils to have, and were amazing experiences, both acquiring and utilizing the skills after I’d acquired them. But, in the course of doing both (flying a small plane and riding a motorcyle), I sort of … stumbled? … upon one thing I noticed in both the aviation and biker communities.
Specifically, I discovered how friendly and supportive those communities were for their own members.
Self-Selecting Communities
The above is the term I have come to use, in my head and when describing this phenomenon to others. I will admit this is purely self-observation of this situation, but it was consistent enough that I believe it is, indeed, a “real” thing.
Sure, people wind up “falling into” categories / communities – in the past, based on ethnicity or religion, typically. However, while there does tend to be some level of internal community support for its own “members” in those situations, I don’t think it’s as guaranteed to be there as compared with the aviation and biker communities.
And I have the hypothesis that this is because, as I term them, these are “self-selecting”. People don’t “choose” their ethnicity (at least this was historically the case), nor, generally their religion; the latter being, typically, based on how you were raised. Yes, there are religious conversions, but then you are self-selecting into an established (and usually non-self-selected) community. You just happen to be an outlier / outsider joining in.
But, for those skills – which require a definite level of commitment to truly “enter” – you had to want to be there. You did, truly, “self” select into them … and, more importantly, you can be certain everyone else did the same thing.
It is safe to say that no one is “born” as a pilot or a biker. Perhaps you grew up with a parent or close family friend who flew, but you, yourself, still had to choose to spend the hours and hours training to learn to fly. You had to pass the tests to be permitted to solo … and then to earn your license. No one just handed it to you because of who your parents were.
What Does That Mean?
It’s my hypothesis that this self-selection results in those communities (and I would speculate others which are similarly “constructed”) being significantly closer (internally) and supportive.
To provide two specific (and personal) examples:
From Aviation
One time when I was flying, I did an overnight stop-over at a small airport in Georgia. I was on a personal vacation, using a friend’s plane, and that leg was going from Virginia to Louisiana. After I landed and arranged for my plane to be refueled (and tied down for the night), I told the owner of the FBO (Fixed Base Operator) I would be staying the night, and I hadn’t planned for where I would stay.
He proceeded to tell me where I could get a room at a local motel and offered the use of his personal car, handing over his keys and saying he would call his wife to come and pick him up later. There was no request to see my driver’s license or anything else. Just, “The car is outside and here’s the directions to the motel.” Of course, before I returned the car in the morning (which was just a matter of leaving it in the parking lot and sliding the keys through the mail slot), I filled the tank with gas. But the point remains – he didn’t know me. All he knew about me was that I had arrived in a small plane, by myself, and I needed to get to a motel that night.
From Motorcycling
Shortly after I first learned to ride a motorcycle and then bought my first motorcycle, I was having some issues understanding how to get it moving. [Motorcycles are all manual transmissions and learning to use the clutch properly can be a little tricky at first – especially since the bike I used during training was so small and underpowered (compared to me) that there really wasn’t much “there” there.]
To try and correct this, and figure out the right way to do things, I spent a couple of hours one Sunday morning doing just that – learning how to properly use and control the clutch. This amounted to taking all that time in a small parking lot, getting the bike rolling, stopping it, and doing that again, all slightly different ways each time.
Once I was comfortable with it, I realized I’d probably burned off a good portion of my gas tank and decided I would go the short distance to a nearby gas station. Sure enough, on the way there, the engine sputtered and died. I rolled over to the shoulder (I was on a local highway) so I could fumble around to change the valve to the “reserve” portion of the gas tank – basically a “spare” gallon or so that any rider would use to get to a gas station and refuel.
I was stopped on the side of the road for, perhaps, a minute and a half around noon on a Sunday in summer. During that time, two small groups of other bikers saw me there, slowed down and pulled over to ask me if I was all right.
Compare that, if you will, with the expected actions and attention (or lack thereof) if I were in a car?
Is This Definitive Proof?
I would be stretching my own credulity to suggest those two examples, by themselves, are clear proof of this phenomenon. And there are many others, from my time and experiences as a member of both communities, which I believe simply reinforce my hypothesis.
Note, also, I am specifically using the term, “self-selecting community”, to apply to something which requires some level of investment of time and effort – and it’s not something considered commonplace. At least here in the US, it’s standard for just about everyone to have a drivers’ license.
Also, this is distinct from, say, fandoms. Anyone can be a “fan” of something and that doesn’t necessarily require a notable expenditure of time and effort – you’re just showing that you are a enjoyer of “consuming” whatever it is you’re a fan of.
The Bottom Line – If There Is One?
As I say, I don’t have definitive proof of this being the case, and, honestly, I’m not really of a mind to dig into the potential research involved to uncover whether this is an actual social / sociological phenomenon.
However, I’m reasonably certain (at least at an intuitive level) it is real. And, no matter what, I am proud to be a member, even if not in “good-standing” at the moment, of both the aviation and motorcycle self-selecting communities.
