Game of Chicken

The concept of brinkmanship is all over the Icelandic sagas, it is in fact part and parcel of the feud cycle, as if it were an old Icelandic version of something equivalent to the game of chicken. Which is funny, since that game post-dates the advent of the automobile. Of course there is probably some underlying human tendency, but I think the symbolism of two automobiles hurling towards is just so perfect, it is almost hard to imagine how to conceived of those sorts of standoffs without hearing the roar of an engine.

One hopes humanity has developed beyond this point, huh?

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