[ELI5] How do our brains work for driving big vehicles like semis, concrete trucks and dump trucks and able to just glance at a tight turn at fast speed and have maybe less than an inch without hitting something but clear it knowing you will without looking twice?

Question

I do it every day in a concrete mixer. I can make tight turns at decent speeds and just glance at something like a vehicle, curb or equipment and clear it with an inch or less. How do our brains register that 1 second look with what were driving to and dodging even if it’s an inch or less and know you wont hit it?

In: Physics

Answer 1

The “Practice makes perfect” saying really only applies if two conditions are met

1. Feedback is prompt – that is you receive feedback basically immediately

2. Feedback is accurate – there’s no second guessing whether you got it right or not

In a case like you describe, you’ll know immediately when you screw up, and you’ll know you’ve screwed up. On the contrary, when you do things properly, you’ll know you’ve done it properly. In either case, your feedback is prompt and accurate.

That combination allows you to effectively build a memory reflex for that particular action, where you’ll get to that point where you hardly have to think about what you’re doing and still nail it every time.

Answer 2

The brain works by making pathways inside it. When you do something for the first time, it has to create a new path. These paths get more defined the more you do that thing. The more defined a path is, the easier and smoother you can do it. A beginner driver would have to take more time to make those turns, but an experienced driver may be able to do it almost effortlessly.

Answer 3

I have this idea that the vehicle becomes an extension of our body – this happens with bicycles, cars, computer games, jet fighters, you name it… Like I think to our brains it becomes a part of us… I then have a theory about extending that – similar to the backwards bicycle, how much can we extend that? Like if we can control a robot by remote control, can we then get that robot to climb inside a vehicle and drive that vehicle? Will that eventually become a part of us the same as driving or riding a bicycle? – and what about if that robot was controlling another robot that was driving a vehicle? How many layers can we do this?