Automobile Use as a Behavioural Function of Modernity : a small and overly complicated contribution to understanding why we drive

Why does the automobile seem to be used and preferred beyond its apparent utility? Some have offered bits of possible explanations – emotional, psychological, sociological motivations. This essay, rather, calls on the under-addressed role of the cultural conditions of Modernity to help theoretically ground why the automobile may be valued beyond its apparent utility. In this address, the field of Mobilities studies is used to supply the relevant ideological conditions of geographical movement in Modernity. The resulting argument characterizes automobile use as, in part, an instinctual drive for escape from rationalization - a compensatory reaction to the alienating forces. The conclusion serves as a contribution to understanding why the automobile​​ may often be given preference beyond its apparent utility – something that is very welcome given the massive impact of automobile use and its unclear future.