Question: You celebrate speeding. Aren't you worried your art might lead people to drive at unsafe speeds?
Greg: By unsafe do you mean going 76 in a 75 zone?
Question: Well, no. That's not...
Greg: Are you telling me that you drive faster than 76 miles per hour in a 75 zone (wink, wink)?
Question: Well of course I do!
Greg: How fast do you usually go in a 75 zone?
Question: Around 80.
Greg: Oh...I see. So now I have to ask, aren't you worried YOU might be leading people to drive at unsafe speeds?
Question: Touche. But still, really, given that you CELEBRATE speeding....don't you worry that you might be encouraging people to cross the line...to drive unsafely?
Greg: No. Here's why: Speeding unsafely is not POSITIVE, on the contrary, speeding too fast is actually an example of Negative Deviance (the direct opposite of Positive Deviance) . Since My Art is all about POSITIVE Deviance I never celebrate or try to encourage unsafe speeding. In fact, if you'll notice, I'm the one telling people they should wear a helmet when they speed."
Question: That's true. But...
Greg: The truth is, Positive Deviance solutions are no more susceptible to going awry than conventional solutions. For example, a doctor's conventional prescription for heart patients may call for exercise (but don't overdo it), weight loss (but not too much), medicine (but only as prescribed) and relaxation (but don't be lazy). So with My Art I am saying we all speed and that it is wonderful we do (when we do it wonderfully) and that maybe we can even speed even a little faster if we don't mind wearing a helmet (and making sure to always keeping ourselves in the realm of POSITIVE Deviance, not negative).
Question: OK. But when does positive speeding cross over into the realm of negative speeding?
Greg: That's a good question. Why don't you call me, we'll go online and discuss this in a jam session. As we do, let's keep in mind that people tend to think that "unsafe driving" is speeding any faster than they usually do (just as most drinkers believe that drinking more than they do is where problem drinking begins, and parents think punishment any harsher than theirs crosses the line towards abuse, and so forth). We can start by having you share your beliefs about what is safe speeding and what is not, and why.