Actually I do, and I include the inertia and momentum of every piece of the drive-train as well, and the current location of the center of gravity. I'm thinking about all of these things through the next predicted 5 seconds or so at any given time. It comes naturally and subconsciously. To say nothing of how you really aren't going to be driving a standard transmission without that mental model.
Your analogy is appropriate for your standard American whose only experience with driving a car is the 20 minute commute to work in an automatic, and thus more like a hobbyist programmer or a sysadmin than someone whose actual craft is programming. Do you really think truckers don't know in their gut what their fuel burn rate is based on how far they've depressed the pedal?
Actually I do, and I include the inertia and momentum of every piece of the drive-train as well, and the current location of the center of gravity. I'm thinking about all of these things through the next predicted 5 seconds or so at any given time. It comes naturally and subconsciously. To say nothing of how you really aren't going to be driving a standard transmission without that mental model.
Your analogy is appropriate for your standard American whose only experience with driving a car is the 20 minute commute to work in an automatic, and thus more like a hobbyist programmer or a sysadmin than someone whose actual craft is programming. Do you really think truckers don't know in their gut what their fuel burn rate is based on how far they've depressed the pedal?