What's the goal of honking?

To me, the horn is there for one reason only: to get the attention of someone outside your car. Whether it's another driver or a pedestrian. Tooting the horn is basically saying "Hello, I'm here. Maybe you didn't notice me. Maybe you did. But either way, we know for sure you do."

Given that, here are acceptable scenarios for using the horn:

• The light turned green and the driver in front of you hasn't noticed yet after a couple of seconds.
• A car signaling to move into your lane.
• A car moving into your lane oblivious to your existence.
  
• Coming up behind a cyclist who is riding in the center of the lane.
• A driver exiting a car parked on the side of the road as you approach.

Unacceptable scenarios include:

• that *$%&# cut me off!
• if this %*@&$ is gonna drive in the left lane, he %&*# well better go faster than that!
• My boss humiliated me today and I need to take it out on someone.
  

From my observations, horn are mostly used to express anger or irritation. I suppose it makes sense; The person feels this emotional build up, and the horn is a simply and obvious way to release it. But if you think about it, honking in anger ultimately does no good. What person, upon hearing a horn blasted at them in anger, is going to think, "Gee, I never really reflected on it before, but I believe the judgment of some utter stranger, and his klaxon is my wake-up call to change my erroneous ways."?

It's interesting how we tend to attribute malice to the people in traffic who do us wrong, and yet how often are we acting in malice in our own driving? Virtually never (I hope).

I used to be a more emotional driver. I know I'm mellowing out as I age and get more perspective (though not enough, as I'm sure my wife would tell you!). I now try approach my driving unemotionally, where the other cars on the road are merely obstacles programmed to act a certain way. I simply need to do my best to predict what the ones near me will do, and make my driving decisions accordingly to minimize a collision. Honking is merely a part of the automaton.