So, you tap a button and something happens — that’s how the world works, right?
Well, not exactly.
The world is actually filled with buttons that are only there to seem like they do something,
while in fact being useless.
And not only buttons — there are all kinds of things that are there for no apparent reason.
1.
Pedestrian crossing buttons If you live in a big city, you’ve probably
seen these buttons placed right beneath a huge sign saying “Press the button and wait
for green light” or something like that.
I don’t know about you, but I always diligently press it, although it doesn’t always work
as it should.
Or does it work at all?
The thing is, transport authorities sometimes switch off the functionality of these traffic
buttons on purpose.
In New York, for example, there are 1,000 of them, but currently only 100 actually work
when you press them.
All the rest are no more than a decoration.
They’re often called placebo buttons because all they do is create an illusion of control:
you press a button and you expect that something will happen, while not knowing that the process
is automatic.
Such buttons have an important psychological effect: doing something feels better than
not doing anything.
When you press the button at a crossing, you feel more assured that the light will eventually
switch to green.
Otherwise, who knows?
Maybe it will keep being red forever?
In any case, some of these buttons do work, and no one will tell you exactly which ones
don’t, so not to feel stupid just standing there and waiting, better press the button
anyway.
Why they turned them off in the first place, though?
Because the traffic lights system turned out to be much more complex, especially in big
cities.
If you drive, you could notice that sometimes you get in a “green wave,” when every
traffic light lets you go ahead.
It happens when you adhere to the speed limit and there are no obstacles on your way (like
busy unregulated crossings).
But if there’s a traffic light with a working crossing button, it can turn red at any moment,
and your “green wave” will be over.
So, not to disrupt the work of the whole network, many of the traffic control switches were
turned into placebo buttons.
2.
Elevator door close buttons If you live on, say, 15th floor and you’re
in a hurry to get home because your bladder is about to burst, for example, you’ll probably
feel fine running up the stairs.
But if you decide to wait for the elevator instead, you’ll smash that door close button
until the doors finally close.
Which they will do awfully slowly.
Sorry to disappoint: not all close buttons are equally effective.
In the US, these buttons don’t work at all.
The elevator doors will stay open for no less than the time appointed to them, no matter
how much or how long you mash that button.
The roots of this lie in the legislation, in fact: the 1990 Americans with Disabilities
Act stated that elevator doors should remain open long enough for anyone with any movement
impairment, be it a wheelchair or crutches, to get inside without trouble.
So unless you’re an emergency service worker or just happen to know the override code,
you won’t be able to make the doors close faster.
Maybe it’s best to take those stairs, after all.
If you live outside the US, though, your chances of getting a working close button are much
higher.
In many countries, there are no such strict regulations, so you can easily find an elevator
where, if you press the door close button, the doors will actually shut immediately.
As an added bonus, if you press the door open button right after that, they’ll stop midway
and open again!
Oh wonders of technology.
3.
Thermostat control in hotels and offices Most white collars will agree with me: having
a thermostat in the office is a necessity, not a luxury.
And sometimes there are veritable battles going on between those who like to keep it
cool and those who would rather sweat than shiver.
Which one is you, by the way?
Share down in the comments!
But the truth is much more… sly, I think is the word.
You see, most office buildings have a central heating, ventilation, and air conditioning
system (HVAC for short).
And the thing about this central system is that you can’t actually affect it from anywhere
outside the control center.
In fact, there are two general types of office thermostats: one that is total placebo and
one that is only partially so.
The total placebo type speaks for itself: whatever it shows on that little digital screen
is a lie.
You can press the buttons all you like, and the numbers will change, but the temperature
will remain the same.
The partial placebo thermostat has a little bit of sway: it can change a couple degrees
in both directions, but no more than that.
So if you press the button to decrease the temperature from 72°F and it goes all the
way down to 60°F, rest assured that in reality it stops at somewhere about 70°F. You will
hear the vents whirr, though, and the machinery will seemingly come to motion.
That and a slight drop in temperature create the feeling that you’re really in control.
The placebo effect is in that you believe something’s changed, and your body reacts
accordingly.
Same goes for many hotels too: if your room is equipped with a thermostat, you can be
sure it only creates a semblance of activity, while keeping the room temperature the same
whatever you do.
4.
Progress bars Whenever you download a file from the Internet
or install a new app on your device, you see a bar that informs you of how much time you
have left to wait.
Ever seen it stuck at 99% for, like, forever, though?
Yeah, it’s exactly what it seems: the progress bar is always wildly inaccurate.
One of its creators, Brad A. Myers, said that the purpose of the bar was never to show the
actual progress.
Its main aim was — and still is — to soothe the users.
And they don’t seem to mind at all!
According to the tests Myers conducted with his team, users didn’t care that the progress
bar was inaccurate — they just preferred having anything to show the progress was really
made.
When nothing happened on the screen, they got the feeling that something went wrong
or their download wasn’t working at all.
Honestly, I’d start mashing keys myself if I saw just a blank screen too.
5.
Calorie counters on treadmills What a pleasant feeling it is to run on a
treadmill and watch calories melt away in real time!
Only this melting might not be exactly what you expect.
When you run, you burn calories for sure, but the precise amount depends on various
factors, such as your weight, overall fitness, and body fat percentage.
What you see on the screen is another placebo, I’m afraid.
In this case it’s not entirely useless, though: the calorie count shows you the average
of what you could get if you were of, well, the average build.
This counter is, once again, only there to assure you that you’re doing everything
right.
The downside of this is that even if you’re not doing it right, the treadmill won’t
let you know.
That’s why depending solely on the machinery is not recommended — hire a personal coach
for best results.
6.
Graceful failures Now this isn’t so much about the illusion
of your control as it is about you being calm.
Does it make you mad when you see an error message on the screen of your PC or other
device?
Me, it sure does!
Well, many companies have found a way out of this inconvenience.
For example, if you turn on some app that has personalized recommendations and they
fail for some reason, you won’t even know about it.
Instead, you’ll see a screen with popular choices, which are likely to appeal to you
as well.
And it all started in the 1960s, when the 1ESS phone system was invented in the US.
When a call attempt failed, the system didn’t tell the caller about it, but simply switched
to another recipient instead.
So when somebody took the phone on the other end of the line, you apologized for dialing
a wrong number and tried again.
This way, you didn’t feel the frustration of having a failed call.
So…now you know.
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