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  • So, you tap a button and something happensthat’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 buttonsthere are all kinds of things that are there for no apparent reason.

  • 1.

  • Pedestrian crossing buttons If you live in a big city, youve probably

  • seen these buttons placed right beneath a huge sign sayingPress the button and wait

  • for green lightor 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.

  • Theyre 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 yourgreen wavewill 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 youre

  • in a hurry to get home because your bladder is about to burst, for example, youll probably

  • feel fine running up the stairs.

  • But if you decide to wait for the elevator instead, youll 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 youre 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, theyll 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 moresly, 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 youre 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 wasand still isto 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 inaccuratethey 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 youre doing everything

  • right.

  • The downside of this is that even if youre not doing it right, the treadmill won’t

  • let you know.

  • That’s why depending solely on the machinery is not recommendedhire 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, youll 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.

  • Sonow you know.

  • Hey, if you learned something new today, then give the video a like and share it with a

  • friend!

  • And here are some other videos I think you'll enjoy.

  • Just click to the left or right, and stay on the Bright Side of life!

So, you tap a button and something happensthat’s how the world works, right?

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6個實際上什麼都不做的按鈕 (6 Buttons That Actually Do Nothing)

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    林宜悉 發佈於 2021 年 01 月 14 日
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