1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:09,160 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain stuff. From how stuff works a brain stuff. 2 00:00:09,160 --> 00:00:13,040 Speaker 1: This is Christian Seger. Pushing buttons is super satisfying. A 3 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:17,239 Speaker 1: button represents a modicum of control in our chaotic world. 4 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,880 Speaker 1: In the moment of pushing, you are the brief master 5 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:25,320 Speaker 1: of your own fate. All the forces humankind have harnessed 6 00:00:25,360 --> 00:00:30,000 Speaker 1: have come to bow under your fingertip. But does pressing 7 00:00:30,120 --> 00:00:34,080 Speaker 1: buttons always have the promised effect? Do close door buttons 8 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:37,720 Speaker 1: and elevators and pushed to cross buttons at crosswalks actually 9 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:42,360 Speaker 1: do anything well? Physically speaking, the answer is not always 10 00:00:42,720 --> 00:00:46,960 Speaker 1: Psychologically the jury is out, so let's tackle the physical 11 00:00:47,000 --> 00:00:50,320 Speaker 1: section first. As of two thousand four, a representative from 12 00:00:50,360 --> 00:00:53,360 Speaker 1: the Department of Transportation in New York City said that 13 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:57,480 Speaker 1: more than seventy of their crosswalk buttons had no effect 14 00:00:57,560 --> 00:01:01,640 Speaker 1: on their traffic signals, and as of in the UK, 15 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: transportation officials reported that an unknown number of crosswalk signals 16 00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:12,120 Speaker 1: function automatically regardless of whether anyone presses the button. The 17 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:16,120 Speaker 1: estimates that they could give regarding non functional buttons ranged 18 00:01:16,400 --> 00:01:22,080 Speaker 1: from eight percent to but why many crosswalk buttons are 19 00:01:22,120 --> 00:01:25,479 Speaker 1: relics of a time before signal patterns were controlled by 20 00:01:25,480 --> 00:01:30,200 Speaker 1: computer systems to help streamline traffic. Removing the buttons, especially 21 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:33,760 Speaker 1: in large cities like New York, could cost millions, so 22 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:37,920 Speaker 1: the folks in charge have generally chosen to leave them standing. 23 00:01:38,280 --> 00:01:41,720 Speaker 1: In newer traffic control systems, for example, the split cycle 24 00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:45,040 Speaker 1: offset optimization technique could some people just like to call 25 00:01:45,080 --> 00:01:49,000 Speaker 1: it scoot well. For example, municipalities can program buttons to 26 00:01:49,160 --> 00:01:52,480 Speaker 1: turn on only some of the time. Now, think of 27 00:01:52,520 --> 00:01:55,520 Speaker 1: an intersection with lots of motor traffic twenty four hours 28 00:01:55,520 --> 00:01:59,760 Speaker 1: a day, but pedestrian traffic mostly during business hours during 29 00:01:59,800 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 1: the day when walk signals will likely be useful. During 30 00:02:03,120 --> 00:02:07,440 Speaker 1: every signal cycle, the buttons don't work. The walk signal 31 00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:11,639 Speaker 1: comes automatically at night, when fewer people are on foot, 32 00:02:12,000 --> 00:02:14,880 Speaker 1: you have to press the button to stop traffic and 33 00:02:14,960 --> 00:02:19,839 Speaker 1: cross the street. Meanwhile, reports on the functionality of elevator 34 00:02:19,880 --> 00:02:23,640 Speaker 1: closed door buttons vary by the source. The urban myth 35 00:02:23,800 --> 00:02:26,720 Speaker 1: that they're usually fake or that they're only operable with 36 00:02:26,760 --> 00:02:29,760 Speaker 1: the use of a key by emergency or repair personnel 37 00:02:30,080 --> 00:02:33,680 Speaker 1: seems to stem from the Americans with Disabilities Act. Of 38 00:02:35,120 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: it's current accessibility guidelines specified that elevator doors must remain 39 00:02:40,840 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: open for at least three seconds. In practice, this law 40 00:02:45,919 --> 00:02:50,400 Speaker 1: may well render closed door buttons useless to the particularly 41 00:02:50,560 --> 00:02:53,920 Speaker 1: impatient of us. But there's no reason to think that 42 00:02:53,960 --> 00:02:58,200 Speaker 1: they're all, or even mostly, placebo buttons. Yet you heard 43 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:02,960 Speaker 1: me right. Placebo buttons. This is the psychology term for 44 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: buttons that are designed to not do anything. They're named 45 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:10,440 Speaker 1: after the placebo effect. In brief, the placebo effect is 46 00:03:10,480 --> 00:03:15,760 Speaker 1: a confirmed phenomenon in which people experience measurable clinical results 47 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:19,519 Speaker 1: with fake treatments due to the apparent power of their 48 00:03:19,560 --> 00:03:22,760 Speaker 1: belief in the treatment. In the world of buttons, placebos 49 00:03:22,760 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 1: have been installed on purpose in some workplaces in the 50 00:03:25,800 --> 00:03:30,440 Speaker 1: form of fake thermostats. According to an informal survey conducted 51 00:03:30,440 --> 00:03:35,320 Speaker 1: by the online publication Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration News 52 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: that Sounds Extremely Interesting, a majority of h VAC professionals 53 00:03:40,000 --> 00:03:45,120 Speaker 1: have installed placebo thermostats during their careers, or fifty one 54 00:03:45,200 --> 00:03:49,080 Speaker 1: out of seventy respondents at any rate. It seems that 55 00:03:49,200 --> 00:03:53,320 Speaker 1: managers sometimes hope that employees who would otherwise waste time 56 00:03:53,320 --> 00:03:57,200 Speaker 1: complaining about the temperature will be placated by pressing a button, 57 00:03:57,520 --> 00:04:01,200 Speaker 1: even if it doesn't change anything. After all, even the 58 00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:09,120 Speaker 1: illusion of control can make us happier. Check out the 59 00:04:09,160 --> 00:04:11,480 Speaker 1: brainstuff channel on YouTube, and for more on this and 60 00:04:11,560 --> 00:04:28,080 Speaker 1: thousands of other topics, visit how stuff works dot com.