1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from How Stuff Works. Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,080 --> 00:00:09,959 Speaker 1: I'm Lauren vocal Bam and I've got another classic episode 3 00:00:09,960 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: for you today. Our question, do crosswalk and close door 4 00:00:14,160 --> 00:00:18,600 Speaker 1: buttons on elevators really do anything? Former host Christian Sager 5 00:00:18,680 --> 00:00:26,160 Speaker 1: explains plus sebo buttons, Hey, brain Stuff, this is Christian Sagar. 6 00:00:26,480 --> 00:00:31,200 Speaker 1: Pushing buttons is super satisfying. A button represents a modicum 7 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,159 Speaker 1: of control in our chaotic world. In the moment of pushing, 8 00:00:35,440 --> 00:00:39,000 Speaker 1: you are the brief master of your own fate. All 9 00:00:39,120 --> 00:00:43,040 Speaker 1: the forces humankind have harnessed have come to bow under 10 00:00:43,120 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: your fingertip. But does pressing buttons always have the promised effect? 11 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:51,920 Speaker 1: Do close door buttons and elevators and pushed to cross 12 00:00:51,960 --> 00:00:56,640 Speaker 1: buttons at crosswalks actually do anything? Well? Physically speaking, the 13 00:00:56,720 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: answer is not always Psychologically the jury is out, so 14 00:01:01,840 --> 00:01:04,959 Speaker 1: let's tackle the physical section first. As of two thousand four, 15 00:01:05,280 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: a representative from the Department of Transportation in New York 16 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:12,360 Speaker 1: City said that more than seventy of their crosswalk buttons 17 00:01:12,400 --> 00:01:17,160 Speaker 1: had no effect on their traffic signals, and as in 18 00:01:17,200 --> 00:01:22,120 Speaker 1: the UK, transportation officials reported that an unknown number of 19 00:01:22,240 --> 00:01:27,600 Speaker 1: crosswalk signals function automatically regardless of whether anyone presses the button. 20 00:01:28,080 --> 00:01:31,480 Speaker 1: The estimates that they could give regarding non functional buttons 21 00:01:31,680 --> 00:01:37,959 Speaker 1: ranged from eight percent to but why many crosswalk buttons 22 00:01:37,959 --> 00:01:41,360 Speaker 1: are relics of a time before signal patterns were controlled 23 00:01:41,400 --> 00:01:45,520 Speaker 1: by computer systems to help streamline traffic. Removing the buttons, 24 00:01:45,720 --> 00:01:49,560 Speaker 1: especially in large cities like New York, could cost millions, 25 00:01:49,600 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: so the folks in charge have generally chosen to leave 26 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:56,760 Speaker 1: them standing. In newer traffic control systems, for example, the 27 00:01:56,840 --> 00:02:00,920 Speaker 1: split cycle offset optimization technique, some people just like to 28 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,960 Speaker 1: call it scoot well. For example, municipalities can program buttons 29 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:08,440 Speaker 1: to turn on only some of the time. Now, think 30 00:02:08,480 --> 00:02:11,280 Speaker 1: of an intersection with lots of motor traffic twenty four 31 00:02:11,280 --> 00:02:15,240 Speaker 1: hours a day, but pedestrian traffic mostly during business hours 32 00:02:15,600 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: during the day, when walk signals will likely be useful. 33 00:02:18,800 --> 00:02:23,040 Speaker 1: During every signal cycle, the buttons don't work. The walk 34 00:02:23,120 --> 00:02:27,680 Speaker 1: signal comes automatically at night, when fewer people are on foot, 35 00:02:28,040 --> 00:02:30,920 Speaker 1: you have to press the button to stop traffic and 36 00:02:31,040 --> 00:02:35,880 Speaker 1: cross the street. Meanwhile, reports on the functionality of elevator 37 00:02:35,919 --> 00:02:39,680 Speaker 1: closed door buttons vary by the source. The urban myth 38 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:42,760 Speaker 1: that they're usually fake or that they're only operable with 39 00:02:42,840 --> 00:02:45,800 Speaker 1: the use of a key by emergency or repair personnel. 40 00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:49,720 Speaker 1: Seems to stem from the Americans with Disabilities Act of 41 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: it's current accessibility guidelines specified that elevator doors must remain 42 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:01,720 Speaker 1: open for at least three seconds. In practice, this law 43 00:03:01,960 --> 00:03:06,440 Speaker 1: may well render closed door buttons useless to the particularly 44 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 1: impatient of us. But there's no reason to think that 45 00:03:10,000 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: they're all, or even mostly, placebo buttons. Yet. You heard 46 00:03:14,320 --> 00:03:19,000 Speaker 1: me write placebo buttons. This is the psychology term for 47 00:03:19,120 --> 00:03:22,639 Speaker 1: buttons that are designed to not do anything. They're named 48 00:03:22,680 --> 00:03:26,480 Speaker 1: after the placebo effect. In brief, the placebo effect is 49 00:03:26,520 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: a confirmed phenomenon in which people experience measurable clinical results 50 00:03:32,080 --> 00:03:35,560 Speaker 1: with fake treatments due to the apparent power of their 51 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,800 Speaker 1: belief in the treatment. In the world of buttons, placebos 52 00:03:38,800 --> 00:03:41,800 Speaker 1: have been installed on purpose in some workplaces in the 53 00:03:41,880 --> 00:03:46,480 Speaker 1: form of fake thermostats. According to an informal survey conducted 54 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:51,360 Speaker 1: by the online publication Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration News 55 00:03:51,720 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: that Sounds Extremely Interesting, a majority of h VAC professionals 56 00:03:56,040 --> 00:04:01,160 Speaker 1: have installed placebo thermostats during their careers, or fifty one 57 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:05,080 Speaker 1: out of seventy respondents at any rate. It seems that 58 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:09,360 Speaker 1: managers sometimes hope that employees who would otherwise waste time 59 00:04:09,400 --> 00:04:13,240 Speaker 1: complaining about the temperature will be placated by pressing a button, 60 00:04:13,560 --> 00:04:17,240 Speaker 1: even if it doesn't change anything. After all, even the 61 00:04:17,279 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: illusion of control can make us happier. Today's episode was 62 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:25,240 Speaker 1: produced by Tyler Clang and written by Me in the 63 00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:28,160 Speaker 1: way Back for Brainstuff's YouTube series. If you like our 64 00:04:28,200 --> 00:04:31,040 Speaker 1: show and also like t shirts, check out our merch 65 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:34,520 Speaker 1: store at t public dot com slash brain stuff. For 66 00:04:34,640 --> 00:04:37,200 Speaker 1: more on this and lots of other topics that probably 67 00:04:37,240 --> 00:04:40,359 Speaker 1: aren't playing a psychological trick on you. Visit our home planet, 68 00:04:40,520 --> 00:04:53,000 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com.