-
Wishful Thinking In Action
-
We know that some buttons -- namely, elevator "Close Doors" buttons, crosswalk buttons, and office thermostats -- are phony and don't work, but we push 'em anyway, and the experts say it's because we want to feel some control over life. The elevator button doesn't work for a reason: The Americans With Disabilities Act mandates that the doors stay open for a certain length of time, and some elevators, retooled, just retain the useless button. And I find that crosswalk buttons around here DO work to set off the Walk/Don't Walk signals (ours chirp, too). But, yeah, we press because we hope to have some control over things we can't ultimately control. (New York Times)
Have an opinion? Add your comment below.