The
placebo effect, for anyone who doesn't know, is the term applied when a patient's condition improves due to belief that their medicine is effective, despite the fact that they are actually taking a faux medicine, or placebo.
I've come to the conclusion that the following things operate on the placebo effect -- that is, they make you think you're making a difference when you really aren't.
- Thermostats in office buildings
- The "close door" button in the elevator
- The "push to cross" button found at crosswalks
With the latter two, the button exists strictly to entertain you while you wait for natural result. Eventually, the elevator door closes or the crosswalk signal changes, but you had nothing to do with it.
What else operates by the placebo effect?
1 comment:
The close-door button on an elevator may or may not be programmed to work in normal operating mode. However, if you have a firefighter's key, you can put the elevator in "stay-on-the-floor-I-left-you-on-with-the-doors-open" mode. So, you get in, you turn the key, you hit the floor you want to go to, and you hold in the close-door button until the door is closed. It's pretty much the same way that most freight elevators work.
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