Nir Eyal’s Near and Far podcast episode ("Placebo Buttons") argues that many controls we encounter—crosswalk buttons, elevator buttons, office thermostats—often serve as psychological rather than functional devices, giving users a sense of control that alters mood and reduces discomfort. The episode cites evidence (e.g., New York Times report that ~2,500 of 3,250 NYC walk buttons were inactive; New Yorker piece on elevator door buttons; a 2003 industry survey where 72% admitted to installing dummy thermostats) and explains how action-induced perceived relief reinforces the behavior.
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Hi, I'm Nir Eyal and this is the near and Far Podcast. This podcast is about business, behavior and the brain. On this show, I do a few things. I read quick articles I've written about topics shaping your behavior. I interview authors of books I enjoy, and from time to time I devote episodes to answering your questions. If you want to ask me a question, visit the podcast page on itunes, go to Ratings and Reviews, and ask me a question. By leaving a review, I promise to read it and possibly include your question in a future episode. So please ask me anything now. Enjoy the episode and for more, you can always Visit me@nearandfar.com your world is full of placebo buttons, and that's a good thing. By nir Eyal on nearandfar.com all products and services, everything we buy and use have but one job to modulate our mood. The fundamental reason we use technology of all sorts, from stone tools to the latest iPhone, is to make us feel better. To prove the point, consider how perception of relief is tantamount to actual relief. Consider the so called placebo button. Take for example, the lowly crosswalk button. When we find ourselves at an intersection waiting for light to change, we tap the button. Sometimes more than once. Most people believe these buttons are connected to some master control box that will signal the light to change so we can cross the street. But in truth, these buttons often do nothing. The crosswalk button is a relic of an age before computer controlled traffic signals. In New York City, for instance, the city deactivated most of the pedestrian buttons long ago, a New York Times article reported back in 2004. Of the 3,250 walk buttons in the city at the time, some 2,500 were not functional. And yet, the Times noted, when faced with the buttons, an unwitting public continued to push. Then there are elevator buttons. Have you ever noticed someone pushing the call button on an elevator when it's already lit? I must admit, I've done it myself, particularly when I'm in a rush. I want to make sure the button has been pressed correctly, as if there was a way to press it incorrectly. It's wholly irrational response. And yet in the moment I can't help myself. When I push the button, I feel better. Why? Because discomfort is often alleviated by action, by our doing something that makes us feel in control, even if in reality we have no control whatsoever. Once inside the elevator, you may notice a hurried passenger pressing the close door button repeatedly in hopes of speeding things along. But the button is another example of what's known as a mechanical placebo. According to a 2008 article in the New Yorker, the closed door button included in most elevators since the 1990s do not actually work the way passengers think. The buttons are installed for emergency personnel, not for the general public. Firefighters use the buttons to open and close doors between flights, but they can do so only with a key or other special instructions. So why do we keep pushing those darn buttons? Of course, not all the buttons we encounter in our daily life are non functional all the time. But how would we know the difference? The crosswalk eventually flashes walk and the elevator door does eventually close, but rarely do we question whether a causal relationship exists. In an essay on the topic in 2010, the author David McRaney observed, if you happen to find yourself pressing a non functional closed door button and later the doors close, you'll probably never notice because a little spurt of happiness will cascade through your brain once you see what you believe a response to your action. Your behavior was just reinforced and you will keep pushing the button in the future. Other controls are put in place for explicitly psychological reasons. If you work in an office building, there is a good chance your attempts to regulate the temperature in your office are just as futile as pushing a crosswalk button. With the advent of building wide control systems, individual office thermostats often do little more than decorate the walls. Giving workers the ability to regulate their own climates is expensive and often incites temperature wars in which employees continually adjust. The thermostat was energy and inflaming tempers. However, building managers and air conditioning specialists have found ways to placate workers. Greg Parakis, a climate control professional in Tallahassee, Florida, told an industry publication, we had an employee that always complained of being hot. Instead of giving the woman her own air conditioning setup, Parakis decided to give her something else. The illusion of control. Parakis provided the worker with a dummy thermostat connected to a small air pump. The pump drew air from the main climate control system through a rubber tube. Though the system did not actually change the temperature of her office, the pump made just enough noise for the employee to hear. When she heard the hissing air coming, she felt in control. We never heard another word from the situation from her ever again. Case solved. Pierakis is not alone in his slightly shady practice. A 2003 web survey appearing in the industry publication Air Conditioning, Heating, and Refrigeration News revealed that 72% of industry professionals admitted to installing dummy thermostats. Many climate control veterans subscribe to the words of H Vac engineer Joe Olivieri, who is quoted as saying thermal comfort is 90% mental and 10% physical. By connecting the actions we take with what appears to be a result of, we form associations between behavior and outcome, even if there is no relationship between the two. We feel stress. We push a button. We experience some relief. Something occurs after we push the button, and even if there's no way to know whether it's a direct response to our actions, we continue to feel relief. Though it's easy to feel deceived when confronted with a reality that challenges our perception, the technology doesn't actually lie to us. After all, these buttons are inanimate objects. More accurate would be to say that the technology helps us comfort ourselves, and the number of products that enable this self comfort is far greater than you probably realize. Much of the technology we fiddle with daily our phones, our games, our appswe use not only because of what they do, but because of how they make us feel. By giving us a sense of control, products can alter our mood and provide relief even when it's all in our heads. Thanks for listening and if you enjoyed this article, please find more at my blog, near and far.com near is spelled like my first name. N I r and far.com thanks for listening to this episode of the near and Far Podcast. You can always find more at my blog nearandfar.com and don't forget, if you have a question you'd like me to explore in a future episode, leave me your question. The former review for the podcast on itunes. Sam.
