Pedestrian placebo effect

-- Photo by Coolcaesar

Adapted from Robert Whitcomb's "Digital Diary'' in GoLocal24.com

I was amused to read in The Boston Globe that those pedestrian buttons at intersections don’t actually work.  See: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/07/24/ahead-and-press-that-pedestrian-button-makes-you-feel-good/1krGOm2CfeZBvIkEkNm5rL/story.html

But people keep pushing the buttons, even if they have long suspected that they don’t do anything. As The Globe reported “Officials say the city’s core is just too congested – with cars and pedestrians – to allow any one person to manipulate the {traffic lights} cycle.’’ But fidgety people keep pushing the buttons, in a search for a sense of control. Maybe there’s a soothing placebo effect that we all need in these tense times.