{"id":13514,"date":"2022-08-31T14:36:42","date_gmt":"2022-08-31T14:36:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/31\/the-open-elevator-door-button-puts-kindness-at-our-fingertips\/"},"modified":"2022-08-31T14:36:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-31T14:36:43","slug":"the-open-elevator-door-button-puts-kindness-at-our-fingertips","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scienceandnerds.com\/2022\/08\/31\/the-open-elevator-door-button-puts-kindness-at-our-fingertips\/","title":{"rendered":"The open elevator door button puts kindness at our fingertips"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source: https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2022\/8\/31\/23318937\/open-elevator-door-button-kindness<\/a>
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Elevator buttons can sometimes be fickle things \u2014 confusing labels or tricky security systems can start a trip up or down a building off on a slightly sour note. But on the control panel, there\u2019s one button that stands out for its ability to make someone\u2019s day instead of ruining it: the open door button.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s no mystery as to what its job is. If the elevator doors are open, pressing and holding the open door button will usually make sure they stay that way. If the doors have started to close, jabbing the button often adorned with an icon of opposing arrows should stop the process and make the elevator accessible again.<\/p>\n

What makes the open door button special is that it gives elevator passengers (the ones standing within arm\u2019s reach of the control panel, anyways) a rare opportunity: the ability to help out a stranger with little to no effort or inconvenience. For many of us, it\u2019s become almost an instinct to press the button when we see someone running or walking with purpose toward the elevator we\u2019re currently in, letting them get on instead of having to wait around for another car to come by.<\/p>\n

In the context of controlling a machine or gadget, the open door button stands out in another way. Usually, when we press a button, it\u2019s to make something happen \u2014 we want to turn on a coffee maker<\/a>, take an action in a game<\/a>, or warm a burrito up just a tad more<\/a>. Not many buttons are made to prevent<\/em> something from happening, but that\u2019s exactly what you\u2019re doing by telling the elevator to keep the doors open. In fact, I\u2019m not sure I can think of any other buttons I use in my daily life that I press to explicitly tell a system to just keep everything the way it is right now.<\/p>\n

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Not so fast, doors.<\/em><\/figcaption>Image: Mitchell Clark \/ The Verge<\/cite><\/p>\n

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Often in this column, we talk about the tactile experience of using a button. That\u2019s not really possible with the open door button because, while many elevators have it, the button itself has a wide range of physical forms. Some of them are sublime, heavy metal buttons with a satisfying click and a light that indicates that, yes, the control unit has received your message and is working on opening the doors. Some of them are awful \u2014 the gross plastic ones that provide barely any feedback, like you\u2019re mashing on a broken butterfly key<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For the most part, though, the actual physical sensation of pressing the open door button (sometimes frantically, at the last second before the doors fully close) is secondary. The real reward for pressing it is the emotional rush; you\u2019ve helped a stranger not miss a meeting or given a friend extra time to maneuver something heavy into the lift.<\/p>\n

This is slightly overdramatic, but as I watch another person make it through the open doors and into the elevator, I feel like a bit of a hero. We humans worked together to stop the machine from coldly carrying out its mechanical route without any regard for humanity\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n

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