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(Reblogged from marco)
In most elevators, at least in any built or installed since the early nineties, the door-close button doesn’t work. It is there mainly to make you think it works. (It does work if, say, a fireman needs to take control. But you need a key, and a fire, to do that.) Once you know this, it can be illuminating to watch people compulsively press the door-close button. That the door eventually closes reinforces their belief in the button’s power. It’s a little like prayer. Elevator design is rooted in deception—to disguise not only the bare fact of the box hanging by ropes but also the tethering of tenants to a system over which they have no command.
Nick Paumgarten: Up and Then Down. I knew about this behavior so I make it a point to never hit the close door button. This backfired when I visited Taiwan and Japan. The elevator doors there (at least the ones I interacted with) wait forever unless you press the close door button.
On a side note, I’m also of the belief that the crosswalk buttons are placebos as well.
