如果你家的電梯關門鍵是假的，你能發現嗎？在美國，對于普通人來說，這個“關閉”按鈕是沒有作用的，你按或是不按，電梯門總是會關，但如果你按下了按鍵，過一會兒電梯門關上了，你的大腦中就會充滿成就感。同理，還有路邊信號燈按鍵和辦公室控溫按鍵。但中國的這類按鍵到底有沒有用？歡迎大家提供各種答案哦。

Most people do not have the patience to wait a few seconds for the elevator doors to shut, so they push the 'close' button to speed up the process.
大多數人沒有等待電梯自動關閉的耐心（雖然這個過程只有幾秒鐘），所以他們按“關門”鍵來加快關門速度。

However, some say this feature has been obsolete since the 1990s, suggesting the button is a complete fake it will not close the doors any faster.
然而，許多人稱，自20世紀90年代起，電梯關門按鍵就已被淘汰，這說明目前的關門鍵完全是擺設，它們根本不會加快關門速度。

Experts reveal that there numerous buttons in the world that do not live up to their name, but are present to make us feel in control.
專家稱雖然世界上有許多名不副實的按鍵，但它們的存在讓我們有一種掌控感。

The Americans With Disabilities Act was passed in 1990, mandating that elevators stay open long enough for someone with a physical disability, such as on crutches or in a wheelchair, to make it inside, Karen W. Penafiel, executive director of National Elevator Industry Inc., told Christopher Mele with The New York Times in an interview.
于1990年通過的《美國殘疾人法案》要求電梯開門時間保持足夠長，從而照顧身體殘疾者，例如拄拐人士或坐輪椅者，方便他們進入電梯。國家電梯產業股份有限公司的執行總裁凱倫?Ｗ?佩尼亞菲耶爾在接受《紐約時報》的克里斯托弗?米爾采訪時這樣說道：

"Although these buttons are useless to the average person, they do perform their proper function for firefighters and maintenance workers but only with a code or designated keys."
“盡管這些按鍵對普通人而言沒有作用，但對于使用密碼或特定鑰匙的消防員或維修人員來說，這些按鍵能夠很好地發揮其作用。”

Penafiel explains since an elevator's lifespan is around 25 years, it is safe to say that a majority, if any, do not have a functioning 'close' button but the 'open' button works when it is pushed.
佩尼亞菲耶爾解釋稱，由于一部電梯的壽命在25年左右，我們大可以認為，就算大多數電梯的“關門”鍵都是不起作用的，但“開門”按鍵是有效的。

As bizarre as it seems to place fake buttons in an elevator or other devices, they are there for good reasons.
雖然在電梯或其他設備中安置一個假按鍵的行為似乎很奇怪，但這些假按鍵有著一定的存在原因。

'Perceived control is very important,' Ellen J. Langer, a psychology professor at Harvard University who has studied the illusion of control, told Mele in an email.
“具有自認為的控制感是很重要的，”曾研究控制錯覺的哈佛大學心理學教授艾倫?J?朗格在給米爾的一封郵件中寫道：

'It diminishes stress and promotes well-being.'
“這種感覺能夠減少人們的壓力并且增加他們的幸福感。”

Another expert, John Kounios, a psychology professor at Drexel University in Philadelphia, said that these buttons are there to add an illusion of control if they weren't, people would feel a lack of control which is linked to depression.
另一位來自費城德雷塞爾大學的心理學教授約翰?庫尼奧斯說，這些按鍵的存在是為了讓人們產生一種控制錯覺。如果沒有這些按鍵，人們會感到缺乏控制力，從而引發抑郁。

And those people who know the little white lie will still continue to push these decoy buttons because the doors eventually close and that is the desired reward, he said.
他說，而對于知道這些按鍵沒有作用，而只是善意騙局的人而言，他們還是會繼續按這些按鍵，因為門最終會關上，而這就是他們想要的結果。

人行橫道上的“假按鍵”

However, elevators aren't the only deceitful devices - crosswalk signals in New York City are also on the list.
然而，不止是電梯——紐約市人行橫道的過馬路按鍵標志也同樣騙了我們。

The New York Times revealed in 2004 that the Big Apple pulled the plug on a majority of its pedestrian buttons long ago, as a result of computer-controlled traffic signals.
2004年《紐約時報》報道稱，如今交通指示燈受電腦控制，所以紐約市早就拔去了大多數人行橫道的按鍵電源。

City figures state that out of the 3,250 crosswalk buttons, 2,500 of them were replaced with mechanical placebos, or non-functioning mechanisms.
根據紐約州數據顯示，總計3250個人行橫道按鍵中被換為無效按鍵的有2500個。

The reason the buttons are still in place is because it costs about $1 million to remove them.
這些無效按鍵之所以還在，是因為移去它們大約需要花費100萬美元。

But New York City isn't alone in this let down, as ABC conducted a survey in 2010 that found only one working crosswalk button in Austin Texas, Gainesville, Florida and Syracuse, New York.
但紐約市不是唯一一個安有大量無效人行橫道按鍵的城市。根據美國廣播公司2010年的調查，德克薩斯州的奧斯汀市、佛羅里達州的蓋恩斯維爾市和紐約的錫拉丘茲市的人行橫道都只有一個有用的按鍵。

無效的辦公室溫度調節器？

Depending on where you work, you may not want to trust the thermostat that everyone has access to.
根據工作地點的不同，也許你不愿信任每個人都能操控的溫度調節器。

In 2003, the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration News found that many offices install 'dummy thermostats' 51 out of 71 people in the survey confirmed their office in fact has one.
2003年《空調，供暖和制冷新聞》發現，許多辦公室安裝的溫度調節器“沒有反應”。參加調查的71人中有51人承認他們的辦公室里就有這樣一個沒用的調節器。

One respondent David Trimble of Fort Collins, Colorado, wrote The News that individuals 'felt better' that they have the ability to control the temperature in the office following the installation of a decoy thermostat.
科羅拉多州柯林斯堡的一位記者戴維?特林布爾在《新聞報》中寫道，辦公室在安裝無效溫度調節器后，人們會因為感到有能力掌控辦公室溫度而會“感到開心”。

'This cut down the number of service calls by over 75 percent,' he wrote.
他寫道：“這減少了75%的維修請求。”

英文來源：每日郵報
翻譯：呂晶晶
編審：yaning