We've got a bunch of new people now so let's bring back a classic post. What low stakes conspiracy theory do you believe that you cannot prove but feels right to you?

I'll start: I believe that dating apps have made a concerted effort to smear in person meeting people and tie it to being "creepy" through social media so you are forced to meet people online(which was the creepy option just 15 years ago)

  • Owl [he/him]
    ·
    1 year ago

    Those are both regional.

    Almost no open/close buttons do anything in the US, but they're completely honest in Japan.

    Crosswalk buttons may: actually hurry up the cycle and stop traffic sooner, wait until the next red light and show a crossing indicator that it'd otherwise skip, or do nothing at all. This can change from city to city, from intersection to intersection, and even over a schedule throughout the day.

      • attaboy [any, fae/faer]
        ·
        1 year ago

        You might find this interesting too: https://computer.rip/2023-03-13-the-door-close-button.html.

        [...] the close-door feature faded into obsolescence a few years after the enactment of the Americans With Disabilities Act in 1990. The buttons can be operated by firefighters and maintenance workers who have the proper keys or codes.

        4.10.7* Door and Signal Timing for Hall Calls
        The minimum acceptable time from notification that a car is answering a call until the doors of that car start to close shall be calculated from the following equation:
        T = D/(1.5 ft/s) or T = D/(445 mm/s)
        where T total time in seconds and D distance (in feet or millimeters) from a point in the lobby or corridor 60 in (1525 mm) directly in front of the farthest call button controlling that car to the centerline of its hoistway door.

        Second half of the link article is also about traffic lights / crosswalks.

    • wtypstanaccount04 [he/him]
      ·
      1 year ago

      One city that I lived in just had crosswalk buttons for accessibility purposes. It was only for the deaf and/or blind so they could feel the vibrating crosswalk button.