Information Design and the Placebo Effect

79 stories

I chose to read chapter 31, Information Design and the Placebo Effect, by Michael Bierut.  The writing jumped from topic to topic and did not flow well in my opinion. I was not expecting this chapter to be about what it was. I felt like this writing was very random.  I personally didn’t like this reading.  This is probably because I prefer writing that flows well.

The story went from reading about cross walk buttons to terrorists in buildings. I told you it was all over the place. The purpose of this writing was to explain examples of every day life where the placebo effect happens.

The authors, first example was about the hundreds of crosswalk buttons in NYC that are broken.  The placebo effect in this case is when humans press the buttons that are broken, and wait for the “walk” symbol to come on. The writer is saying that we believe that the button is actually turning the streetlights red for us to cross but they are changing because of the cycle the lights are on and not because the button was pressed.

Another example Bierut gave was how large buildings require a photo ID to enter the building and that does not easily stop a terrorist from entering. He wrote how easy a terrorist could get a fake ID to show at the door, sign a log, and be able to enter like any other civilian. The writer was wondering why civilians wouldn’t be scared of that. That is all he said about that topic and he didn’t have much of a conclusion in his chapter.  So I am not sure what else to write today.

Jen