Stupid Signs and Stupid Systems
Might not be as stupid as they look. Or maybe they are.
Having spent years working in engineering (in addition to having lived most of my life in old houses and apartments), I have encountered some really, really stupid systems and solutions.
But even though these systems are dumb now, they tend to have a coherent internal logic, or at least did when they were new.
Often, that logic doesn’t apply anymore. Everything around that system has changed, and it is now obsolete. Anyone with a drawer full of orphaned power cords knows this one.
Other times, a system appears obsolete but isn’t. Japan’s tsunami stones were considered by some to be a relic of a past age—we can hold back the sea with technology!—but as we were sadly reminded in 2011, their advice remains sound.
When you come across something, a system, a tradition, a label or a warning, that makes no sense, before you dismiss it, change it, or rip it out completely, take a minute to consider:
What are the circumstances under which this would be a rational system?
Do these circumstances still apply?