Social Sciences

Why Are There Always Mirrors Next To Elevators? It's Not A Coincidence

When was the last time you thought, "Oh rats, I wish this line at the grocery store was just a little longer." Never? Makes sense. It's a universal truth: Waiting for stuff sucks. And because elevators are something you almost always have to wait for, some clever folks came up with a solution to make the wait bearable: mirrors.

Related: This Is Why Humans Hate Waiting In Line

The Wait Is Over

You might not have noticed it (now you will!), but lots of elevators have mirrors near them. This is no coincidence, nor is it some sort of Feng Shui design tip. Mirrors usually hang near elevators so people have something to do while they wait for the doors to open. Yes, hotel lobbies have been fooling you into patiently waiting for years.

Related: Why We Hate Our Own Voice


Related: This Is The Weird Reason Revolving Doors Were Invented

Please Hold

The reason people hate to wait is that we think time spent waiting in line is time wasted, and we could have used that same time to be productive. And the pace of modern society is only making our impatience worse. As Nautilus explains, "The fast pace of society has thrown our internal timer out of balance. It creates expectations that can't be rewarded fast enough—or rewarded at all. When things move more slowly than we expect, our internal timer even plays tricks on us, stretching out the wait, summoning anger out of proportion to the delay." Could the instant gratification of Siri's answers to our questions and lightning-quick internet make us more impatient? Perhaps. Maybe mirrors can help.


Watch And Learn: Fascinating Videos About The Science Of Waiting

Why Are You Always In The Slow Line?

First things first, you're not.

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Key Facts In This Video

  1. Humans hate waiting in line because we view it as time spent wasted that could have been used productively. 00:54

  2. The science behind human hatred for waiting in lines includes: queuing theory, illusory correlation, and just world fallacy. 01:26

  3. One line feeding into multiple cashiers is more efficient than a line for every cashier. 02:56

Quotes About Patience

Patience really is a virtue.

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The Psychology Of Waiting In Line

No matter what, we hate lines.

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Written by Curiosity Staff February 3, 2017