> so someone won't ignore the sign thinking "It'll be fine".

If they do whatever happens is on them for assuming that.

Presumably the goal is the avoid broken laptops, not to worry about who it's on.

I wonder if there is a name for the phenomenon where people do something that leads to negative consequences but they technically "did everything right". I have a friend who crosses the street without looking both ways and his argument is that if a car hits him "they're in the wrong", as if an accident doesn't occur that way.

>I have a friend who crosses the street without looking both ways and his argument is that if a car hits him "they're in the wrong"

in the U.S there seems to be a hatred of pedestrians among the driver class, and a tendency for police to let even the most egregious drivers off the hook when a pedestrian gets killed (as long as it's not a hit and run), therefore this does not seem a good strategy.

However, and this is if they are in the U.S, perhaps they are mildly suicidal and thinking that if they get run over and killed it lets them off the hook for suicide and whoever ran them over gets a few problems which just serves those jerks right. The misanthrope's answer on how to ease out of life.

I worked with a group of other Americans in a part of Switzerland for a bit and we noticed that, even on relatively busy roads, if we even approached the curb from the sidewalk, cars would all come to a stop. Even if no formal cross walk area was nearby.

This is the old "I may be dead, but at least I'm right" argument.

Because it's funny?

Life would be pretty boring if everything were explicit.

Also, sometimes explaining the rationale for a warning can backfire.

An "absolutely no smoking" sign at a fuel depot doesnt tell you _why_ you shouldn't smoke there... If it did, dumb people might think "We'll I'm not refueling at the moment so it will be fine."

"Here be dragons" is vague for a reason.

I've lived in the US and UK and noticed what I think is a tiny cultural difference -- that signs giving instructions in the US tend to be brief and contain the instruction only; whereas in the UK I thought I saw more that add some text for a brief explanation or reason, if it wasn't obvious.

In the UK they love their safety labels. Only country where I’ve been where there’s a safety label on everything. It’s ridiculous.

Agreed. Commands without a hint of explanation are typically a sign of organizational dysfunction.

Disagree. Just follow what the sign says.

Do you use the same logic when approaching a "stop" sign while driving?

I remember being told why we stop at stop signs when I was learning to drive.

Regarding the sign about laptops: do you want to be right, out do you want people to not put their laptops on there? If your goal truly is to stop people putting laptops on there, then account for people who may not follow the directions if they don’t know why.

> If your goal truly is to stop people putting laptops on there, then account for people who may not follow the directions if they don’t know why.

Why? If they decide to ignore the sign, and they fuck their laptops up, that's on them.

A note of direction doesn't need to justify itself. People that think they are owed an explanation so they can decide whether or not to follow a note are the problem here.

Yeah, it’s on them. But that doesn’t fix things.

Because there's no problem to fix?

There are just as many people who will be more likely to disobey a warning if they hear the rationale. They might think "naw that HVAC unit couldn't do that. this sign is wrong"

Sometimes simple commands are better than explanations.

Not a stop sign. But as a general rule for living, Question authority.