- [Narrator] In a recent video, we introduced you to the Camden Bench, the pig's ear, and eight of things the governments are using
the control the way we act. We couldn't leave it there though. There's just so many ways
we're being manipulated by the powers that be. So strap in that tinfoil hat and set your facial
expressions to suspicious. Here are 10 more ways
governments control your behavior with clever design. - Amazing! - [Narrator] Number 10,
the coughing billboard. In Sweden, the government really don't want you to smoke. Smoking is banned in
restaurants, bars, and malls. And they're talking
about extending the ban to outdoor public areas
like bus stops and parks. So they had no problem
when Swedish pharmacy chain came up with a clever idea to shame people into kicking the habit. They picked a video billboard
on busy street in Stockholm and installed a smoke detector in it. When the detector senses cigarette smoke, the video image shows a
man wincing disgustedly and coughing noisily, before showing some
products aimed at helping people give up. If being coughed at in
public doesn't shame you, nothing probably will. Number nine, underground music. In the mid-1990s, the
people running Montreal's underground train system, the Metro, came up with a novel
idea to get rid of gangs of young people committing
crimes on the network. They decided to pipe classical music through the speakers in the stations. That thought was, young people
don't like classical music so they're stop hanging around. In addition, the people that are there will be calmed by the soothing music so they won't get stressed
by the crowded trains and delays. Funnily enough, this plan worked. It worked so well in
fact, that other countries decided to do it too. Now if you travel on
the London Underground, you may get to hear Tchaikovsky as you wait for your train. Number eight, the Mosquito. As you get older, the range
of frequencies you can hear get smaller. Young people can hear types of sound that older people can't. And this gave Welshman
Howard Stapleton an idea when his daughter was
harassed by teenagers hanging around their local store. Mr. Stapleton invented a device that omitted a high-pitched noise that you could only hear
if you were under 25. Plus, if you could hear
it, you would hate it. It would make your ears
hurt and your head ache. He called this device the Mosquito and installed it by the store. Sure enough, the teenagers
decided to immediately hang around somewhere else. The Mosquito was soon snapped up by stores and local governments around the world, where it has helped to
reduce teenage crime. It's caused controversy,
as it may be causing nausea and ear problems to people that hear it. Some even believe it
infringes on the human rights of young people. It also inspired the Teen Buzz ringtone that only young people can hear. Number seven, the circular bridge. To South America now. Back in the day, if you
wanted to get from the cities of Rocha and Maldonado in South Uruguay, you'd have to catch a
raft across this lagoon, the Laguna Garzon. In 2016, the government built a bridge between the two shores. But rather than build it
straight like most bridges, they built it circular,
like one, big loop. The reason for this is that
it's harder to drive fast when you're not going in a straight line. You have to slow down. The government wanted drivers to go slow so they could also enjoy the
spectacular panoramic views. They also built pedestrian walkways on both sides of the loop so people could walk down
and enjoy the scenery. This also somewhat of an
example of governments designing something to make us happy, rather than just controlling us. Number six, placebo buttons. We like to feel like we're in control, even when we're not. The powers that be like you to
think you're in control too. That's why we have placebo buttons. A placebo button is a button that looks like it does something, placed where a button that does something should be placed. There's a difference between this button and a normal button, however. This button doesn't do anything at all. For example, pedestrian crossings have buttons with walk on them. When we want to cross
the road, we press them and soon enough, the traffic stops. However, in most cases, the lights are controlled automatically. The traffic would've stopped anyway, but we like the illusion
that we made it stop. In New York, nearly every
pedestrian crossing is automatic. In London, they're automatic
except late at night. The government haven't taken
the buttons away though because there would be an outcry. We like to be in control. Rumor has it, the heating
controls in many offices, and the open and close
buttons in elevators are placebos too. Number five, pink paint in prisons. Normally, the only people you would expect to sleep in a pink bedroom
would be little girls, but the government in
Switzerland had other ideas. Back in 2013, they painted
30 of their prison cells a lovely shade of pink, specifically called Baker-Miller Pink. This was part of a project
called Cool Down Pink. Because the color pink, apparently, has a calming effect on
even the hardest criminals. People go into the pink
cell, seething with anger. 15 minutes later, they're calm as can be. This isn't a new idea though. Some jails in America have
had pink cells for decades, and the color pink has
been used to control minds in other areas. In fact, a number of
studies have researched whether such colors affect
the way people felt. For example, one Alexander Schauss had 103 volunteers hold
their arms in front of them and resist something
pushing their arms down. The result was that 151 out of the 153 were weaker when they
were looking at the pink, giving some evidence for
the idea that the color affects our emotions. However, the theory has been retested with varying results. So nothing really is conclusive. Nonetheless, use of the color is widespread in certain areas. For example, even the
college football team at the University of Iowa, Hawkeyes, is famous for having a
pink visitors' locker room. The coach had it painted pink, hoping it would put
the Hawkeyes' opponents in a passive mood before the game. Number four, blue light. In large doses, blue light can be harmful to our eyes and sleeping patterns. That's why our smartphones
have a night setting, cutting out the blue light. However, now and again,
a bit of flickering, high-energy blue light
can be a force of good. Some long road tunnels have blue lights installed in them to keep drivers alert, not dropping off to sleep. In Japan, authorities
installed bright, blue lights in railway stations where
there was high occurrence of suicides from people
jumping onto the tracks. This time, when people stepped onto the edge of the platform, it triggered the blue light. In this case, blue light is said to have had a positive effect on their mood. So it might just have stopped someone from taking that fatal
step onto the track. It may seem like an optimistic idea, but it's actually not so farfetched. During the four years of
installing the blue light, there's been an 84% decrease in suicides. So superficially, it does seem to work. Number three, the Portland Loo. There have been high-tech
public toilets before, like the self-cleaning one San Francisco installed in the 90s, but nothing like the Portland Loo. This public toilet, native
to Portland, Oregon, was designed to be as
inhospitable as possible. However, it's become an object
of pride for Portlanders with its own blog and
even Twitter account. This public toilet is indestructible. Made out of heavy, solid steel, it can't be damaged by a baseball bat, can't be defaced with graffiti, and can't be destroyed by fire. It doesn't have a sink or running water, just a spigot on the outside panel. It doesn't have a mirror,
mirrors can be smashed. Bars on the top and bottom mean you can see if people are inside. But what's the point of all of this? Well, may public toilets in America become dens of crime, drug
use, and homelessness. The Portland Loo mean people
can use the facilities, but absolutely nothing else. Number two, the phantom roundabout. Despite ever-increasing punishments, like fines or losing your license, some people still like
to drive like maniacs. This places themselves and
other road users in danger. So governments around the world are resorting to unconventional ideas to get people to drive sensibly. Take this example from
Cambridge in the UK. People had been driving
too fast down this road, so the government decided
to put a roundabout on it, except it wasn't a roundabout. It's just different colored bricks which make it look like
a roundabout is there. That thought was drivers
would think there's roundabout and instinctively slow down. People would be confused
into driving carefully. Number one, crossing the road. We established earlier that
many pedestrian crossings don't actually do anything. To make up for it, the
government have taken steps to make crossing the road an experience. Every summer in London's Trafalgar Square, they have the Pride Festival, a celebration of the LGBT community. To mark this event, they change the lights on 50 pedestrian crossings from the usual picture of a
green man crossing the road, to two green men crossing
the road, holding hands. There were also signs for
two women crossing the road and the symbols for transgender people. Londoners loved these
editions to their main square, so the government decided to leave them up for the foreseeable future. Another English city, Bristol, have taken this cheerful edition to public goods one step further. Or should I say, one dance step further. They're building a disco
pedestrian crossing where lights and music encourage people to dance across the road. At least it will
certainly give the drivers who had to stop something to look at. Which one did you like the best? Can you think of anymore? Leave us a comment to let us know. Also, if you didn't watch the
first video on this topic, click the screen here. And make sure to subscribe to keep notified of any future videos. Thanks for watching. (upbeat music)
