No such thing as the labour saving device...

Every time I see this aspect of human nature, I find it fascinating. As a race, we spend billions of dollars and countless units of energy seeking ways to save labour. We then spend an almost equivalent amount of money and energy seeking ways to make our bodies move. Here is a case in point - the Escalator. Here people stand single file while the machine lifts them from one floor to the other, using energy, petroleum products, and natural resources to keep it running smoothly, 18 hours per day , every day of the year. While right next to them is a perfectly good floor-climbing device that runs on clean, natural, renewable energy, is low maintenance, and wide enough so four can climb at the same time.

Now, don't get me wrong. I can see why escalators and elevators are a good, and much needed, invention. There are those individuals who, either due to disability, illness, or age, would view the rising stack of stairs as nearly impossible to negotiate, thus limiting what I feel is that most important aspect of human behaviour - free will. Yet I stood and watched the rising column of humanity for a full three minutes, and during that time saw very few people who had a legitimate reason to use the escalator. Most riders were relatively young and able bodied. Further, the escalator didn't get these people to the upper floor faster, moving little quicker than a natural walking pace. So you can't necessarily state that such labour saving devices also save time.

What, therefore, is the source of this behaviour? Most of these people wandered onto this conveyance device out of habit, or simply by following the people in front of them, or because they were distracted with incoming and outgoing text messages (at this subway stop in Toronto, this is the point that most people's phones pick up service again). I'd be willing to wager that many of these people have a gym membership where they spend twenty minutes, three times per week going nowhere on a tread mill, stationary bicycle or irony of ironies, a stair climber. So you can't say that these people are lazy - they'll be putting in the required amount of effort to climb those stairs at a later date. Also, if questioned, I would bet most people would admit to knowing a thing or two about climate change and the need to conserve energy and resources. Several would even put two and two together and realize that these labour saving devices of ours are wasting energy needlessly, taking away from our diminishing natural resources, and can cause health problems with a whole host of associated costs.

I can conclude two things from this behaviour. First, scenes such as this are a microcosm of humanity's perception of climate change as a whole. I once heard that our collective response to climate change was "the ultimate procrastination." Things aren't dire yet, and humans only change cultural behaviour when something really hurts. Second, this escalator, and other labour saving devices, are building an "effort debt" - in energy consumption, resource consumption, and health - that we'll need to pay back as a species sooner or later.

So, if you can, take the stairs now to save the planet.