What happens when we’re driving and we reach a red light? We stop, right? When the light turns green, we hit the gas. If we don’t, it usually doesn’t take long for the driver behind us to start honking the horn.
Anyone who has survived driver’s education (or sitting in the back of a taxi) knows we’re inclined to connect certain behavior with red and green lights. We’ve gotten so used to certain signals, in fact, that sometimes we forget to consider whether the signal truly requires us to act or has somehow managed to confuse us.
For instance, the light may be green, but what if a crazy pedestrian crosses the street in front of us? We don’t keep going. We stop, wait for that person to reach the other side of the road, and then go.
Read the rest of the article on The New York Times.