h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I sometimes call these 'Push/pull input/output devices'

I enjoyed your fresh look at doors and how to navigate through them

I can never understand why the basic problems with push/pull doors is not simply solved by the use of appopriate door furntiture.

Push Doors: These require simply a push plate, this would eliminate the confusion as there is no handle to grab!

Pull Doors: If only pull doors were fitted with handles then (hopefully) evcerybody would get used to this system.

Alternatively if someone could invert the teleport system, then we could do away with doors altogether!

When approaching "double doors" one is faced with the "rule of four"

Choice 1 : Which door do I attempt to go through first? Generally speaking the answer to this turns out to be "The wrong one.", as often one of the doors is bolted (when is a door not a door, not when it is ajar, but when it is bolted shut, in which case it is a wall with a handle).

Choice 2 : Push or Pull ? the lack of a handle is a good hint that this is a push door, but often doors are designed to be pushed from the other side than the one you are on, but rather than have some sort of "don't use this door, it's exclusively for people going in the opposite direction to the way you want to go" sign, they simply have nothing to pull on.

Next time you approach an unmarked double dor, count how many shots you have to take before you get through (assuming it's not locked). Logic says the worst case scenario would be 4 (push then pull the wrong side, push then pull or pull then push the correct side) and the best case scenario would be 1, giving an average of 2.5, but based on experience and careful analysis, I can confirm that the actual average number of attempts over an extensive period is 3.999999999. Maybe I should get some new glasses (or learn to read!).

"Please enjoy your trip through this door" (which can be translated as "There is a step hidden behind this door")


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