Nowhere am I more besieged by verbal notification and billboard instruction than I am in the bowels of the New York City MTA. “Stand clear of the closing doors.” “A crowded subway is no excuse for unlawful sexual behavior.” “The next Rockaway Parkway bound L train will depart in approximately twenty-two minutes.” Back in August, Oliver Burkeman’s “This column will change your life” series summarized various studies on the impact signs have on human behavior. What I gather is that greater specificity leads to greater compassion (or obedience), and that over-signage is an enormous disturbance that perpetuates compulsive behavior.

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