This is what I mean. You're reading way too much into the situation. If I were not such a lazy are artistically-challenged person, I would absolutely set up suc

This is what I mean. You're reading way too much into the situation. If I were not such a lazy are artistically-challenged person, I would absolutely set up such a display at a useless crossing signal. And it would have no meaning whatsoever other than to make fun of the fact that the specific button does nothing. Nearly equatable to being satire, but with less meaning than the term "satire" generally refers to. It would be purely for the purpose of a fun moment in my life, nothing more. No philosophical meaning about how "many actions in life are fruitless", but rather "heh, this one button doesn't do anything, time to have fun with it". Our brains may be wired with complexities we don't understand, but I know the difference between having a moment of enjoyment for myself, vs. doing something with an ulterior motive of pretending to be a genius making grandiose remarks about civilization as a whole. More people need to remember what it's like to be an innocent child who, in such a case, would instantly proclaim "a button that doesn't do anything... whyyyy?", instead of going full-on adult with a cynical point of view. For fuck's sake, stop overthinking every single moment in life. It's depressing.