The future leaders of America are starting out on the right tiny foot.
We just crossed the thin line between agony and ecstasy
Spotted in Korea.
Even when people have perfectly good and safe ways to cross the streets, they'll still jaywalk, leading to more traffic and less safety.
This is exactly one of the problems that Antanas Mockus, a political newbie elected to be mayor of Bogota, decided to tackle.
He realized that one of the most powerful motivators for people was social pressure.
This gave him a crazy, but effective idea. He hired mimes to hang out on busy intersections. Anytime they saw a jaywalker, they would follow them around, mimic them and mock their behavior. What was the result?
The people being mocked obviously felt embarrassed and didn't do it again. But it also had another effect: The bystanders didn't want to be mocked themselves, so they started obeying pedestrian rules.
The program was so successful that the program was expanded from 20 mimes to over 400! This mayor has a lot of really fun and interesting ideas to solve problems. To read more about the way he governs, read the source.
