5 Terrible Ideas That Actually Worked and Solved Big Problems

Andromeda Galaxy · Nov 6, 2011

This is pretty funny:

cracked.com said:

Terrible Ideas That Solved Huge Global Problems

The ability to think outside the box is a valuable skill that tends to bring its possessor fame and fortune. But there's a fine line to be balanced -- if you think too far outside the box, the best you can hope for is that your padded cell is somewhat clean.

Yet sometimes, the most far-fetched, cartoonish ideas are the ones that work best. All it takes is the right idea and the ability to convince somebody to spend lots of money trying it.
#5. Tokyo Decides to Prevent Crime With Mood Lighting

The Plan:

Nearly every city in the world wishes it could flip a magic switch that would cut down on crime, and only one city has a switch that turns on the Bat Signal. The city of Tokyo, however, had heard a rumor that you could cut down on crime with a little bit of mood lighting -- specifically, by turning the street lights blue.

Yeah, right. As if the sight of the color blue is going to make some guy who's about to mug an old lady suddenly change his mind ...

How It Worked:

Oh, wait, it totally did. The Tokyo prefectures where the blue lights were installed saw a 9 percent decrease in crime. You can write that off to a statistical anomaly if you want (maybe that was the same month they also brought on the RoboCops), but Glasgow, Scotland, saw the exact same result. Glasgow wasn't trying to bring down crime when they installed theirs, they just thought it would make the city look better. Then somebody noticed that crime had gone down right after, and the only thing they had changed was the stupid blue lights.

And piped in some smooth jazz.

Next, the Tokyo railroad decided to get in on the blue-light action, though the problem they wanted to solve wasn't so much the crime. Their main concern was the train-assisted suicides that were taking place in their stations. The result after the blue lights were installed? Suicides dropped down to zero.

Seriously? What the hell?

Getty
"I just can't leave a world that invented The Smurfs."

There are several theories. First, there's the fact that science has observed for decades that blue is a calming color, as opposed to such "Let's raid (*)(*)(*)(*)!" colors such as yellow or red. But there's also another theory, which is that blue is the universal color of "Holy (*)(*)(*)(*)! Cops!" and the blanket of blue keeps people on their best behavior because they subconsciously feel that they might be busted by the cheese at any time. Others say just the fact that there was a change at all may have made criminals uneasy -- the fact that the lights had been installed implied that somebody was paying attention.

Either way, it appears that the illusion that Big Blue Brother is watching you at all times is subconsciously enough to keep you honest and law-abiding. And all because of Officer Light Bulb.

Getty
You'll make sergeant for this!

And while we're on the subject of seemingly insane law enforcement strategies ...
Click to expand...

http://www.cracked.com/article_19489_5-terrible-ideas-that-solved-huge-global-problems.html

Black Monarch · Nov 6, 2011

What would happen if we installed blacklights everywhere instead? would cities see a radical increase in glow-in-the-dark vandalism and facepaint, a la Batman Forever?

fiddlerdave · Nov 7, 2011

Regular sodium and newer streetlights make ME crazy!

I HATE them. I swear they create crazy people with their terrible light.

DarkDaimon · Nov 11, 2011

Black Monarch said: ↑

What would happen if we installed blacklights everywhere instead? would cities see a radical increase in glow-in-the-dark vandalism and facepaint, a la Batman Forever?
Click to expand...

Considering that semen stains glow under black light, I think more than a few politicians and their interns would be against them.

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5 Terrible Ideas That Actually Worked and Solved Big Problems

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