Why Do We Get Out of Balance When Climbing the Stairs Escalator?

Imagine working all day and leaving work tired. You got on the subway, set off for your home, and got off at your stop. Then you started walking to get out of the underground metro station. You come across a long, long escalator that you use every day. When you looked at the escalator, you saw that it was not working and that people themselves were climbing this staircase. You are among the crowd. you walked up the escalator and took your first step. When you took your first step, you saw that your balance was disturbed, although it was no different from a normal ladder. Thinking about why this happened, you went upstairs and then made your way home.

Does this short story sound familiar to you? You’ve probably used an escalator that has stopped for various reasons before. Alright When you use a standing escalator, have you felt something strange inside and had a hard time balancing? Don’t worry if you think this is only for you, a lot of people have this problem. There is even a concept related to it. Come on now, “Broker Phantom Escalator” Let’s look at this scientific phenomenon described as

Why do we lose our balance when we go up the escalator that is standing still?

When escalators stop, they are actually no different from a normal staircase. In straight logic, when we try to climb these stairs by stepping, we do not expect anything different to happen. However At this point, our brain and complex working system come into play. “The Broken Escalator Delusion” This situation, which has also been proven by a study defined as the escalator, is experienced because our brains get used to the movement of the escalator. As you climb the standing escalator, where you can take your steps faster than normal, accompanied by a giddiness, your brain thinks something is wrong here.

There is an area in our brains for conscious tasks as well as for tasks that we perform unconsciously. Actions such as walking take place in this area. This unconscious system also prevents us from falling when we get on the escalator. Of course, our brain adjusts itself according to the moment when the escalator is walking and takes its steps accordingly. For this reason, walking Although we see that the ladder is not walking, our steps will be taken as if we were walking. This will cause dizziness and loss of balance.

Experiment for the “Broken Escalator Fallacy”

In 2003, two researchers named RF Reynolds and AM Bronstein, strange sense of balance despite being sure that the escalator is not working They decided to investigate why. As a result, the “Broken Escalator Phenomenon”, that is, the “Broken Escalator Delusion” study emerged.

Researchers who want to revive this feeling with an experiment, They used a sled that they could stand on steadily. The people involved in the experiment took 10 steps on these initially stationary sleds. The subjects were then asked to take 20 steps while the sleds were moving. In the third stage of the experiment, the subjects were informed that the sled would be stationary. The sleds were indeed motionless, but the subjects took such rapid steps that their torso was forward as they stepped onto the sled. This experiment, which stunned the majority of the subjects, was performed in areas such as escalators and treadmills in a still state. It also explained the loss of balance.

Why does our body react like this?

How our bodies react strangely when the escalator is stopped The reason is due to the habits of our motor system. Our body, which gathers its previous experiences and climbs an escalator quickly and leaning forward, continues to give the same reaction even if the elevator is stopped. Although we know that vehicles that perform a variety of movements such as escalators and treadmills do not work at that moment, the motor system of our body gives an involuntary response without having the same information. When we can’t find that movement on the opposite side, we experience a loss of balance with a strange feeling.

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