How do we become more restricted because of the elevator? Why do we take the elevator?

The elevator is an institution that shapes the norms and behavior of people within the space. How we act within this space is different from how we behave and process the levels that are connected to the elevator. This demonstrates the control “elevator society” has over the socialization of humans. Elevator society reflects a community of people willing to participate in social structures (the elevator) preestablished, of which they endure the same social and cultural expectations that they did not decide (elevator etiquette).

The multiplicity of people’s actions are lost to the pressure of the institution as a system of surveillance is uncovered within the space . Everyone is forced to monitor the actions of the people around them, making it impossible to ignore the etiquette that craves a uniform, rigid structure.The restriction is not only reinforced in behaviors but also in knowledge, as the elevator blocks the sensory information of each level. They are unaware of the multiplicity beyond the elevator and accept the status and roles given to them by giving up their agency and identity to move in one direction.

Even though people lose so much and are restricted in the elevator, why do they still take it up? What does it mean to be restricted like this?

Because the elevator is defined as a social structure, it dominates people into conformity with their expected roles. A person’s role within elevator society is this expectation to get to the top, neglecting who is around them and what is outside the institution. It does not matter to others what they lose in order to reach the highest point in the fastest and easiest way possible. They skip the diversity of the levels being truly unaware of the possibilities outside of the box.The idea of efficiency and productivity have become the ideal success in every process of society, generating “elevator blindness”.

Elevator blindness encourages the isolation of one’s physical and mental state as they are orientated and dedicated to singular ambition. People purposefully forget and overlook the experiences of others in the elevator and outside,too consumed by elevator etiquette’s expectation to avoid social interaction. The uniqueness of their character and journey become lost as people who comply with the vertical pursuit of status and hierarchy anticipated by the elevator’s movement are too eager to get to their final destination or goal defined by the elevator society.