Recursive Sign
This bizarre sign, which apparenly is not a prank staged by disgruntled elevator operators, seems to be warning people of its own existence! While this is totally amusing in and of itself, it also serves as an excellent example of recursive programming. In school I remember people having the hardest time trying to wrap their brains around recursive methods, which (if you don’t know) is a method that simply refers to itself. This sign would have been a perfect teaching tool for professors to use to explain the subject.
Apparently though, the sign does serve some purpose. From the source:
I once saw a kid sticking his head off the side of the escalator get caught in the gap in between the railing and the upper floor. There was much blood and screaming. The next week, they put a sign up just like that one so that, presumably, stupid kids will bump into the sign first, and pull their heads back in mild pain rather that being decapitated by the wall up ahead.
So basically, the sign exists to warn people of its true purpose - which is to bump people in their heads. That’s pretty profound, isn’t it?
ths s one of the funniest fucking things i have ever seen! but yhe sight does serve a good purpose, dumb people wont die! good find
Comment by repo — January 7, 2006 @
That is totally nuts! Thanks for sharing, very intertaining.
Comment by KayseaLove — January 13, 2006 @
Hi! Your Website is really interesting!
I like ik!
Comment by Brytney — December 16, 2007 @
i don’t get it.
it’s not the same getting warnned by the sign than getting hit by the sign, so i don’t think this is a recursive sign.
pretty funny though.
Comment by johnny B.G. — February 6, 2008 @