When walking up to a stationary travelator, why does your mind still anticipate it to be moving, so you take a step onto it as if it was moving?
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Our brains are basically a very complicated version of a Google suggested search. The first time you stepped onto a travelator, it did something your brain didn’t expect it to do, so it took note of the context leading up to the unexpected event. The next time you stepped on one, your brain was less surprised, but it still registered it as something slightly different or out of the ordinary, so it took some more notes. Over time, your brain gets pretty good at predicting what will happen when you step on the travelator given all of the clues it’s gathered over time, and it sends signals to various systems in your body with instructions on how to react. When the travelator is stationary, your brain incorrectly predicts what will happen when you step onto the track, leading you to react as if it were moving even though it’s not.
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