Hypothesized Air Conditioning Feedback Loops

#1. The more we use air conditioning, the more we close all windows.

Result: Breezes are for naught. Sounds of the city are unheard (e.g. ice cream man, church bells).

#2. The more we use air conditioning, the more sidewalks suck.

Result: Drips from air conditioners land on your head. Annoying and constant whirr from machine.

#3. The more we use air conditioning, the more people move to hot places.

Result: Huge population shift in the US to the sunbelt, living more and more in places where you can’t possibly survive without air conditioning.

Extra Result: More people use air conditioning. More people vote Republican?

#4. The more we use air conditioning, the less we design buildings that keep cool by themselves.

Result: Windows that do not open. Houses with no cross breezes. Fluorescent lighting. Modernist, shiny, reflective, and boring office towers.

Extra result: More need to use air conditioning. Cities increasingly "climate controlled".

#5. The more we use air conditioning, the more we get used to only one kind of environment.

Result: More separation between inside and outside. Stores that are kept super cold. Less temperature tolerance. Less flexible clothing. Increased whining tendency.

Extra Result: We don’t go outside as often. We don’t even know what its like out there.

#6. The more we use air conditioning, the more we use air conditioning.

Result: On cooler summer days, more likely to say ‘screw it’ and just keep the A/C on.

Extra result: We use more energy and electricity.

Extra extra result: Planet warms.

Extra extra extra result: Use more air conditioning.