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Comment by gretch | Hacker News Reader

Well maybe his job is to guard what exists at the top of the elevator. So yeah, controlling the single point of entry and the only keys to the kingdom could be super effective compared to watching it on a TV screen.

You don’t know anything about the threat, the environment, or the asset being protected. Maybe just don’t comment with baseless speculation?

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So using your example, maybe there is something at the top floor that needs guarding. Someone manually pressing the elevator doesn't fix this, he becomes another weak point that can be easily socially engineered. One alternative solution that doesn't require that bullshit job is a separate elevator with its own lock/access, which is a very common solution used in many buildings.

I don't understand your defensiveness here. The entire point is to question the role as a solution to the problem. Literally what bullshit jobs is all about. This isn't specifically about the elevator man, so you don't need to get all weird about it.

Your solution to an elevator operator is to retrofit a building with an entirely separate elevator to access to the floor?

The problem you are trying to solve is not the elevator operator. The elevator operator is a byproduct of a rushed cheap solution to the problem of crime/access to top floor/whatever the actual problem is. Therefore yes, a retrofit could be a potential solution among many others, what actually is the problem, and how effectively does the role solve it?

I should step away from the elevator example because people are clinging to it a bit too firmly when the entire point is to question [job role], not the specific elevator operator.

So what would be an ideal example to you? This one is just security guard.

I’m going to make a random guess that in Brazil it’s far cheaper to hire someone to guard the elevator than build an entirely new elevator in a building that did not have one already (and where would you put it? What if it’s full?)

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