The widespread adoption of the button across public spaces, appliances, websites, etc. bears with it significant issues, and I will now focus on two of these - obfuscation and binary reduction. These issues can be addressed, but more often than not they are exploited.
Obfuscation
The button is superficial, it makes invisible what happens once the button is pressed, hiding how the mechanism works. After all, the motion one makes to press a button is more often than not disconnected from its outcome; for example, the action of pushing forward has nothing to do with turning on the light. An important consequence of this level of obfuscation is the hamper of forward thinking - in a lot of cases, pressing a button is just the first step in a long process, which might or might not involve further human interaction. Hiding what happens next hinders understanding, learning, education and subsequent disruption.
As practical examples of this we might point the like, retweet, +1, etc. buttons - what happens with the metadata which relates to the simple button click?
In popular culture this obfuscation is well explored in an episode of "Twilight Zone" - "Button, button.". A poor family is offered the chance to solve their financial situation. "All" they have to do is press a button to get 200,000$. However, in return, someone they personally don't know dies.
Pressing a button is easy, but what happens might in fact be very complex. Take several websites' terms of service: Everything will be decided in one easy click. With one click of a button we can agree or sign up for all kinds of things, we can even change our lives! Take what it is now known as the push button war: the push of a button can have all manner of political effects. Button-controlled military technology further detaches the soldier from her/his actions.
Binary reduction
Binary reduction is instrumental to a technology supposed to convey a single action: Either the action takes place, or it doesn't. Whether in the form of an on / off switch, a button that opens the door or one that signs you up for a newsletter, it is indifferent. You either press a button or you don't. However, very seldom is the outcome of the action a binary event. Whether you agree 80% or 40% with the terms of service, you either agree (press the button) or you don't. Complex decisions are reduced to 1s and 0s.