Open Mic

• Things I Admire About People - Bystander Apathy

  Posted: October 5, 2008, 9:29 pm by willpress

  People die everyday.But how some people die raise so many questions as to the humanity of human beings. Standard example: Blonde X is set upon by a maniac as she returns from work at 3am. Thirty of her neighbours in the same hood come to their windows when she cries out in terror but none come to her assistance even when her stalker takes over half an hour to murder her. No one even calls the police!
  
  Anyway such human indifference is not new. Just count how many Good Samaritans were mentioned in the Bible, thats enough to tell you something. But is it really indifference? Maybe the problem is much more complex. Aint it funny that strangers are more likely to offer assistance than the people we know? You'd rather give a strange beggar your change than give it to your "good for nothing next of khn who had an outstretched hand right from the time he came from the womb."
  
  The greater the emergency, the higher the reluctance to help. The prescence of others who are passive also increases reluctance. You are seated in a café somewhere and the opposite building bursts in flames and nobody bats an eyelid let alone flinches. Who the hell are you to run around in panic. When in Rome, then youre Roman. Maybe its common practice to burn down bridges and house in that part of town!
  
  Failure to give aid may also come from confusion. Say, someone fals in an epileptic fit or clutches the stomach like they got a minature hell in there. . .now, if you hadnt given shit about First Aid classes, its probably the doctor, not you, who will feel apathetic. . .you instead will be so nervous that you may end up worse than the helpee.
  
  Many also seem to doubt if the emergency is real. Costs of helping (especially if theres no real emergency) and the guilt of not helping are the two scales that make you decide whether to stretch out that straw to the drowning man. Unfortunately for the victim/helpee, the guilt of not helping may not be enough to make most people risk making fools of themselves. . .

Blah blah blah

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