What do you make of this?

bleachededen · Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:21 pm

A homeless man was stabbed while intervening in a fight between a man and a woman, and died on the street because no passersby stopped to help (although some stopped to stare). See for yourself, and I'd like to hear other people's thoughts on this. I'm not even sure what mine are yet, but I found it strange enough to share and hope to hear some of your comments.

Good Samaritan stabbed and left to die, from Yahoo! news
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_dying_and_ignored

johnson1010 · Tue Apr 27, 2010 1:47 pm

People walk by homeless people all the time without giving aid, despite their obvious need of medical care, food, or obviously, a roof over their heads.

"Its not my problem" is too easy a thing to say in a crowded city full of people who don't know eachother.

They should have called the police. Even if they didnt know he was injured, at least to maybe get him to a homelss shelter, or back to his house if he was a passed out drunk.

People should start treating every neighborhood like it is their neighborhood. It makes you less likely to litter, drive aggressively, or dismiss people in obvious need without a second thought.

There is also a greater hesitation to be first in large groups. "Somebody else will do it." I have felt that way myself in the past, but it is only because i have thought about this involuntary response that i make sure something is being done in these kinds of situations (witnessed car wrecks for instance, dangerous problems with roads, and called them in to the city) before i move along and forget about it.

etudiant · Sun May 02, 2010 6:53 pm

This looks an awful lot like an illustration of the “bystander effect”, which the media seems to find continuous examples of. According to this theory, when a group of people witness some traumatic act like this one, often many, or even all, will not act in a decisive fashion. Some of the reasons given for this include a feeling of diffusion of responsibility; in other words one expects that someone else has already, or will soon take the appropriate action, and it will likely be someone better qualified to help. It is also believed that people take in subtle clues about the way to react by observing the actions of others. This can obviously be self-reinforcing if everyone is doing the same thing, i.e.: nothing. Also, many fear to act because they suspect they may have misjudged the situation, and will subsequently be rudely dismissed, or otherwise put in an embarrassing spot.

All of this sounds pretty thin, when someone is bleeding on the sidewalk, doesn’t it? But I don’t think it can be dismissed out of hand. A surprising amount of our behavior comes straight out of our subconscious with the autopilot firmly on. Some have likened the relation of conscious to subconscious to an iceberg- the part we are aware of is the part only one tenth above the water. Addiction is a good example of this; the bit of the iceberg above the water is doing things that are going to cause a meltdown, not really aware of the processes going on under the water. Advertisers take advantage of the fact that we often remember the message more than we remember the messenger. Ford makes a better car than GM, but now where was that I found that information…?

Not to say of course that individuals can’t rise above this, and increase their understanding of their own workings. Johnson has thought about it, those with addictions often find help, many I’m sure are objective about evaluating a new car. But the strength of the subconscious can be powerful, more so, I believe, than many suspect.

bleachededen · Sun May 02, 2010 8:59 pm

I don't disagree, etudiant, which is why I asked "what do you make of this?" and gave no hint of judgment or suggestion that someone did something wrong. I honestly wanted to know, simply, what people made of it. Thanks for your thoughts, Johnson, etudiant, both of them insightful, as always.

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