THE WAY WE ARE !!!!

The famous psychologist Richard Nisbett conducted an experiment whereby the participants were led to individual booths and invited to speak over the intercom about their personal lives and problems. They were to talk in turn for about 2 minutes. Only one microphone was active at any one time. There were six participants in each group, one of whom was a set stooge. The fake participant spoke first, following a script prepared by the experimenters. He described his problems adjusting to New York and admitted with obvious embarrassment that he was prone to seizures, especially when stressed. All the participants then had a turn. When the microphone was again turned over to the stooge, he became agitated and incoherent, said he felt a seizure coming on, and asked for someone to help him. The last words heard from him were, "C-ould somebody-er--er-help-er-uh-uh-uh [choking sounds]. I... I'm gonna die-er-er-er I'm... gonna die-er-er-I seizure I-er[chokes, then quiet]." At this point the microphone of the next participant automatically became active, and nothing more was heard from the possibly dying individual.

What do you think the participants in the experiment did? so far as the participants knew , one of them was having a seizure and had asked for help. However, there were several other people who could possibly respond, so perhaps one could stay safely in one's booth. These were the results: only four of the fifteen participants responded immediately to the appeal for help. Six never got out of their booths, and five others came out only well after the "seizure victim" apparently choked.

The experiment shows that individuals feel relieved of responsibility when they know that others have heard the same request for help.

Did the results surprise you ?? very probably. Most of us think of ourselves as decent people who would rush to help in such a situation , and we expect other decent people to do the same. The point of the experiment, of course, was to show that this expectation is wrong,, even normal, decent people do not rush to help when they expect others to take on the unpleasantness of dealing with a seizure. And that means all of us and you, too.

When I first came across and read the procedure of the helping experiment I thought I would come to the stranger's help immediately, as I probably would if I found myself alone with a seizure victim. I was probably wrong. If I find myself in a situation in which other people have an opportunity to help, I might not step forward. The presence of others would reduce my sense of personal responsibility more than I initially thought.

Changing one's mind about human nature is hard work, and changing one's mind for the worse about oneself is even harder.



My great thanks to Mr. Daniel K. for finding and discussing the experiment that was conducted a long time ago by R. Nisbett.

THE FUTURE ISN'T WHAT IT USED TO BE..... OR IS IT ???

A new year's first day is a time to recollect and remember, to look back and think. Maybe so... maybe not !!

I've never been a good one to look back. What's the point ? It's over. Been there already, done it all. I'm good at not looking back.

That I spent my life flying and going to places and taking no pictures, none. Friends and family always asked me for photos to look at, and I always said there aren't any, just my memory of it.

My wife and friends though seem to photograph everything. We just had over a hundred photos of our family gathering for this past Xmas period. Pictures of us, our smiles, the tree, gifts under the tree, and always the food at the table.

Face book pages overflow already with dozens of photos , and I mean it could reach the hundreds.

Speaking of Face book, I'm always intrigued by people who reminisce about their breakfast or brunch, or the taste of a prepared dish. It would never occur to me to look back on my brunch or dinner, and for sure not the taste of food, yes it was good, but no need to dwell on it.

That's why I have always been more interested in the year and times ahead, in the future and not the past, what the future might bring, what might happen, the surprise of it all.

I'm now in my sixty-something year of age and still looking forward to getting older, and years to come, I've always looked to older age and ahead times as better in my life.

Maybe the future isn't what it used to be thirty years ago, but it's the all exciting future nonetheless.

Happy new year everyone, let the next adventure begin.



thanks for your time, again happy and happy, salamat.