Reviewed Date: January 26th, 2022
Many times we encounter incidents where someone is dying on the road, but people just stop there looking without offering aid. While hearing or seeing it on TV, we feel how inhumane people have become that they are not helping the dying person. But what we don’t know is, in situations where uncertainty exists, we look at what everybody else is doing.
To put it more simply, we humans look for clues to act in an uncertain situation. It’s not that people had become less empathetic and were not helping, but they didn’t know what to do in that situation. They think someone called an ambulance; someone will come to help. When everyone thinks someone will help, no one does. This phenomenon is called pluralistic ignorance.
But if one person sees a dying person on the road, he/she is most likely to help, as he/she does not need a clue from others to act on. If you find yourself in that uncertain situation where nobody is helping, be the one to step forward; everyone will follow. If you are the dying person, and everyone is watching, request help by looking in his/her direction. This will melt away the uncertainty, and you are more likely to receive help.
Leave a Reply