Psych 1 logic shows where we are headed

I am a high schooler and have much to learn but let me Try and show you something you may not already know or understand.

A woman was attacked in an ally and 30 people heard her cries for help, this was in new york city, and yet no one called the police. she was stabbed and raped, later he came back and assaulted her again and still no police, it happened again before she died... No one called the police despite all hearing her cries and some witnessing it. The point is, the more people who are there, the more people believe someone els will be a hero therefore lowering the chance of rescue, and there are things like 9/11 where everyone is calling 911 but thats because they were powerless to help... I dont want to go into a comparison, that was just to show a vary vary simplified way of showing how in cases this is not true but now i can get to my point.

The world is getting more and more polluted with gasses, junk, and possibly worst, stupidity and that is shown by the most recent poll that said that 41% of Americans think earth is under 10,000 years old... enough said. The economy is in the trash and right now there is a show called 16 and pregnant. There seems to be a degeneration in people that we are well aware of and scientists, politicians, and comedians are all telling us this but it seems few are listening. It seems as if we are destroying ourselves and we still expect someone els to jump in and save the day because we are too lazy to do it ourselves.

There are those who are working hard on behalf of all of us and that number is rising but we need to act now to stop people from having so many kids and keep kids in school to get a better education so the world can eventually be a better place so we will be ready when nature hits us harder than ever before but thats another thread entirely...

Im 16 and i wrote this in my spare time at 11pm

Interested in psych, eh? What you're mainly talking about is bystander apathy. I agree, the world is chock full of apathetic and under-educated people, but it's not all doom and gloom - there are ambitious, knowledgeable people as well.

You might like this - 5 Psychological Experiments That Prove Humanity Is Doomed

...But stay optimistic

reply to post by pforkp


Not just by-stander apathy. Something called 'diffusion of responsibility' also comes into play. The more people in a given area,the less likely someone will come forward to help. The thinking is that 'someone else will take care of it and I don't need to anything'. It's the ultimate social escape hatch when it comes to responsibility.

This is why when something important or difficult needs to be done by someone,you should always send two people. This creates a monitoring system between them which can prevent the person who's supposed to be doing the task from straying off course or changing their mind.

Her name was Kitty Genovese (well, technically Catherine Susan Genovese), and the event to which you are referring occurred on March 13, 1964 in New York City. Her attacker, Winston Moseley stabbed her, and she literally screamed "Oh my god, he stabbed me! Help me!" Moseley fled afterwards, but returned to rape and murder her after he noticed that no one came to assist her.

Phil Ochs mentions this incident in the first verse of his scathing song about apathy and hypocrisy, "Outside of a Small Circle of Friends".

The scenario that you're describing whereby people do not act because they believe others will act instead is often referred to as the "Bystander effect" or (more aptly) "Genovese syndrome." It was reproduced in a lab as early as 1968 by Darley and Latane. The Wikipedia entry on it is pretty decent.

There are people who disagree with this assessment of the Genovese case, and who assert that the media blew the situation out of proportion insofar as the number of bystanders is concerned. You can read more about that criticism here.

Originally posted by ECWSANDMAN13The point is, the more people who are there, the more people believe someone els will be a hero therefore lowering the chance of rescue, and there are things like 9/11 where everyone is calling 911 but thats because they were powerless to help...

Very interesting, I've never heard of this. Thanks for posting.

This is one of my sad piece of news, I've learned a while back.....If I walked by at that time, I'd bash that guy in the head with a rock or something. I'm scared of knife and such, I cannot bear them (at least not until I lost it), BUT a scene of a helpless woman being assaulted is MUCH MUCH MORE UNBEARABLE.

reply to post by ECWSANDMAN13


What do you expect.

91% Still believe that Islamic Radical terrorists orchestrated 911

87% which use to be 94% actually still believe a Boeing 757 hit the Pentagon.