July 1, 2009

How apt

"There are many social psychology experiments which suggest we do not challenge the status quo or authority, and that we prefer to stand with the majority. These include the Stanley Milgram experiment in Yale University on how people bow to expert authority, and the Solomon Ash experiment on the length of lines, which demonstrated how we conform to popular opinion.

In real life, Ms Kitty Genovese was murdered in New York, in the early hours of March 13, 1964. Thirty-eight witnesses saw her being stabbed 64 times over 30 minutes in three episodes. No one called for help. There was diffusion of responsibility - the 'bystander effect' - and social information suggests doing nothing is the appropriate thing to do.

The thinking is that, surely, if something were really badly wrong, someone else would have acted. As for oneself, one would go along with the group first.

...

Very often, we do what the group wants, not what is right."


Taken from "Why no one seemed to see the crisis coming" published on the Straits Times, Review - Others, 23 Jun 2009, by Tan Suee Chieh, NTUC Income's chief executive.

1 comment:

jules said...

It always makes my blood boil that people can stand by and do nothing when they see injustices and crimes being committed or just do nothing when someone is in need of help. The other day, i heard loud quarrelling at the foot of my blk and went to check it out. Mum ask me to mind my own business and i gave her a little talk about we should watch out for other people and not be so indifferent.