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Aswad -> RE: The Horror We Call Humanity (2/7/2008 9:38:18 AM)
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ORIGINAL: MissMorrigan
I viewed b/c I thought that people nearby, or, indeed, the person filming would have stepped in and taking this guy out.
It's always somebody else's problem.
People don't feel responsible or accountable.
A nebulous "somebody" ought to do "something."
Guess what? There's never really a "somebody" around.
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Sure a couple of people aimed a few weak kicks at him, but these don't even stop the husband's stabbing momentum and when they see this they just move along, leaving him to his frenzied attack on his wife.
The threshold to engage in violence is very high for most people. It drops significantly when they don't feel accountable for their actions (as demonstrated in the Milgram Experiment and its successors). But even then, there is a significant resistance to actually doing what it takes to stop someone who is sufficiently out of their mind to do a thing like that. Some people don't have a problem committing to the removal of a threat, but they are rare and often unappreciated. Thing is, the police will almost never be there when violence happens, nor should they (the required infrastructure is incompatible with a healthy society). Which is why people need to be prepared to deal with it themselves, and that usually requires letting the beast off the leash and reverting to the same primitive state as the aggressor.
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When did we stop caring about others to the point we will walk past such horror without making any attempt at stopping it?
It's not really a matter of not caring about others. More the other way around.
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What stunned me then, as it has now, is that my attack occurred in full daylight and on a crowded bus with people from all generations.
What happens is the sheep effect. There is no leader taking charge. Everyone looks to everyone else. It's the biological mandate.
The reason why Flight 93 didn't crash into a building is that there was one man who said "Let's roll" and meant it. He took charge, and others followed, as they generally will. I've seen it plenty of times. When I am in a situation where someone has been injured, or whatever, I will order people about and they will do as I say. It's taken a bit of time to get used to the idea after being raised in a culture that dislikes people doing just that, but there really is a mandate in how people are wired: some lead, some follow. I've no problem not being in charge. But I sure as hell won't stand around waiting for someone else to take charge.
That's what was missing on that bus: the person everyone else was genetically programmed to follow.
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Faced with dying a horrifyingly undignified death I went berserk, I'm not sure how I managed it but by all accounts I kicked the bottle from the hand of one of the attackers and while he was scrabbling for it I wiped the floor with the pair of them.
Bingo. It's in everyone, I think. Sadly, only a few are able and willing to let it out.
I've seen martial artists get their asses handed to them for the simple reason that they weren't committed enough to let go. And I've seen people with no training do amazing things because they were committed. I'm not about to claim to be überskilled myself, and my hormonal issues have fucked up my physique pretty badly. To be quite honest, I'd probably stand little chance against a serious attacker. But I don't hold back, and I'm not afraid to die. That stops most things before they start, when eyes meet and the other party realizes that if I can strangle them with my own guts before dying, I will. When they're not after you personally, there are other fish in the sea.
To the predatorial mind, there's no point risking your life for what someone else will let you have without resisting.
As the saying goes: "I don't have to outrun the bear; I just have to outrun you."
Being willing to cross that line gives you a head start.
Health,
al-Aswad.
P.S.: This was as much a rant as a reply; I hope you don't mind.
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