Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect • Hacker News Board

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#21

Post by jacobolus » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:42 AM UTC

irjustin wrote: post #20

I'm confused here. What is the Bystander Effect? > The bystander effect, or bystander apathy, is a social psychological phenomenon in which individuals are less likely to offer help to a victim when other people are present. The greater the number of bystanders, the less likely it is that one of them will help. Several factors contribute to the bystander effect, including ambiguity, group cohesiveness, and diffusion…

The claim is that when there are several people standing around and some emergency arises, everyone will just assume someone else is going to help, and no one will end up helping.

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#22

Post by semi-extrinsic » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:44 AM UTC

ganesh7 wrote: post #16

Of course the real problem is the uplifting attitude that is written. Where really violent crime is happening as now in Western European cities, London, Berlin, etc. people got to know the very real consequences of 'intervening' frequently resulting in seriously harming oneself or even getting killed. There have been instances where the police was not able to help. There are regular occurances of rescue teams being a…

Hmm, searching around for the type of statistics you are talking about, I get articles to a couple of anecdotal stories that are frequently repeated on sites like Jihad Watch, Voice of Europe, RT, etc.

Unless you can provide some actual statistics, I would dismiss this as unfounded far-right propaganda.

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#23

Post by pfundstein » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:45 AM UTC

Jerry2 wrote: post #8

It's quite shocking to me how many social science and social psychology experiments have been debunked in recent years. It's as if the whole field is filled with false research. They should do what psychology has done and start a massive replication effort of most cited results. [0] That should bring back some credibility back to the field. [0] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/scientists-rep...

Societal norms are constantly evolving; what is normal today might have been unthinkable in the past when these studies were conducted.

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#24

Post by AmericanChopper » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:46 AM UTC

Jerry2 wrote: post #8

It's quite shocking to me how many social science and social psychology experiments have been debunked in recent years. It's as if the whole field is filled with false research. They should do what psychology has done and start a massive replication effort of most cited results. [0] That should bring back some credibility back to the field. [0] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/scientists-rep...

Even with flawed studies aside, the word science is used very liberally to describe these fields. Even psychology’s most robust and well tested theories can’t come anywhere close to making accurate predictions.

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#25

Post by somehowadev » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:46 AM UTC

ganesh7 wrote: post #16

Of course the real problem is the uplifting attitude that is written. Where really violent crime is happening as now in Western European cities, London, Berlin, etc. people got to know the very real consequences of 'intervening' frequently resulting in seriously harming oneself or even getting killed. There have been instances where the police was not able to help. There are regular occurances of rescue teams being a…

Speaking for London, although many feel safe in the city. Most people (including me) aren’t stupid enough to get involved in a violent altercation if you happen to stumble across one.

It’d be foolish to get between 2 gangs fighting.

Alternatively if someone just collapsed on the street during rush hour, many will come over to help.

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#26

Post by jacobolus » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:49 AM UTC

ganesh7 wrote: post #16

Of course the real problem is the uplifting attitude that is written. Where really violent crime is happening as now in Western European cities, London, Berlin, etc. people got to know the very real consequences of 'intervening' frequently resulting in seriously harming oneself or even getting killed. There have been instances where the police was not able to help. There are regular occurances of rescue teams being a…

> really violent crime is happening as now in Western European cities, London, Berlin, etc.

Can you elaborate? Judging from statistics these both seem like reasonably safe large cities.

I wouldn’t recommend getting personally involved if two criminal gangs are in the middle of a knife fight or something. Getting the hell away and then calling the police from a safe distance seems like a better idea.

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#27

Post by inlined » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:50 AM UTC

The article only uses footage from a few cities of Western culture. Good Samaritan laws are not universal and the lack of one can have a chilling effect on whether people will help. This is especially prominent in China where there are a number of famous cases where the victim sued the Good Samaritan claiming they caused the damages. It’s so prevalent that Alibaba is trying to help promote social good by offering insurance in case you help the elderly and are sued for it: https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-china-good-samari...

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#28

Post by goto11 » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:50 AM UTC

The infamous murder of Kitty Genovese in 1964 was reported the medias as 38 witnesses in an apartment block saw or heard the murder but none did anything to save her, not even call the police. In 2007 someone digged into the story and discovered that this was wildly exaggerated. Only a few witnesses has seen the violence and they did in fact call the police - the police just didn't respond in a timely manner.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Kitty_Genovese

Of course the original story resonated because it played into the eternal narrative that people "these days" don't care about each other, society is falling apart etc.

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#29

Post by [deleted] » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:50 AM UTC

pfundstein wrote: post #23

Jerry2 wrote: post #8

It's quite shocking to me how many social science and social psychology experiments have been debunked in recent years. It's as if the whole field is filled with false research. They should do what psychology has done and start a massive replication effort of most cited results. [0] That should bring back some credibility back to the field. [0] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/scientists-rep...

Societal norms are constantly evolving; what is normal today might have been unthinkable in the past when these studies were conducted.

[deleted]

Re: Surveillance cameras debunk the bystander effect

#30

Post by de_watcher » Fri, Jul 12, 2019, 5:53 AM UTC

pfundstein wrote: post #23

Jerry2 wrote: post #8

It's quite shocking to me how many social science and social psychology experiments have been debunked in recent years. It's as if the whole field is filled with false research. They should do what psychology has done and start a massive replication effort of most cited results. [0] That should bring back some credibility back to the field. [0] https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/scientists-rep...

Societal norms are constantly evolving; what is normal today might have been unthinkable in the past when these studies were conducted.

Or the surveillance cameras have pushed people to act because it looks awesome on youtube.